Introduction
The Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES) and the
Institute
for Wisconsin's Future (IWF) are offering a free seminar
for school and community groups, business and industry, and
parent and senior citizen organizations on the public school
funding crisis in Wisconsin. This workshop provides a statewide
overview of the state's school funding challenge and an alternative
method to guarantee educational opportunities for all children.
What is this free workshop about?
Protecting Wisconsin's Children: School-funding reform
long overdue is designed to be short, clear, and relevant
to groups across the state. It can be tailored to your community
and timeframe, and the presentation is aimed at taking action
to reform how we fund our public schools. The presentation
reviews:
- The challenges facing Wisconsin's
children and schools
- How schools are funded
- How districts are coping with revenue
problems
- What we expect from our schools
- A new idea—adequate funding
for all children
- Investing in the futures of our
children and schools
What does it include?
Communities throughout Wisconsin have educational values.
They expect their children to receive excellent educational
opportunities. These values and opportunities are now threatened
because of revenue shortfalls.
- The next component of the workshop
is a review of how schools are funded. This segment examines
concepts such as revenue limits and the myth of 2/3 state
funding.
- We look closely at how local school
boards are dealing with funding problems, including reducing
staff, increasing class size, limiting opportunities, and
postponing maintenance.
- We expect a lot from our students
and schools, so we'll take a look at the standards and goals
of the Supreme Court, the Legislature, parents, the Department
of Public Instruction, and the federal government's No Child
Left Behind act.
- There is a simple, fair, common-sense
way to fund our public schools. Adequacy determines what
resources are needed to produce specific academic results.
- If education is a priority in Wisconsin,
then it's time to invest in that priority, so let's talk
about what you can do make school funding reform a reality.
What are WAES and IWF and why are they doing this?
WAES is a diverse, statewide coalition of 150 organizations
working toward comprehensive school-funding reform. Click
here to learn more about WAES.
IWF is a statewide policy research and community information
center established in 1994 to increase public awareness about
key policy issues in Wisconsin. Over the past decade, IWF
has completed 30 research reports on wages, welfare, housing,
taxes, and education. IWF has also coordinated many major
conferences, held 300 workshops, and talked to thousands of
other Wisconsinites through newsletters and the media. IWF
is non-profit and non-partisan.
In the area of education, WAES and IWF work with partners
throughout the state to reform Wisconsin's school-funding
system based on providing adequate resources to give all children,
no matter what their special needs or where they live, the
opportunity to succeed.
What do I need to do?
Please arrange for WAES to be on the agenda of regularly
scheduled meetings of the school board, parent organizations,
business, civic, and religious groups—groups that have
a stake in the quality of public education. Fill in the form
below or call Tom Beebe at 414-384-9094 (Email: tbeebe@wisconsinsfuture.org)
to schedule a presentation.
Whom should I contact?
For more information on the education outreach efforts of
WAES and IWF, see our websites at www.excellentschools.org
or www.wisconsinsfuture.org.
To arrange for a presentation, contact:
Tom Beebe, Education Outreach Specialist
Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools
Institute for Wisconsin's Future
1717 South 17th Street #203, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204-3300
Phone: 414-384-9094, Fax: 414-384-9098
Email: tbeebe@wisconsinsfuture.org,
Website: www.excellentschools.org
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