DPI’s “Fair Funding
for Our Future” is
good first step toward long-term reform
State school Superintendent Tony Evers, Monday, kept his
promise to deliver a reform plan for children and communities
all over Wisconsin. While it doesn’t provide sufficient
funds so every child in the state has opportunities to succeed,
it does fix many of the problems in the present.
WAES described the plan, “Fair
Funding for Our Future,” as a step in the direction
of the type of comprehensive school-funding reform we have
been working toward for over a decade.
"Fair
Funding for Our Future" corrects many of the
flaws in the present system that have, over the years, led
to teacher lay-offs, divisive referenda and local property
tax increase, class size increases, and cuts to critical programs
and services for children. What the Superintendent's plan
doesn't do is ask for the investment of new revenue it will
take to make those changes work for all of our children.
Click
here to see an analysis of “Fair Funding for Our
Future” by Jack Norman, research director
of the
Institute for Wisconsin’s Future.
WAES urges its members and others to support Superintendent
Evers’ plan, but also to remember:
- Wisconsin needs reform that aligns
revenue with what we want children to know and be able to
do and the opportunities they all need to achieve those
goals. In other words, we need a system that actually meets
the cost of quality education.
- Wisconsin needs a larger investment
in its public schools: Revenue to provide needed opportunities
and revenue to address created by the recent economic downturn.
We still need
“A Penny for Kids,” a one-cent increase
in the sales tax to establish an educational trust fund
for our children.
Check out:
|
