Budget went from bad to worse

The reaction of the Wisconsin Alliance of Excellent Schools (WAES) to the budget passed by the Legislature was succinct and unambiguous:

»It’s not good for public schools;
»It’s not good for local property taxpayers; and
»It certainly isn’t good for public school children.

That was the message delivered July 8 when the coalition of school-funding reform advocates held a press conference at the State Capitol.

In the Assembly Parlor,David Liners, executive director of WISDOM, challenges politicians to stand up for public education.

Speakers from throughout the state — including students, parents, teachers, senior citizens, and district superintendents — talked about the budget’s toll on children. They called on Governor Jim Doyle to wear out his pen on the terribly flawed budget he was sent by the Republican majorities in both houses.

Although WAES supports a complete overhaul of the present funding system — replacing it with a plan the links funding to the resources needed by children — coalition partners have been intimately involved in the budget process. This budget not only forces severe program cuts in Wisconsin schools, but it actually offers parents a cash reward for taking their children out of the public schools.

Karen Royster, executive director of the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF), emceed the press conference. She talked about the cumulative effect of budget cuts the elected officials have forced on public schools through underfunding and revenue limits, explaining that the quality of public education in the state was in jeopardy.

The first speaker at the press conference was Dan Brereton, president of the Florence County School District Board. His district was the first in decades forced to the brink of extinction by the funding system.

Brereton put a different spin on the dilemma faced by Florence. “I am proud to be the president of the school board that has drawn the line for education,” he said, noting that the district has already cut 30 percent of its staff and made a list of other cuts that “goes on and on and on.”

He was followed by Laona School District Superintendent Storm Carroll. “This budget just passed is a simple insult to education,” he said. “Why can we build sports stadiums with a sales tax, but we can’t use a sales tax to educate children?”

Laona School District Superintendent Storm Carroll

Carroll got everyone’s attention when, talking about the decline in quality education because of inadequate funding, he said, “If I have to sue, I will sue.”

Vickie McCormick, Greendale School District Board president and co-chair of the Southeastern Wisconsin School Alliance, told how 12 years of revenue limits and “this budget were suffocating our schools.”

“I can’t believe,” she said, “there isn’t the brain power in this building (the State Capitol) to reform the system.”

McCormick was followed by another board member from a southeastern Wisconsin school district. William Schalk, president of the Racine School Board, called on legislators to “bite the bullet (and) look at alternative sources for funding public education other than the property tax.”

Jennifer Morales told the media that the Legislature’s budget would force another $40 million in cuts over the next two years from Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), undermining the progress the district has made.

Referring to the fact the budget was finalized in the dead of night and, for the most part, was put together behind closed doors, Morales, an MPS director, said, “Our children are not bait for some political game.”

Ken Bates, superintendent with the Columbus School District, talked about the changes this budget and others have forced on his district. Fees and class sizes are up, he said, and Advanced Placement offerings are down. “With this budget, we’d have no money for supplies.”

The Wisconsin PTA has been a long-time partner in WAES and advocate for public school children and adequate funding. New President Cyndi Barbian was on hand at the Capitol and, unashamedly said that “education should be the most lavish spending in the budget.”

Maya Mazul, a junior at Germantown High School, spoke for her peers and fellow members of Youth Reclaiming Our Communities. She summed up what the budget means to her and put some perspective on the cuts it forces on districts. “My peers and I are the ones who are going to push this state forward,” she said. “How can we do that with an inadequate education?”

Jeff Sptizer-Resnick, managing attorney with the Survival Coalition of Wisconsin Disability Organizations

The special education community was represented at the press conference by Jeff Sptizer-Resnick, managing attorney with the Survival Coalition of Wisconsin Disability Organizations. He explained how inadequate funding of mandated programs — like special education and English language learners — means revenues are cannibalized from “regular” education programs, extra-curricular activities, and other parts of the budget.

“We’re living in a state that for too long has said to parents, ‘If you want to fund these kids, then you have to take it from those kids.”

David Liners, executive director of WISDOM, charted a course of action for the coalition — a course of holding legislators responsible for doing the right thing, both with the budget and with long-term reform.

“We need to challenge the politicians who say they support public education,” Liners said, “to stop being afraid, to stop being indecisive. Our children are worth taking a political risk for. We have to challenge them to have some nerve.”

In the end, Royster called on Gov. Doyle to do the right thing. She said that the only lasting answer to the fiscal problems of Wisconsin’s 426 school districts is systemic reform. Until then, she said, “We’re counting on the governor to buy some time with this budget.”

WAES is a statewide coalition of school boards, parent groups, educators, students, faith-based organizations and community groups working for comprehensive school-finance reform.

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