WAES Talks With the
Business Community
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Erin Gauthier-Green (back
to the camera), director of business services
for the Greendale School District, outlined
Wisconsin's school-finance problems at the
Jan. 22 "Business Breakfast on School
Finance" hosted by WAES. The event
was attended by over 80 vendors and school
board members attending the 83rd Annual
State Education Convention and Exhibit Show. |
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WAES brought school-finance reform to a new audience, hosting
a breakfast briefing for vendors and board members on January
22, 2004 at the 83rd Annual State Education Convention and
Exhibit Show sponsored by Wisconsin Association of School
Boards, Wisconsin School Business Officials, and Wisconsin
School District Administrators.
More than 80 people heard about the coalition and Adequacy
from WAES staff and Erin Gauthier-Green, the director of business
services for the Greendale School District. Gauthier-Green
pointed out that Adequacy is similar to a business model because
it links funding to educational needs. It determines how much
education actually costs and then finds necessary funding
sources.
Businesses with representatives at the briefing included
Godfrey & Kahn, Steinhoff Engineering, Trane, Virchow-Krause,
Johnson Controls, and Wisconsin Bus Sales & Service. As
they introduced themselves, representatives from these companies
and others talked about the impact on their businesses of
revenue controls and an inadequately funded system, and their
feelings about how budget shortfalls were affecting schools
and children.
School districts represented included Beaver Dam, Greendale,
Kohler, Little Chute, Manawa, Seneca, Wheatland, and Wisconsin
Rapids.
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Jack Norman, research
director for the Institute for Wisconsin's
Future and staffer for WAES, explained The
Wisconsin Adequacy Plan to vendors and board
members at the state education convention. |
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For decades, Wisconsin's public schools and businesses have
had an excellent relationship—our children led the nation
in knowledge, and our businesses supplied them with the goods
and services they needed to stay on top. But now, that relationship
is threatened by a finance system that just doesn't work.
When districts can't update textbooks and computers because
of the crisis in public school funding, businesses are hurt,
too, and suffer lost profit. Businesses at the breakfast talked
about important construction and maintenance jobs being postponed
and school buses on longer replacement cycles. It's clear
that Wisconsin's school-finance system is taking resources
away from schools and money away from businesses.
Reforming the public school-funding system using an Adequacy
model ensures all children an excellent education. And that
means everyone benefits, including businesses. They can continue
to provide the resources schools need to produce an educated
workforce ready to enter today's economy.
The business community is a key part of the education system.
If you are a partner in WAES and represent a school district,
talk to your vendors about the coalition and the Adequacy
model. It is important that business people as well as educators
understand that this is a statewide problem that demands a
statewide solution. For more information, contact Tom
Beebe at 414-384-9094 or Erin
Gauthier-Green at 414-423-2700, ext. 2705.
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