Fourth
Forum in Dane County
 |
Mary Bean (far left), with the League of
Women Voters of Dane County, chaired the
Dane County forum. Other panelists included
(to Bean’s right): parent Dawn Wians,
student Oliver Kiefer and parent Joan Eggert. |
|
|
While the Governor was delivering his state-of-the-state
address Wednesday night, Jan. 12, residents of Dane County
gathered across town to urge him to make school-funding reform
a priority in his 2005-07 budget.
That message came out of the fourth school-funding reform
community forum, this one held at Monona High School and co-hosted
by school districts and other organizations from throughout
Dane County.
Although repeated at the previous three forums—in Milwaukee,
Ashland, and West Allis—the message was repeated Wednesday
night and it isn’t getting boring: Governor Jim Doyle
must put the needs of all of Wisconsin’s children back
at the top of the state’s priority list.
That message will be delivered in the form of a
postcard distributed at the forum, asking the
Governor to include in his 2005-07 budget five recommendations
from Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Elizabeth
Burmaster and his own Task
Force on Educational Excellence.
Co-hosting the forum were: the League of Women Voters of
Dane County, the Madison-area Urban Ministry, the Wisconsin
Council of Children and Families, GLSEN,
Madison Teachers Inc., school board members from Madison and
Cross Plains, Wisconsin Women’s Network, Wisconsin PTA,
Centro Hispano, the Urban League of Greater Madison, the Wisconsin
Council of Disabilities, and WAES.
Although a freak thunderstorm held down the size of the crowd,
it didn’t dampen anyone’s enthusiasm. The entire
forum was taped by Channel 10 (Madison Metropolitan School
District) and will be rebroadcast. Those wanting a tape of
the forum should contact Channel 10 at http://www.mmsd.org/mmsdtv/
Mary Bean, with the League of Women Voters of Dane County,
moderated the two-hour event that included a panel that talked
about the problems with the present school funding system;
a presentation by Jack Norman, from the Institute
for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF); a second
panel that reacted to concerns and possible solutions; and
a call to action. There was also a question and answer period
following each panel.
Panel members who discussed funding problems in Dane County
schools included: Dawn Wians, parent of a child with special
education needs; Oliver Kiefer, a student at Madison West
School; Joan Eggert, a parent; teacher Sarah Bringman from
Madison; and Jeff Leverich, a researcher with WEAC who gave
a statewide perspective the area problems.
 |
|
Following
the Dane County forum, many participants
gathered in smaller groups to discuss what
actions they could take to promote school-funding
reform during the 2005-07 legislative session. |
|
|
Eggert said that, time and again, she sees “special
(education courses, students, and advocates) pitted against
regular (education)” because of inadequate funding.
“We are no longer looking at what is best for all children.”
Wians agreed, saying, “I really don’t want to
arm wrestle with parents over equity in funding.”
Jack Norman, research director for the Institute for Wisconsin’s
Future (IWF) and WAES staffer, outlined the fiscal problems
faced by Madison and other Dane County school districts—and
then compared them to similar challenges confronting school
districts all over the state. He talked about larger class
sizes and reduced programming in some areas, teacher lay-offs
and fewer student services in others, and, in some cases,
entire school districts on the verge of consolidating, dissolving,
or closing early due to the lack of adequate revenue.
Norman explained that there are solutions to the problem,
both long-term and short-term. He explained how an adequacy
model is the ultimate solution because it would
change the system to one where funding actually links to resources
to the needs of children and the academic goals of students.
In the short-run, Norman praised the State Superintendent’s
budget and urged people to fill out postcards asking Gov.
Doyle to not only praise her recommendations but include them
in his own budget.
The second panel consisted of: Barbara Arnold, former Madison
school board member and a member of the Governor’s Task
Force on Educational Excellence; Tony Evers, DPI deputy state
superintendent; Paul Kusuda, a retired Madison resident; Janet
Kane, of the Middleton-Cross Plains school board; and Jeff
Spitzer-Resnick, managing attorney with the Wisconsin Coalition
for Advocacy.
Evers agreed with IWF’s Norman and the other organizers
of the Jan. 12 forum. “We believe (the State Superintendent’s
plan) is a responsible budget,” he said, urging the
crowd to support it. He said it “is the only place to
start” to begin the slow process of achieving adequate
funding.”
Spitzer-Resnick ended the evening, calling on the Dane County
residents to contact Gov. Doyle to urge him to include the
State Superintendent’s budget recommendations:
- Increased revenues for programs for children
who have English language difficulties
- Additional aid for services and programs
for children from poverty
- Transportation aid changes aimed at children
in small, rural school districts
- A “cost-out” study to determine
what a quality education costs in Wisconsin
The next school-funding reform community forum will be held
on Saturday, Jan. 22, at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside
for residents of the Racine/Kenosha area. To read more about
this and other events, click here.
|
