Milwaukee forum kicks off series of statewide events

Tina Johnson rallies the crowd at the forum

Parents, students, teachers, school leaders, and city officials broke new ground, Nov. 17, when they sat down together and talked about bringing adequate funding to the 100,000 public school children of Milwaukee.

About 100 people attended the forum, co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES), MICAH (Milwaukee Inner-city Congregations Allied for Hope) and Milwaukee’s Save Our Schools (SOS). Most took the opportunity to send a message to Madison, and many pledged to keep pushing the governor and legislators until the job is done. Specifically, those at Sarah Scott Middle School agreed to attend and find others to take part in a lobby day at the State Capitol early next year.

The Milwaukee forum was the beginning of a series of events being held across the state in an effort to get Governor Jim Doyle to include in his 2005-07 budget five recommendations from Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster and the governor’s own Task Force on Educational Excellence.

Forums will be held for the Milwaukee suburbs, in the Janesville/Beloit and Racine/Kenosha areas, one in Ashland and one in Superior, Dane County, and in western Wisconsin. Plans are also in the works for events in Stevens Point, the Niagara/Florence area, Columbus, and the Fox River Valley.

Milwaukee forum featured superintendent, mayor

MPS Superintendent William Andrekopoulos, Mayor Tom Barrett, School Board Directors Charlene Hardin, Jennifer Morales, Peter Blewett and Milwaukee Teachers Education Association Treasurer Dennis Oulahan were panelist at Milwaukee forum

At the forum held in Milwaukee, Jack Norman, research director for the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF) and WAES staffer, told the group about the serious and worsening fiscal problems facing school districts all over the state, including Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). He talked about the solution offered by an Adequacy model of funding reform and the roadblocks to reform thrown up by some members of the State Legislature.

Following Norman’s presentation, students, parents, and teachers put a human face on the inadequate revenues flowing into MPS. Students talked about an inadequate number of outdated textbooks and class sizes in the 40s. Parents talked about their children’s lost opportunities and restricted futures, while teachers told of seeing their cohorts leave a profession that is underpaid and undervalued.

Krystal Thomas, parent of special needs child, addresses the forum.

Speaking at the forum were high school students Scarlett McFarland , Marianna Herrera and John Weissert; parent of a special needs child Kristyl Thomas and 4th grade teacher Kelley Dawson-Salas. Milwaukee movers and shakers then responded to Norman’s presentation, the testimony, and questions from the audience. Radio talk show host Eric Von moderated a panel consisting of Mayor Tom Barrett, MPS Superintendent William Andrekopoulos, MPS school board President and Vice-president Peter Blewett, and Charlene Hardin, MPS school board director Jennifer Morales and Milwaukee Teachers Education Association Treasurer Dennis Oulahan.

The evening ended with Father Tom Mueller, WISDOM and St. Cyril & Methodius Orthodox Church, asking those in the audience to contact Gov. Doyle and ask him to include in his 2005-07 budget five recommendations that will move the school-funding reform effort forward and bring desperately needed revenue into MPS and school districts throughout the state.

Recommendations include:

»More money for special education aid
»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 effort doesn’t stop, however, with those at the Sarah Scott meeting. They were urged to involve others. Milwaukee faces serious financial shortfalls that are decreasing the value of education in MPS. If you want to be involved, email Tina Johnson or phone her at 414-384-9094.

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