Wall of Blame Reveals Tax Loopholes

Parents of children at Concord School in Watertown School District posed after the press conference with the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools' Wall of Blame. Because of district budget cuts, Concord School may be closed.

Partners in the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES) unveiled the state's "Wall of Blame," April 9, 2003 at a press conference in the Assembly Parlor of the state Capitol.

The press conference, held prior to the sixth and final Joint Finance Committee (JFC) hearing on the 2003-05 state budget, drew attention to the fiscal plight of school districts contrasted to tens of millions of dollars in sales tax loopholes enjoyed by state businesses.

On one side of the wall were Madison-area school districts and the amounts of money they would have lost if the governor's budget had been in effect for the 2002-03 school year. The other side contained many of the sales-tax-exempted services, including semen for livestock breeding ($1.9 million a year); barber, beauty, and nail services ($22.6 million); and interior design services ($3 million).

Doris Parsons, president of the Palmyra-Eagle School Board, talked about the revenue gap in her school district caused by the difference between rising educational expenses and state-imposed revenue limits. She told those at the Madison press conference that the education of children in the Palmyra-Eagle area is falling behind because of the method used in Wisconsin to fund public schools.

One way to help keep schools, key human services, and local safety programs intact, said WAES partner Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, is to close these tax loopholes and reform income tax regulations. Spitzer-Resnick represented the Wisconsin Coalition for Advocacy.

The press conference was hosted by Ellen Lindgren, a member of the Middleton-Cross Plains School District. In addition to Spitzer-Resnick, speakers included Doris Parsons, president of the Palmyra-Eagle School Board; Cynthia DiCamelli, legislative chair of the Wisconsin PTA; and Rev. Kurt Handrich, pastor of the Calvary Lutheran Church in Beloit.

Following the press conference, Parsons, Rev. Handrich, and Tina Johnson, president of the Milwaukee Council of PTA/PTSA, testified at the JFC budget hearing backed up by about a dozen members of WAES wearing their yellow "Don't Squeeze Schools" buttons.

Surrounded by WAES members, Tina Johnson, Rev. Kurt Handrich, and Doris Parsons testified at the Madison Joint Finance Committee hearing.

Johnson compared public schools to state businesses, explaining that by underfunding public education we are severely limited the future of our children and of the state. Rev. Handrich caught the attention of committee members when he reminded them that Wisconsin's $3 billion deficit is a "budget problem created by adults. We should not make our children suffer for it."

Parsons said she wasn't blind to the state's financial problems and the need for everyone to do their part. She pointed out that schools "are used to painful cuts. We've been doing this [making cuts] for 10 years [because of revenue limits] and now it's someone else's turn."

The WAES press conference also attracted media attention.

Click here for the Madison Capital Times story.

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