WAES Talks With Task Force

Thanks to the hard work of hundreds of partners and friends of the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES), real and comprehensive school-finance reform has taken another important step forward.

Jack Norman, WAES Research Advisor, presented the Wisconsin Adequacy Plan to the Governor's Task Force on Educational Excellence at the State Capitol. WAES members sat behind him to represent the coalition (left to right): Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, Wisconsin Advocacy Coalition; Doris Parsons, Palmyra-Eagle School Board; Cynthia DiCamelli, Wisconsin PTA; Randy Kunsch, Phillips School District; Janet Kane, Middleton-Cross Plains School Board.

On January 28, 2004, Jack Norman, research director for the Institute for Wisconsin's Future (IWF)—joined by representatives of the diverse, statewide coalition—talked with the Governor's Task Force on Educational Excellence about reform based on the need for sufficient revenue for schools and presented them with the Wisconsin Adequacy Plan, a new school finance system that embodies the core principles of WAES.

Representing the organizations that make up the coalition were Cynthia DiCamelli, president of the Wisconsin PTA; Jeff Spitzer-Reznick, managing attorney with the Wisconsin Coalition for Advocacy; Doris Parsons, president of the Palmyra-Eagle School Board; Janet Kane, a member of the Middleton-Cross Plains School Board; and Randy Kunsch, a teacher in the Phillips School District.

WAES also unveiled a new, useful document at the daylong meeting in the Capitol. The Wisconsin Adequacy Plan: In Brief is a one-sheet description of the school-funding reform model that is now in play in a majority of the states in the country.

Partners in WAES believe that Wisconsin's school-funding system is broken beyond repair and should be linked to the needs of children, giving each of them—no matter where he or she lives—the opportunity to meet rigorous academic goals.

The plan establishes a foundation amount for every student with additional funding going to young people with specific needs identified by the Supreme Court, including special education, those having difficulty learning English, and children in poverty. The WAES plan also recognizes students attending school in small, rural districts as in need of special consideration.

Task Force subcommittees (special education, early childhood, the achievement gap, and personnel) met during the afternoon portion of the meeting. They are expected to deliver their recommendations in mid-March, and the group's final report will go to Governor Jim Doyle in mid-May.

For updates on the Task Force's meetings and activities, click here.

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