Governor's Task Force Hears
from WAES Supporters in Wausau
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"Stand firm and strong
for education," Tigerton superintendent
Gerald Gerard told Task Force members. |
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"The legacy of excellent education in Wisconsin is being
burnt to the ground," Gerald Gerard, superintendent of
the Tigerton School District, told members of the Governor's
Task Force on Educational Excellence when they met in Wausau,
Nov. 6, 2003.
Gerard and dozens of speakers from about 20 mostly northern
school districts gave the school-finance Task Force a comprehensive
lesson on how the current system is failing Wisconsin's children.
He went on to urge them to action and make sure their work
wasn't relegated to the shelf. "You don't have to be
elected to speak for the children of this state," Gerard
said. "Stand firm and strong for education."
Members of the Task Force met for eight hours on the Northcentral
Technical College campus. In the first half of the meeting,
they heard experts from the departments of Public Instruction
and Revenue. In the second half they heard experts from communities
throughout the area: parents, teachers, principals, school
board members, superintendents, and students.
The Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES) and its
adequacy approach to funding reform were on the front burner
of Task Force testimony.
WAES plan praised
Three Lakes Superintendent George Karling, speaking for his
district and the 11 members of the Northern Lakes Conference,
talked about the negative impact of Wisconsin's school-finance
system on children throughout the north and then criticized
the legislators who will talk to anyone about the problem
"except educators."
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Phillips teacher Teri
Hanson stressed the need to overcome two
obstacles. "The first hurdle is to
get our Legislature to admit there's a problem.
The second is that we need more money,"
she said. |
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He then went on to tell the Task Force that there is some
good news. "There's a solution," Karling said, "WAES.
Take a good, hard look at that plan." Karling also attached
a copy of the Wisconsin Adequacy Plan, including a few of
his own suggestions for improvement, to his testimony that
was distributed to members of the group.
Karling wasn't the only speaker endorsing the WAES proposal.
William LaChapell, district administrator in the Wausaukee
School District, described his district as property-rich but
income-poor. "Our people need help. In the state’s
eyes [the funding formula], we are very wealthy," he
explained, "but local people are fighting to keep their
homes."
"I support the WAES plan," LaChapell said. "Our
community supports it."
Lost educational opportunities for communities
The majority of the testimony was about lost educational
opportunities for children throughout the northern part of
the state. Speaker after speaker talked about how community
values go unrealized because Wisconsin's method of funding
schools is too complex, unfair, and inadequate.
Cuts forced on districts by the system and revenue limits
"will damage the heart of our educational program,"
said Wausau superintendent Charles Skurka.
Jerry Trochinski, superintendent of the Phillips School District,
added his concerns, stating that "because of cuts, [elementary
school students] will not receive the education their older
brothers and sisters did." Teri Hanson, a teacher in
the district, said "we have classes where the textbooks
can't be taken home because we have so few," and "I
can't give the same quality to my students now, because the
classes are so much larger."
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Wausau English-language
teacher Lisa Jindrich, accompanied by her
Hmong students, highlighted the need for
more support of successful programs for
English language learners. |
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Speaker after speaker talked about lost opportunities and
community values. Cindy Bettendorf, an Appleton parent, said
the district is losing reading specialists and guidance counselors,
and now "elementary foreign languages are on the block."
Hanson talked about the "mood lighting" in the Phillips
junior high school cafeteria because they have no lights.
Superior parent and school board member Kris Kintop asked
if "excellence [in education means] a reduction in technical
education, libraries, extra-curricular activities, and alternative
education."
Obstacles and solutions
Those who testified zeroed in on the solution. Hanson told
the Task Force it had to overcome two obstacles. "The
first hurdle is to get our Legislature to admit there's a
problem. The second is that we need more money."
She said, "We're going to have to have some heroes here.
The system is broken. We'll have to raise taxes."
Her sentiments were echoed by Lisa Jindrich, a Wausau English-language
teacher who was accompanied by several of her Hmong students.
She was to the point, stating, "The first thing I want
to say: We need more money."
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"There is nothing
more we can cut and still be called a school,"
said White Lake superintendent Peter Kososki,
surrounded by his students. |
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Laona superintendent Storm Carroll also agreed, but added,
"We don't have to raise taxes; just end the exceptions."
The future threatened
Peter Kososki, superintendent from the White Lake School
District, explained to the Task Force and those in the audience
that school districts throughout the state may be headed where
his is going. The White Lake School Board has started looking
at closing its doors and consolidating with another district,
probably Antigo. He was accompanied by students Kim Bodoh,
Kelly Eisenman, Martha McCarthy, and Matt Wahleithner.
Kososki talked about the opportunities his students have
already lost. He also mentioned the effect the school-funding
formula has had on the village. "Sports and music hold
a small community together," he said, and losing them
puts the community of White Lake in jeopardy.
"There is nothing more we can cut," Kososki said,
"and still be called a school."
In addition, testimony came from the school districts of
Butternut, Antigo, Bruce, Gibraltar, Mosinee, Stevens Point,
Tri-County, Wisconsin Rapids, and others.
Read the full testimony of a WAES member from Nov.
6:
Click
here for media coverage from Rhinelander.
Click
here for media coverage from Wausau.
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