Governor's Task Force on Educational
Excellence
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Members of the Governor's
Task Force on Educational Excellence listen
to public testimony. |
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Governor Jim Doyle named his Task
Force on Educational Excellence on August 22,
2003, signaling a potentially landmark opportunity for reforming
Wisconsin's school-funding system. Read
the WAES reaction to the formation of the Task Force.
The Task Force was comprised of 29
members from communities around the state. It
was charged
with examining and making recommendations for Wisconsin's
school-finance system and how it relates to four areas. A
committee of the whole focused on school finance, while
four
subcommittees worked on student and school achievement
(particularly special-needs students), personnel issues (including
teacher pay, recruitment, and retention), special education,
and early childhood education. Click
here to read the Task Force's final report released in June
2004.
Task Force did good things for children, schools
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Superior parent and school
board member Kris Kintop asked Task Force
members if an excellent education meant
"a reduction in technical education,
libraries, extra-curricular activities,
and alternative education." |
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Antigo superintendent
Lance Alwin told Task Force members that
the Wisconsin tradition of excellence in
education will disappear unless we change
the way we fund public schools. |
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At its final meeting on Tuesday, June 22, 2004, the Governor's
Task Force on Educational Excellence redirected Wisconsin's
school funding debate in the right direction, by putting the
emphasis on adequate funding for academic programs to improve
educational opportunities for all Wisconsin children. Read
the WAES response to the final recommendations.
WAES analysis of the recommendations:
WAES fights for task force proposals:
A number of recommendations from the Governor's Task Force
on Educational Excellence, if enacted, would provide desperately
needed revenue for Wisconsin school districts and start the
state down the path to comprehensive, statewide school-funding
reform.
In her
2005-07 budget, Department of Public Instruction
Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster did the Governor’s
Task Force on Educational
Excellence one better, proposing even more desperately
needed resources for Wisconsin public school children.
Proponents of school-funding reform need to carry Superintendent
Burmaster’s message across the state between now and
January, urging
Governor Jim Doyle to include her recommendations
in his next two-year budget.
Burmaster didn’t include one key item in her budget
that was recommended by the Task Force, a cost-out study (estimated
to cost the state $100,000) to define what staff classes,
facilities, and materials are needed for a sound, basic education
for all public schools students.
The cost-out—along with the State Superintendent’s
call for aid increases total approximately $200 million for
transportation, students with disabilities, early education
and students in poverty, and English-language learners—are
proposals worth
fighting for by school-funding reform advocates.
Take a look at the work
of the task force—and those recommendations
public school children need now—and then
get involved by
contacting the governor.
Proposals.pdf(for
handouts)
WAES was involved throughout Task Force's tenure
During their 10-month tenure, Task Force members heard from
parents, students, educators, and community members from around
Wisconsin. The Task Force held two public hearings, and WAES
was involved in each hearing.
Public Hearings
November 6, 2003 – Wausau. Dozens
of speakers from about twenty mostly northern school districts
gave the governor’s school-finance Task Force a comprehensive
lesson on how the current system is failing Wisconsin’s
children. They told of lost educational opportunities and
unrealized community values, while urging the Task Force to
adopt the WAES approach to school funding. Click
here for details, pictures, and testimony.
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Dianne Lang, Appleton
Education Association President, spoke about
the inherent failure of the school funding
system, which has led to severe reductions
in staff, programs, services, and ultimately,
the quality of education in her district. |
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Amere Love, a student
at North Division High School in Milwaukee,
testified to the lack of electives in her
school due to an inadequate school funding
system. Although she is required to take
eight electives to graduate, her school
only offers two, so she must repeat core
courses. |
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December 11, 2003 – Milwaukee. The
WAES message for Wisconsin school funding reform was loud
and clear for Task Force members. From a presentation by UW-Madison
school finance expert, Alan Odden, to testimony from WAES
partners from throughout southeastern Wisconsin, Adequacy
was the hot topic of the day. Click
here for details, pictures, and full testimonies.
WAES Presentation
WAES took another important step forward on January
28, 2004 in Madison by talking with the Task Force
about reform based on the need for sufficient revenue for
schools and then presenting it with the Wisconsin Adequacy
Plan, a new school finance system that embodies the core principles
of WAES. Click here for details
and pictures of the presentation.
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