School Board Delegates Endorse
Resolution Calling for Change in Funding System
Although they stopped short of endorsing an Adequacy plan,
members of the Wisconsin
Association of School Boards (WASB) took a giant step
toward real school-funding reform, January 21, 2004, at the
group's delegate assembly in Milwaukee.
On a vote of 320-43, delegates endorsed a resolution setting
up parameters to evaluate reform proposals and to chart the
group's legislative agenda for the coming year.
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Prior to the Jan. 21 Wisconsin
Association of School Boards' delegate assembly
at the State Education Convention and Exhibit
Show, partners in WAES worked on their strategy
for passage of pro-school finance reform
legislation. Left to right: Kathy
Zingsheim, West Allis-West Milwaukee; Andrew
Becker, Green Bay; Ellen Lindgren, Middleton-Cross
Plains; Carol Carstensen, Madison; and Doris
Parsons, Palmyra-Eagle. |
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The resolution was amended to say that any foundation plan
must be based on "the actual cost of a sound, basic education,"
language that is consistent with the Wisconsin
Adequacy Plan's call for a cost-out study. Supporting
the amendment were school board members from several WAES
districts.
WASB's delegate assembly was held during the 83rd Annual
State Education Convention and Exhibit Show sponsored by the
school board group, Wisconsin School Business Officials, and
Wisconsin School District Administrators.
The original resolution was offered by the Green Bay Area
School Board, a partner in WAES. It was changed slightly by
a WASB committee and became 04-3.
The amendment was added from the floor, and the resolution,
following only brief discussion, was approved.
In support of 04-3, Ellen Lindgren, Middleton-Cross Plains
School Board, said the resolution reflects the "most
pressing need" facing Wisconsin's public schools.
Green Bay board member Andrew Becker offered the resolution
that supports four changes in the law and sets benchmarks
"if a foundation plan is considered." The amendment,
however, could have the most far-reaching effect on WASB's
legislative effort.
In the recently released Wisconsin Adequacy Plan: In
Brief, WAES says Adequacy is "built around a foundation
plan based on actual resource costs" and calls for a
"state-commissioned cost-out" to determine them.
The WASB amendment uses basically the same language, also
saying that if a foundation is adopted, it has to be sufficient
to cover those costs.
A cost-out
is the first step in reform based on Adequacy. It establishes
the appropriate level of resources needed to give all children
the opportunity to succeed. Studies have been completed or
are underway in states throughout the country.
The four changes WASB will look for in any funding plan are:
- Attention to the special needs
classifications (special education, English language learner,
and poverty) identified by the Wisconsin Supreme Court;
- The ability of school boards to
increase or decrease local property taxes without affecting
state aid;
- Weight to equity issues, local
control, and a thorough revision of the current formula;
and
- Flexibility to establish fund balances.
Benchmarks were also set in the resolution “if a foundation
plan is considered.” On January 28, 2004, the Governor’s
Task Force on Educational Excellence, charged with making
recommendations to change current law, heard representatives
of four plans. They all established a foundation or base amount
of resources for every student in the state.
The WASB benchmarks include:
- Sufficient resources to provide
the actual cost of a sound, basic education (the amendment);
- An annual increase in the foundation;
- Equity and local control; and
- Debt service outside the foundation
and locally controlled.
WAES supported passage of 04-3 and urged its adoption in
a letter sent to all school board members in Wisconsin. The
letter was signed by school board members who are partners
in WAES: Andrew Becker, Green Bay; Carol Carstensen, Madison;
Cynthia DiCamelli, Oregon; Janet Kane and Ellen Lindgren,
Middleton-Cross Plains; Christina Kintop, Superior; Jennifer
Morales, Milwaukee; Doris Parsons, Palmyra-Eagle; Virginia
Wyss, Janesville; and Kathy Zingsheim, West Allis-West Milwaukee.
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