School-funding
update for the week of June 8, 2009
The Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent
Schools (WAES) is a statewide, independent, membership organization
of educators, school board members, students, parents, community
leaders, and researchers whose lone goal is the comprehensive
reform of Wisconsin's school-funding system. If you
would like more information about the organization or becoming
part of this effort, contact Tom Beebe at 920-650-0525 or
tbeebe@excellentschools.org.
Legislators
invited to Walk on the Child's Side
If you haven't done it already, now is the time to
make your late-spring, early-summer vacation plans
to come to Madison for the June 16 Walk on the
Child's Side march from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Library Mall to the State Capitol. It is your chance
to tell legislators — again — that it
is long past time for them to fix the school-funding
crisis in the state. For more information, see the
story on the homepage.
After some comments on the steps of the Capitol,
walkers will have a chance to talk to their legislators
(they have been invited to the Walk, which
starts at 11 a.m., and to the rally at noon. All of
them have been invited to the Walk, but it
is up to you to make sure they attend ... or at least
make themselves available after noon for some honest
discussion. Also invited are the members of Governor
Jim Doyle's Task Force on Academic Excellence.
Although their report remains on the shelf, it did
call for significant reforms and extra revenue for
public schools, including a call for an increase in
the state sales tax.
The 10th anniversary Walk on the Child's Side
is co-sponsored by Northern Tier Uniserv, Price County
Citizens Who CARE, and WAES.
Legislature
considering bad budget for public schools
Although some folks are trying to
put a positive spin on the 2009-11 budget sent by
the Joint Finance Committee to the Legislature last
week, most experts agree that is like trying to put
lipstick on a pig. No matter how you look at it, the
budget now moving into the hands of the Assembly is
bad for most if not all schools and disastrous for
many.
On top of the 3.1-percent reduction in state education
aid, the per-pupil revenue limit for next year is
now set at $200 per student, $75 less per-student
than last year. In addition, schools are also going
to see a reduction of 2.5 percent in categorical aids
— this includes things like transportation aid,
SAGE, and ELL programs. The status quo budgets of
the last several years — which, despite nominal
increases, have seen state aid becoming a smaller
share of educational costs — have resulted in
annual staff lay-offs, increases in class sizes, and
cuts in programs and services. We can only guess what
real dollar cuts will do to education. (You can get
reactions to and analysis of the budget by going to
the websites of education stakeholder groups like
the Wisconsin
School Administrators Alliance; the Wisconsin
Association of School Boards; and the Wisconsin
Education Association Council.
You need to speak out by
contacting your legislators and asking them, in
the 2009-11 budget, to protect public schools, school
children, and communities. No matter what they do,
however, it will only be a stop gap or a BandAid at
best. We still need comprehensive school-funding reform
and that makes the June 16 Walk
on the Child's Side an important event for
you to attend.
School districts, statewide, look for more cuts
in their budgets
School districts all over Wisconsin are already
struggling to figure out how to deal with anticipated
cuts in programs and services they'll have to
make when the Legislature finally passes what
is expected to be a disastrous budget for public
education ... and this is on top of the cuts virtually
everyone of them faced just to keep pace with
current law.
The Waupun
School District is estimating it will lose about
$450,000 in state aid, and this comes on the
heels of the defeat of a $4.9 million referendum
earlier this year that resulted in trimming 10
teachers, 12 support staff, and one administrator.
Similar news is coming out of the Manitowoc
School District where the community is trying
to cut an additional $700,000 from its 2009-10
school year budget — a move that would bring
total reductions to $2.3 million. The district
cut $1.6 million from its budget as of May 12,
including reducing secondary teaching positions
and eliminating library aides.
Similar news is coming out of Wisconsin
Rapids. The school board found out last week
that it must come up with more than $500,000 in
additional cuts, after already trimming the district's
$60 million budget by $1.8 million earlier this
spring. In
Iola-Scandinavia, Superintendent Joe Price
said it was like seeing a train coming down the
tunnel as his board comes to grips with an anticipated
aid increase of $163,000 turning into an increase
of only $5,000, and DC
Everest School District board members, May 26.
approved a $1.5 million reduction to its operating
budget "while it awaits word about how much
funding it might receive from the state"
in the 2009-11 budget.
Maybe
it's time to make some noise for school-funding
reform
On those days when no one is listening to you
-- when your tales of woe you about Wisconsin's
school-funding system go unheeded -- you might
have to think creatively about delivering your
message. For example, how about going
into the streets and making some noise.
That was the tact taken by folks in Oregon who
believe that "unless the Legislature and
the Governor raise significant additional revenue,
there will be terrible cuts to schools —
as well as other vital public services like health
care and senior services." That should sound
familiar to most people in Wisconsin.
Mike Rosen, past chair of the Oregon
chapter of Stand for Children, decided to
take matters into his own hands. Explaining that
the community has a responsibility to demand sensible
action from lawmakers, Rosen called folks into
the streets between 10:30 and 10:45 a.m. on May
15, "to take a break from work, go out into
the street, and just make some noise. Bring a
pot, pan, whistle, horn, or any noise-making device
... to make noise for needed basic services."
Now that's the way to get some attention.
John Smart
asks Governor, Legislature to "Save our schools!"
When it comes to speaking up about the need for
school-funding reform for schools throughout his
home area of Park Falls ... and schools all over
the state ... WAES board member and former school
board member John Smart does it often and elegantly.
His most recent column appeared in The
Ashland Daily Press.
Smart begins his column saying he's writing to
the Legislature and Governor Doyle about the effect
on children and schools of the budget the Joint
Finance Committee sent to the Assembly. Noting
that it will cut public school revenue, he explains
that "we must fully support our schools as
the surest method to grow the economy out of this
economic hole. Who could possibly think that we
can solve these very serious problems with a less-than-well-educated
work force."
He points out that there "are ways and there
are means" to adequately fund public schools
and other vital services. Smart points to the
work of the
Institute for Wisconsin's Future as a good
place to start, and he urges the Legislature to
take a look at their research and public policy
recommendations as a good place to start the discussion.
Smart did an excellent job, Monday morning, June
8, talking about this and other school-funding
issues on the Joy
Cardin Show on Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR).
You can hear the program by going to http://www.wpr.org/webcasting/audioarchives_display.cfm?Code=jca.
WAES
membership keeps the reform message before the
public
The main function of WAES is to talk about school-funding
reform in communities throughout the state. You
can learn more about the coalition at http://www.excellentschools.org/
and you can sign
up to receive community education outreach and
to receive
this e-mail update.
All of this, however, requires a group effort
by all of the members
of WAES. We need you to do your part to make
sure the coalition can continue its work, especially
in light of the Legislature's inability or lack
of desire to fix the school-funding formula. If
you want to join WAES click
here or contact Tom
Beebe.
Since the last newsletter, the Milwaukee City
Council PTA/PTSA has joined WAES. Those renewing
their memberships were Kim Suhr, John Smart, and
the Athens School District.
Help
WAES correct e-mail update glitch
Some of you receiving this e-mail
update are frustrated by the way it arrives —
endlessly long lines that are patience-trying to
read. Hopefully we can help each other out.
As of now, only a handful of subscribers
are suffering with this glitch. If you receive these
endless lines, let me know and I will send you a
text version that seems to take care of the problem.
Also, if you know how to fix it, let
me know at tbeebe@excellentschools.org.
Thanks.
School-funding
reform calendar
-
June 16 — "Walk on the Child's Side"
reunion tour, starts at 11 a.m. at the clock tower at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Library Mall
(for more information, go to the Walk
story)
-
June 20 — School-funding reform discussion with
students in doctoral school administrator class, 10 a.m.,
DC
Everest School District office, 6300 Alderson Street,
Weston
-
Sept. 15 — School-funding reform discussion with
the Marathon county Retired
Educators Association, 10 a.m. at the Rose
Garden in Wausau.
-
Oct. 8 — Community school-funding reform discussion
in Hartford sponsored by the Hartford AAUW; more details
as they become available.
Please feel free to share your copy of the WAES school-funding
update with anyone interested in school-finance reform.
Contact Tom Beebe (tbeebe@wisconsinsfuture.org)
at 920-650-0525 for details.
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