To gain a greater understanding of which districts in our state are having problems with Wisconsin’s school-funding formula turn to DPI’s latest series of online maps showing everything from districts’ base revenue limits to changes in enrollment to changes in school aid.
You can access the maps by going here.
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, School Finance
“Ney organized spoken-word presentations at Madison high schools and saw the power of poetry to engage and connect with teens. “We had 2,200 kids in the gym at West High, all electrified and invigorated by poetry. It was all over for me then; it touched a nerve. In the times we live in we need hope, and here it was,” Ney says. “We put together a spoken-word showcase at East High and when it was over, the students spontaneously pulled out their journals and started sharing their work. It was a raw, brilliant, magical moment.
… A call then came from James Kass, a UW–Madison alumnus and founder of Youth Speaks, a San Francisco-based organization devoted to spoken-word performance, education and youth development programs. A partnership was forged with UW–Madison, Youth Speaks Wisconsin was born and ultimately found a home in the School of Education through the new Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives.” Full story here.
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, Local News
“Despite decades of interventions and billions of dollars spent, a large gap in school achievement stubbornly persists between underprivileged children and their more advantaged peers.
With funding from the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery seed grant program, UW–Madison scientists will now bring their collective expertise to bear on one important, but overlooked, cause of this troubling problem.” Announcement is here.
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, Best Practices, Local News
Here is what the governor of Illinois has just proposed to fund his state school system. There are a number of similarities between our two states in terms of how we fund our schools, including the corporate tax rates (or lack thereof). It shows a different kind of leadership on funding reform than we’re used to. Illinois is certainly a state to keep an eye on. If this legislation is successful, it will also provide a strong counter argument to many of our elected state representatives who’ve stated many times, over the years, that we will lose large businesses if they have to pay more than minimal (or no) taxes. Excepts from here below.
“[The Illinois governor] spells out an ambitious, progressive, populist agenda the likes of which has not been seen in the Midwest for years.
If he can build public support and successfully steer it through the General Assembly, the people of Illinois could enjoy a healthier, more prosperous future, and the state could set an example for the rest of the nation.
Mr. Blagojevich’s plans would do much to solve two of the greatest problems facing middle- and working-class people: the quality of public education and access to decent health care. Achieving those goals, which embody universal American values, costs money, he readily admits: about $6 billion annually. For that, the governor would turn mainly to large companies that sell goods and services in Illinois. . .
In his budget address last week, Mr. Blagojevich proposed spending an extra $10 billion over four years to improve Illinois public schools. This, he said, would narrow the gap between the richest districts of suburban Chicago, which spend $28,000 per student, and the poorer districts downstate and elsewhere, which spend as little as $6,000 per student. More schools would offer full-day kindergarten classes, and children in poorly performing schools would have longer school years.
Right now, the state pays only about 30 percent of the cost of public education. Local property taxes cover the rest, inevitably leading to inequities. Mr. Blagojevich believes his plan eventually could lead to reductions in property taxes. . .
The governor didn’t blame the businesses for taking advantage of rules that let them minimize tax payments, but he hammered repeatedly on the fact that those rules are stacked in business’ favor and that ordinary citizens enjoy no such advantages.
In fact, business’ share of state revenue from income taxes has been shrinking. In 1977, corporations paid 21 percent of all Illinois income taxes. Now it’s 12 percent. Mr. Blagojevich pointed out that 37 Fortune 100 companies located in Illinois did $1.2 billion worth of business in the state — and paid no Illinois income taxes.”
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, National News, School Finance
I thought it might be helpful to provide some facts and explanations about the topic of health insurance – hopefully this will clear up some of the misinformation and misconceptions present in the public discussions. It is important to remember that the focus must be on the total package settlement – because that is what has an impact on the budget. For example, Sun Prairie’s agreement to make changes in its health insurance (by using a joint committee to find a way to reduce health insurance costs) has been praised, as it should be. It should be noted, however, that Sun Prairie’s total package settlement was 4.75% – while Madison’s package, without switching health insurance carriers, was 3.98%. (A rough estimate is that a 4.75% settlement would have cost Madison about $1.5 Million more.)
In every contract negotiation with MTI since I first came on the Board (1990) the district has proposed changes to health insurance – and in most of those contracts there have been some modifications which saved money; among these changes are: self-funding of the first $300(single)/$600(family) of costs; increasing drug co-pays, moving to a PPO (Preferred Provider Option).
The Board is unanimous in its desire to negotiate changes to health insurance – and it will be a major focus of the negotiations with MTI, signing the Voluntary Impasse Agreement (VIA) does not change that. What the VIA does do is structure the conduct of negotiations. It sets out the schedule for negotiations, sets a date, if settlement has not been reached, to begin mediation and names a mediator, and lastly, if mediation does not result in a settlement, identifies a date for going to binding arbitration and names the arbitrator. The VIA sets the conditions for negotiation (teachers will not engage in any form of job action) and the conditions that will be in effect if we go to binding arbitration. These last conditions are in the form of a “poison pill” – intended to make arbitration less attractive to either side. MTI agrees that it will not propose a change to the salary schedule and the Board agrees not to change health insurance. The focus is on reaching a voluntary agreement.
Because we have not yet provided MTI with our proposals I cannot discuss them in public. I can however talk about the settlement we have reached with our custodians who are represented by AFSCME. The custodians agreed to change their health insurance to a choice of 3 HMO’s (Group Health, Physicians Plus and DeanCare). The savings from this change allowed a greater salary increase (2.5%). A small amount of the savings ($15,000) went back to the budget. These savings are realized only in the first year – thereafter, the base for figuring future costs uses the lower health insurance costs.
One of the most dramatic changes of the last 5 years (and one that has been little noted) is the movement of teachers from WPS to Group Health. This year more than 50% of the teacher’s unit take Group Health Insurance – the lowest priced HMO in the community.
Carol Carstensen
Filed under AMPS, Budget, Local News, School Finance
Both the Capital Times and the State Journal today reported on the superintendent’s recommended budget cuts.
From the Cap Times:
“The administration’s proposal is not final; the School Board will begin to discuss it Monday and there will be a number of public hearings through May, when the board expects to make a decision.”
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, Budget, Local News, School Finance
Kaleem Caire, a person with deep roots in Madison and an old friend has recently started The Next Generation Foundation an organization whose mission is to “To increase school participation and success rates of adolescent males of color, and prepare them to succeed in college preparatory high schools and higher education.” They are currently working only in the Washington DC area, but as Kaleem put it his “heart will always be on Fisher Street” and he would like to bring the programs to Madison.
The recent Isthmus story on “disconnected youth” highlights the need for the work Kaleem is doing. Kaleem’s background as a “semi-disconnected youth,” experience and connections in Madison make me believe that Next Generation could do much good here. We should all try to help him bring his work back where his heart remains. I’m going to.
Please, do take the time to check out what the Next Generation Foundation is doing.
TJM
Filed under AMPS, Best Practices, Local News
The superintendent released his budget changes to balance the 2007-2008 budget. They will be presented to the entire school board on Monday, March 12th. The full document can be found here.
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, Budget, Local News, School Finance
AMPS is committed to the 3 P’s: public support, proven practices and proper funding for public education. This post is focused on proven practices.
There’s been a lot of back-and-forth about whether MMSD made a wise choice in turning down a $2 million federal grant for the highly-prescriptive Reading First Program. This NY Times article today (March 9) goes in-depth both on some of the results Madison has seen using its balanced literacy approach (which is much more student-specific than Reading First) and presents more information on exactly why the district turned the money down.
I have no interest in resurrecting curriculum wars in MMSD, but thought the data on what Madison is seeing as a result of its strategies and how the district listened to their own reading teachers and specialists in deciding to proceed with their approach is worth reading.
Beth Swedeen
Filed under AMPS, Best Practices, Local News, National News, No Child Left Behind
Many people in Madison continue to say that the district and its leadership (including the Board of Education) are helpless in changing the revenue caps and the way public education is funded in Wisconsin. They point out that the revenue caps have been in place for 14 years and at least during in the last three budget cycles (since 2000), districts have been screaming for help. I’m not a political insider, but here’s at least some reasons that this year (and definitely the budget cycle in 2009) is significantly different:
— A Democratic governor just won re-election but a significant margin (some could call this a mandate)
— The powerful Joint Finance Committee (for the first time I can remember) is comprised equally of Dems and Republicans (in the last budget cycle just 4 of the 16 members were Dems)
— For the first time I can remember, 2 of the 16 are from Madison. For years, there was no Madison representation on Joint Finance.
— This is the first budget cycle in which school districts are publicly saying that if referenda don’t pass, they will have to close (Florence last year; Markesan this past fall; and now Wisconsin Heights, which actually did NOT pass its referendum). Luther Olsen, who represents the Markesan area, is on Joint Finance. HE HAS HEARD AN EARFUL on revenue caps from his mostly-very-conservative constituents.
— Each year, state and federal percentages of overall school funding have decreased to the point that even “wealthy” suburban schools are in peril.
Other people who are more in-the-know on state politics care to comment?
Beth Swedeen
Filed under AMPS, Local News, School Finance, Take Action
Fund a Classroom Project in Madison
AMPS 