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There is no doubt that the
global economic downturn hurt peoples’ paychecks and put a hole in
government budgets. Wisconsin was no different. Assembly Democrats - taking
the majority for the first time in 14 years - had a lot of tough choices to
make when deciding how to close an historic $6.6 billion state budget
deficit. Despite the magnitude of this challenge, one thing was clear:
education had to be a top priority. Throughout this legislative session,
Members of the Wisconsin Assembly put children first by protecting education
funding from drastic cuts and by passing new innovative measures to help our
children succeed.
Just this week Gov. Doyle signed a bill making important changes to the SAGE
program, which provides funding to school districts to help them keep class
sizes small in kindergarten through the third grade. Studies have
consistently shown that these smaller class sizes boost student achievement.
With a tough budget environment, some schools have considered dropping the
program. The SAGE Flexibility Act gives school districts additional
flexibility to stay in the program and continue offering smaller class
sizes.
This new law build upon the work we have done in the Assembly to support
education. First and foremost, we protected education funding from the most
severe cuts that other public services experienced. While local schools in
Wisconsin are hurting like everyone else, we were able to avoid the drastic
steps taken by other states. In Illinois, state leaders are making massive
cuts to K-12 education, considering a four-day school week or laying off
17,000 teachers. California cut $6.6 billion from K-12 education, laid off
22,000 teachers, and increased college tuition by 32 percent. Nevada closed
six college satellite campuses. Ohio cut funding to libraries by one-third.
The School Funding Formula that has been established accounts for
differences in school districts’ abilities to raise money from local
property taxes. The formula is primarily influenced by factors the
Legislature does not control, including student enrollment in a school
district and changing property values. Generally this means districts with
lower property values receive increased state aid, while districts with
higher property values receive less aid.
Similarly, districts with declining enrollment receive less aid, while
districts with increasing enrollment receive more. I believe that rural
schools, like many of the ones in our district, need to be treated fairly
and with the same consideration as school districts from larger urban areas.
That is why I fought to keep the “hold harmless” provision in the state
budget, which guarantees a set level of funding to districts that may be
suffering from declining enrollment. Without this provision, school
districts in our area could have taken a hit greater than anyone could
imagine. I also worked to maintain the statutory 15 percent limit in cuts
that any individual district could sustain.
This is only the beginning. I am currently working with Sen. Vinehout and
other legislators to make changes in school funding formula that address the
needs of school districts that do have declining enrollment, but perhaps
have increasing property values. We have come to find that this is a long
term project and that not every legislator supports the goals we have for
school funding. It is important to note that legislators who represent
suburban school districts have an interest in supporting a school funding
formula that benefits their school districts and not necessarily ours. While
there are plenty of challenges facing our children and schools, the steps we
have taken this legislative session are helping make a positive difference.
Taken together, these measures will help improve our schools and ensure our
children have the best education possible. In the meantime I will continue
to push for reform of the school funding formula that improves the way rural
schools are treated by the State of Wisconsin.
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