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Citizen lobbyists start their day at the Dane County Coliseum.
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By Joanne M. Haas
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While 2,000 public education advocates lobbied legislators in meeting rooms throughout the Madison downtown area Wednesday (June 13, 2001), Senate Democrats crafted a revised state budget plan that addresses many of their concerns.
Senate President Fred Risser rushed two blocks through near-record heat and humidity to deliver "the very good package" to hundreds of the teachers, educational support personnel, administrators and parents who came to Madison Wednesday on behalf of children.
"I think the group will be very happy with what we did," the veteran Madison Democrat said of the budget work completed just as the Great Schools Lobby Day got under way in meeting places around the Capitol Square.
Among other things, the state budget plan approved by Senate Democrats includes more dollars for special education and increased flexibility on school district revenue caps. (More on the Senate Democrats' budget actions.) The budget now goes to the full Senate and must still be acted on by the Assembly before being returned to Governor McCallum for his signature and possible veto actions.
Special education funding and revenue control flexibility were two of five issues that the citizen lobbyists from throughout the state focused on in their meetings with legislators Wednesday. The other issues were full funding of the SAGE class-size reduction program, funding of 4-year-old kindergarten programs, and funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
The citizen lobbyists gathered at the Dane County Coliseum, then rode in buses to meetings with legislators at the Capitol, Monona Terrace Convention Center, Concourse Hotel, Inn on the Park, and other downtown locations.
Concerned about son's education
Rachel Burkel of Reedsburg traveled to Madison on behalf of her son, about to enter kindergarten, and the students in her 3rd-grade classroom.
 A crowd gathers during a Lobby Day news conference in the State Capitol. |
"The revenue caps are forcing the (Reedsburg) district to make hard choices – such as eliminating the at-risk and gifted and talented programs," she said. "I have a son going into kindergarten. I'm just concerned that the caps have forced our districts to make choices that aren't kid-friendly."
Watertown School District administrator Andy Bare said he anticipates hardships as the combination of revenue caps and declining enrollments reduce his district's ability to collect vital revenues from taxpayers.
"We're going to get where we will be cutting programs," said Bare, a principal for a 300-student elementary school and a rural 50-child elementary school.
But Bare said he is grateful the Legislature's budget-writing Joint Finance Committee restored the funding cuts proposed by McCallum to the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program, which reduces the teacher-student ratio in early grades for schools with large numbers of low-income students.
Revenue caps reduce programs
Hattie Arnold, a Milwaukee Public Schools 3rd-grade teacher, echoed others' concerns about the revenue caps.
"They are preventing a lot of programs from being implemented in our district," Arnold said, citing in particular the need for quality K-4 education to get children started early.
For example, Arnold said she is concerned her classroom does not have an Internet connection.
"We want our children ready for the 21st century," she said.
Teacher salaries force tough choices
Pam Martin, a high school psychology and sociology
teacher from the Watertown School District, told legislators about the
choices her salary forces her to make.
After finishing her master's degree, Martin owes $26,000
in student loans. On her $37,000 per year salary, Martin won't be able
to pay back the debt until age 56.
"I love my profession dearly," she told
the legislators. "But you are forcing me to choose between the
children I teach and my own children. Can I afford to send them college?"
Special education children pitted against others
Mother and daughter Gloria and Jessica Foster came to the Lobby Day together. Gloria is a school social worker with the Hamilton School District in Sussex and Jessica is ready to become a Montessori teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools next fall.
"They've never fully funded special education," Gloria Foster said, adding that the lack of funding pits children with special needs against others. "It's a shame."
And Jessica, like other teachers, already has a record of doling out her own funds to purchase supplies for her students – as she did during her student teaching days.
Teachers buying more supplies
Karen Affeldt, an 8th grade teacher in Beloit, is no stranger to that scenario that includes rationing chalk and staples.
"There is more money leaving teachers' pockets to subsidize the budgets," she said, citing one example of a teacher who pitched in for string that couldn't be covered by the budget.
"Yet, we are expected to keep kids literate using technology ... that is if you're lucky enough to have a computer in your classroom.
"We've cut programs, maintenance projects have been put on hold, textbooks and computers can't be purchased. We can't keep up with the technology," Affeldt said. "It's gotten so bad that I don't even keep track of how many millions we've had to cut."
Affeldt said she took great hope in seeing all the new faces that participated in the Lobby Day.
"Just try to let people know. Keep them hearing the message," she said. "And it was nice that we have some people who weren't here in the past. It lets the legislators know that it is not just one group."
Teachers fundraise to ease budget gaps
Chemistry teacher Spence Fretschel, of Milwaukee Public Schools, can't always afford to buy supplies for his students when the district budget runs out.
He told the legislators about the need for microscopes in his classroom that could not be paid for by the school's budget. When the district could not come up with the money, the PTA offered a solution.
"On a Saturday afternoon, I sat in a parking lot at the local
Wal-Mart and sold hotdogs and brats," he said. Eventually, Fretschel
and his co-workers were able to raise enough money to buy the equipment,
though they're still frustrated about the way they had to do it.
'Get the message through to them'
Marilyn Nemeth, who retired from teaching 6th grade for the Racine district in 1993, agreed.
"We need to keep our legislators aware that there are many other groups of people who agree that we need help and we have to get that message through to them," said Nemeth, who remains active through WEAC-Retired.
Other groups on hand included WISDOM, representing inner-city churches in the southeastern corner of the state; the Wisconsin Coalition for Advocacy; the School Administrators Alliance; Wisconsin Citizen Action; Wisconsin Federation of Teachers; and the school districts of Milwaukee, Madison and Janesville.
Lobby Day photo gallery
Senate Democrats add revenue cap relief to budget
Revenue caps have created a crisis, Johnson
says
Cat in the Hat, legislators exhibit value of
small classes
Resource page on 2001-2003 state budget
Posted June 13, 2001