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Background
Supporters of public education are opposed to cuts in the highly successful
SAGE class-size reduction program. School administrators, educators,
parents and local school board members have joined to tell stories about
how SAGE benefits everyone in his or her community. Individuals from
various backgrounds appeared as panels at each of the Joint Finance
public hearings on the state budget and are now personally visiting
with legislators to seek full funding of SAGE school contracts.
SAGE is a program committed to putting kids in classrooms that work, maintaining quality staff and benefiting everyone in the community. SAGE turns schools into "lighted schoolhouses" open for extended hours; develops a rigorous, high-expectations curriculum; and gives attention to professional development and staff evaluation practices. It also requires parent and family involvement in schools.
The governor's budget, as introduced, cuts SAGE by about $37 Million and only allows schools with poverty rates above 50% to expand SAGE to 2nd and 3rd. Aid to 370 schools with poverty rates below 50% is capped so that SAGE reaches only children in kindergarten and the 1st grade.
The education community is united in asking that the SAGE program be made permanent and that all SAGE school contracts be fully funded through the 3rd grade. The Wisconsin Education Association Councils is part of an Education Community Coalition composed of groups supporting SAGE. The coalition includes: the Wisconsin PTA; the School Administrators Alliance; the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers; the Institute for Wisconsin's Future; the Wisconsin Coalition for Advocacy; and representatives from the Janesville, Madison and Milwaukee school districts.
Legislative History
The objective of the SAGE program is to improve academic achievement, particularly for poor children. Schools sign five-year contracts with the state, receiving $2,000 per low-income child to reduce class sizes to 15 in kindergarten through the 3rd grade. In 1996-97 a total of 3,267 children were served in 30 SAGE schools. The program serves 61,400 children in 566 schools this year (2000-2001). This expansion was the result of bi-partisan support for the program in the 1999-2001 state budget.
Evaluations in each of the first four years of the program have shown that students in SAGE schools scored significantly higher than students in the comparison schools in all subjects tested. The results have been particularly promising for minority pupils.
WEAC Position on Fully Funding SAGE Contracts
WEAC is asking the Legislature to approve funding for SAGE as requested by the Department of Public Instruction.
The DPI budget request asked that SAGE be made permanent. DPI also asked for about $17 million next year and an additional $35 million in 2002-03. This above-base funding will allow the new SAGE schools to phase the program up to the 2nd and 3rd grades over the next two years, as required by law.
Finally, WEAC believes that the DPI should retain responsibility to evaluate SAGE. The governor's budget strips the evaluation of SAGE away from the DPI and places it in a newly created Board of Education Evaluation and Accountability. The new board would be attached to the Department of Administration.
Talking Points
For additional information
Please feel free to contact Bob Burke, WEAC Legislative Coordinator, at 800-362-8034 ext. 254 or by e-mail at burkeb@weac.org for additional information about this budget brief.
Posted May 14, 2001