Budget now goes to Governor Doyle

UPDATE: On Tuesday (July 5, 2005), the Assembly gave final legislative approval to the state budget, passing the measure as amended by the Senate (outlined below). The bill now goes to Governor Doyle, who has vowed to use his veto pen to protect public education. The governor's original budget plan proposed an additional $938 million for public schools, while the final legislative budget orchestrated by the Republican majority offers just $548 million.

After an all-night session which resulted in a vote largely along party lines, the State Senate passed its version of the state budget bill Friday (July 1, 2005) that pits children against property tax payers by calling for disastrous cuts in education while prioritizing special interests, WEAC President Stan Johnson said.

"To entice the votes of two holdout senators, the Republican leadership took a bad budget from the Assembly and made it even worse by bowing to those senators' favored special interests," he said. "The result is a rollback to 1981 in terms of school funding adjustment levels and a bizarre tax break available only to parents whose children do not attend public schools. While public schoolchildren stare at a bleak future, special interests see a blank check."

The Senate action mirrors the Assembly's June 22 vote on the bill, which also occurred in the early morning hours. The Assembly approved its version of AB 100 by a razor-thin margin on a party-line vote.

The Senate's bill limits education spending to a 1.2% increase in the first year and a 1.1% increase in the second year, while the state's overall spending increases more than 6%. Senator Bob Jauch said the education portion of the budget proposal would fail to cover the cost of inflation more than two decades ago. "The Republican proposal sets school funding policy back 25 years," he said. "Even the authors of revenue controls cannot defend this proposal because of its hypocrisy and the great damage it will cause our public schools."

Both the Senate and Assembly versions of the bill fall nearly $400 million short of what Governor Jim Doyle proposed in education funding for the next two years by rolling back the per pupil adjustment under the revenue cap law. The budget bill allows increases of only $120 per pupil for 2005-06 and $100 in 2006-07, while current law allows an increase of $248 in 2005-06 and $252 in 2006-07.

"That would force immediate and massive cuts as children come back in September to schools with fewer teachers and support staff, larger class sizes, and far fewer curriculum opportunities," Johnson said. The Wisconsin Association of School Boards estimated that 4,700 teacher layoffs would occur if the Legislature's budget bill became law.

Other examples of school cuts that would result from the Republican budget plan, according to Governor Jim Doyle's office, are: $40 million in Milwaukee, $10 million in Madison, $8.5 million in Kenosha, $8.5 million in Racine, $8.2 million in Green Bay, $5.9 million in Appleton, $5.3 million in Waukesha, $4.4 million in Eau Claire, $4.3 million in Janesville, $4.2 million in Oshkosh, $4.1 million in Sheboygan, $3.5 million in Wausau, $3.4 million in West Allis, $3.1 million in Stevens Point, and $3 million in La Crosse. The governor's office has posted a list (pdf file) of cuts for every school district under the Republican budget plan.

Johnson said the budget bill would force school districts to turn to taxpayers to make up for the loss in state aid, resulting in skyrocketing property taxes. "This budget does not reflect the priorities of Wisconsin's citizens, who want quality education and property tax relief," he said. "Governor Doyle proposed a fiscally responsible budget that prioritizes both. The Republican legislative leaders have now clearly demonstrated that education is not a priority, and they are determined to sacrifice our state’s future to prove it."

The proposed cuts would spell disaster for school districts in northern Wisconsin that have been struggling to keep their doors open under 12 years of revenue controls, Johnson said. High fuel and heating costs, declining enrollment and cuts in state aid are leaving some districts with no choice but to close. "The Republican leadership in the Legislature's response to this state's school funding crisis is, 'We don't care,'" he said.

While school districts face a funding crisis, Republican leaders are funneling tax dollars to private interests by awarding a $100 tax credit for private school tuition, Johnson said. "Wisconsin's public schools are among the best in the nation. They consistently score at or near the top on the ACT and SAT college-entrance exams, and have some of the most highly qualified staff under federal standards in the nation," he said. "The Legislature should invest taxpayer money into proven programs, not unaccountable ones."

The Senate budget cuts deeper into the University of Wisconsin System than the Assembly's bill, calling for an additional $17 million per year in cuts, which will be placed in a special fund controlled by the Joint Finance Committee. The Senate also eliminated an additional $1 million in aid for UW-Madison. Governor Doyle included $2 billion in aid over the next two years for the UW System in his budget proposal.

The budget bill passed by both houses of the Legislature also slashes the governor's proposed increase in the highly successful SAGE class-size reduction program - from $42.9 million to $6.1 million. SAGE (Student Achievement Guarantee in Education) reduces class sizes in kindergarten through 3rd grade in classes that largely serve students from low-income households, but the budget bill would encourage schools to opt out of SAGE in grades 2 and 3.

As part of a last minute deal to secure the 17 votes needed to pass the budget, Republican leaders in the Senate added a Taxpayer Bill of Rights-like provision to the bill. The provision limits future general aid spending to population and inflation growth, plus 1%. Any tax dollars collected over that limit would be placed in a special Taxpayer Protection Fund which can only be spent if the governor and three-fourths of the Legislature approve.

The budget will return to the Assembly next week for its approval of the Senate's changes. Johnson is calling on all members to contact their Assembly representatives and urge them to reject the Senate's proposal and support Governor Doyle's plan to invest in the state's great schools while protecting taxpayers. "It is essential that WEAC members communicate with legislators to impress upon them how important great schools are to the future of our children and to the economy of our state," he said.

OnWEAC Cyberlobby
Resource page on the 2005-07 state budget

Posted July 1, 2005