State Budget Sets 'Pattern for the Future'
Chvala, Jensen, Thompson, WEAC find common ground on education policy
 Terry Craney
 Tommy Thompson
 Chuck Chvala
 Scott Jensen |
At a time when politicians seem constantly at odds over education policy,
the state Legislature and governor have found some key areas of agreement
this year.
The Legislature passed - and the governor signed - a state budget that
provides significant gains for public education, and the governor is
reviewing a major pension improvement bill that increases initial pensions
by 10% and benefits current retirees.
In his address to the WEAC Convention, WEAC President Terry Craney
described the 1999-2001 state budget as “the best budget for public
education ever signed by” Governor Tommy Thompson.
The governor didn’t necessarily agree, but he did tell OnWEAC
“it certainly is a tough budget to top.”
“We worked very closely with WEAC leadership on issues we both
support – SAGE, two-thirds funding (including construction costs),
foreign language instruction, special education, etc. I think both sides
did a better job of focusing on issues we can agree on rather than issues
that divide us.”
In separate interviews, Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen and Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Chvala also agreed that they found some common ground on
education issues in the budget, even if their relationship continues
to be far from amicable.
Chvala gave credit to “the hard work of educators in contacting
their legislators and the insistence of Senate Democrats who made education
their top priority.”
“I think there was a lot of good discussion by WEAC members and
staff with the governor and others,” he said. “And as Senate
Democrats made education a priority, this became a reality.”
Jensen, a Republican, said the fact that the Assembly and Senate were
split politically forced legislators to focus on a narrow range of issues.
“That range of issues tends to be items on which there is overwhelming
consensus. The teachers’ union has been smart to focus on those
areas so it can achieve some progress in this legislative session,”
he said.
The end result, Jensen said, was that “the Legislature has finally
come to grips with a number of key questions regarding the future of
our schools in the area of funding and quality.”
“And I think this budget sets the pattern for the future.”
Jensen said he is comfortable with both the education provisions in
the state budget – including the changes in the Qualified Economic
Offer law – and with the separate pension improvement legislation,
which he helped develop.
“The state has a huge surplus in the rainy day account for the
pension fund and recognizing those gains now and distributing them allows
us to improve pension benefits while reducing taxpayer costs, and I
think it was just smart for us to take advantage of that opportunity,”
Jensen said. “It also provided us with the funding flexibility
to achieve some long-term reforms needed in the pension system.”
Chvala, Jensen and Thompson all said they are hopeful that progress
made this year will carry on into the development of future education
policy.
“I think the public schools have an important role to play in
creating a highly skilled work force and educated citizenry,” Jensen
said. “In a world of rapidly changing technology, both of those
attributes are essential.”
Although Chvala said he still believes some politicians want to undermine
public schools, “by and large, I think most people (at the Capitol)
see the value of education and want to see it move forward.”
“Fortunately,” he said, “I think this budget is an indication
of what we can do in the future.”
Posted November 22, 1999