Doyle Appoints School Funding Task Force
Governor Jim Doyle Friday (August 22, 2003) announced
the formation of the Governor’s Task Force on Educational Excellence.Doyle charged the task force with examining Wisconsin’s
system of financing education, including how we attract and retain the
best teachers, support special education, invest in early education, provide
the appropriate level of funding and the right mix of funding sources,
and ensure equal opportunity for an excellent education for all of Wisconsin’s
children.
“How we fund education and support quality schools
is one of the most important questions facing our state,” Doyle said.
“I have asked this task force to tackle these issues head on, in
a thorough and thoughtful manner, and to provide me with concrete recommendations
on how we can make our system work better for our schoolchildren and our
state.”
The governor was joined by Michael Spector, whom he
appointed as chair of the task force. Spector is the retired chairman
and managing partner at the law firm of Quarles & Brady. He is a former
Shorewood School Board member.
Also on the panel is WEAC General Counsel Bruce Meredith.
Meredith is the school finance expert who litigated the lawsuit that produced
the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling establishing a new standard for an
equal opportunity for a sound basic education for all children. Justices
said the education system should equip students for their roles as citizens,
and enable them to succeed economically and personally.
Four WEAC members also are on the 27-person panel. They
are teachers Kathleen Adee, of Washburn; Thai Lee, of Appleton; Cecilia
Millard, of Racine; and Rita Tenorio, of Milwaukee.
“This task force, as I promised, reflects the great
diversity of our state, and people from all walks of life who support
our schools,” Doyle said. “It includes representation from urban,
rural, and suburban districts – poorer districts and wealthier districts
alike. It includes parents, teachers, community leaders, school administrators,
and school board members. And it includes representatives of the business
community and organized labor – who depend so greatly on the ability
of our schools to produce highly educated workers."
WEAC President Stan Johnson said the panel gives renewed
hope for Wisconsin developing a system that fosters great schools for
every child.
"The Governor's Task Force on Educational Excellence
is the best chance in many years to create a school finance system that
fulfills the constitutional guarantee of an equal educational opportunity
for all children," Johnson said. "The current system is not
working anymore. Wisconsin has changed since the law was created, and
it is time to recognize our new world."
Johnson said Wisconsin is more diverse and children
have more needs than in the past.
"Most children in Wisconsin receive a quality education,"
Johnson said. "However, some districts are having trouble providing
high-quality education programs for typical students while trying to meet
increasing demands for programs for special education, limited English-proficiency
students, and students raised in severe economic hardship. The commission's
task is to balance the needs of all children with the state's ability
to pay for these programs.
"The task force faces enormous challenges,"
Johnson said. "Wisconsin is dealing with the biggest budget deficit
in history; state-imposed revenue controls will continue to force school
districts to make painful cuts to programs and services; the Qualified
Economic Offer law will continue to discourage people from entering and
staying in the teaching profession; and the federal Elementary and Secondary
Education Act – which the Bush administration calls the No Child
Left Behind law – imposes unrealistic, unfair and unfunded requirements
upon states."
In announcing the panel, the governor was joined by
Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, whom he thanked
for her invaluable advice and counsel as he worked to form the task force.
Doyle appointed the following individuals to serve on
the task force:
- Michael J. Spector, of Shorewood, will serve as chair of the task
force. Spector is a retired chairman and managing partner at Quarles
& Brady LLP. He is a former Shorewood School Board member and has
represented numerous school districts in southeastern Wisconsin.
- Kathleen Adee, of Washburn, a 4-year-old kindergarten / early childhood
special education teacher. Adee helped develop the 4-year-old kindergarten
program in Washburn.
- William Andrekopoulos, superintendent of the Milwaukee Public School
System. Andrekopoulos has worked in Milwaukee Public Schools since 1973,
spending seven years in special education.
- Barbara Arnold, senior academic advisor for the UW-Madison School
of Library and Information Studies. Arnold currently serves as the vice
president of the Wisconsin Library Association Foundation.
- Mark Bugher, of Madison, director of the University Research Park.
Bugher is a former secretary of the Wisconsin Departments of Revenue
and Administration.
- Judith Crain, who served on the Green Bay Board of Education for 16
years, including five years as president. She is currently the president
of the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.
- Timothy Cullen, of Janesville, Cobalt Corporation senior vice president.
Cullen is a former Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and
Social Services (now DHFS).
- John Drew, of Milwaukee, autoworker, DaimlerChrysler Kenosha Plant.
Drew has been with UAW Local 72 since 1979, and has served as president
since 1996. He is member of the Kenosha AFL-CIO Council, the NAACP,
and the UAW Wisconsin State CAP Executive Board.
- Neil Duresky, who serves on the LaCrosse School Board and is the current
president of Wisconsin Association of School Boards, representing Region
6.
- Lois Glover, of Milwaukee, president of WISDOM, a statewide organization
of congregations working for justice.
- Andrew Gokee, outreach specialist for the Native American Center at
UW-Stevens Point. Gokee also serves as an adviser for two Native American
student organizations at UW-SP.
- Mark Hanna, of Sheboygan, investment consultant at Ziegler Investment
Services. Hanna is a member of the Sheboygan School Board.
- David Hase, of Mequon, attorney at Cooke & Franke S.C. Hase was
a member of the Mequon-Thiensville School Board for 22 years.
- Pam Johnson, of Oconomowoc, registered nurse at Children’s Hospital.
Johnson is a member of the Oconomowoc Area School District Parents Advisory
Council.
- Willie Jude: principal of Custer High School in Milwaukee. Jude has
more than 30 years of experience working in Milwaukee Public Schools.
- Thai Lee, of Appleton, teacher, English as a second language. Lee
also teaches Hmong literacy in Appleton.
- Kim Lentz Grau, of Wausau, court reporter in Marathon County. Lentz
Grau is involved in Parent Teacher Organization at two schools in Wausau.
- Bruce Meredith, WEAC's General Counsel. Meredith was one of the attorneys
involved in Vincent v. Voight, a school finance case that established
a new set of constitutional standards for Wisconsin public schools.
- Cecilia Millard, elementary school teacher. Millard is a 3rd-grade
teacher at Julian Thomas Elementary School in Racine.
- Dean Ryerson, district administrator of Wisconsin Rapids School District.
Ryerson also served as an assistant principal in Beaver Dam.
- Vicki Boxer Samson, of Fox Point, attorney. Boxer Samson has served
on the Maple Dale-Indian Hill School Board and the Nicolet High School
Board.
- Tim Scobie, of Chippewa Falls, general counsel for Mason Shoe Company.
Scobie works with Boy Scouts of America and Big Brothers & Big Sisters.
- Regina Siegel, principal at Emerson Elementary School in La Crosse.
Siegel is the Wisconsin Federal Relations Coordinator for the National
Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), and is a member
of the School Administrators Alliance and the Association for Wisconsin
School Administrators.
- Debra Brown, district administrator for the Bruce School District.
Brown served as a member of the Rusk County Transition Advisory Council,
which devised an interagency agreement to support the transition of
students with disabilities into the community.
- Jay Smith, of Middleton, former president of the UW Board of Regents.
Smith is CEO of JLS Investment Group, which is the owner of Teel Plastics
in Baraboo.
- Jeffrey Smith, of Brunswick, owner of Bob Smith Window Cleaning. Smith
founded the Eau Claire Area School District’s parent advisory committee
Parents Advocating on Behalf of Children. Smith has two children in
the Eau Claire School District and is chair of the Town of Brunswick.
- Rita Tenorio, teacher at Fratney Elementary School in Milwaukee. Tenorio
chaired the Urban Education Task Force under State Superintendent John
Benson mid 1990s, which resulted in the creation of the Student Achievement
Guarantee in Education (SAGE) small class size program.
Posted August 22, 2003