State Budget Brief: Placing Kids in Classrooms That Work
Background
A working classroom is one where students have the opportunity to learn
and grow. It is one where kids arrive at school nourished and ready
to learn. It is one in which students are challenged and their educational
needs are met.
There is no better example of a program that makes classrooms work
than the successful Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE)
small class size program for kindergarten through 3rd grade which has
increased student achievement, upheld gains through 3rd grade and narrowed
the achievement gap between children of color and their peers. As costs
have been rising, the per-pupil support for the program has been held
constant over the years, forcing some school districts to choose between
eliminating the program or cutting back on other critical educational
offerings. Increasing the current reimbursement rate and allowing other
schools to participate will build upon the successes of SAGE.
Another promising way to improve student achievement is by investing
in 4-year-old kindergarten so it can become a reality for more communities.
Today, 208 school districts in Wisconsin participate in 4-year-old kindergarten,
serving more than 18,000 children. State aid for the program is based
on average attendance over the past three years. This means that a school
that adds 4-year-old kindergarten won’t get its fair share of
state funding until the fourth year of the program. Instead of discouraging
participation in the program, the state should be encouraging it so
young children can reap the benefits of quality early learning opportunities
and school-based services.
Working classrooms not only improve student achievement, they also
meet the diverse educational needs of our kids. This means enhancing
readiness to learn by offering a nutritious meal to start the day through
the school breakfast program, overcoming language and cultural barriers
by providing bilingual-bicultural aid, and challenging gifted and talented
students by expanding the number of advanced placement courses offered.
Special education is an area where our schools are particularly struggling
to meet the needs of their students. With rising special education costs
and declining state support for special education services, school districts
have been forced to allocate dollars from general education programs
to fund mandated special education programs. By increasing its investment
in special education, the state can better meet the exceptional education
needs of its children.
Placing kids in classrooms that work also means recognizing the needs
and unique characteristics of rural education. School districts all
over the state, but particularly those in rural areas, face the challenge
of declining enrollment and paying for student transportation. School
funding decisions should take into account the reality that costs do
not necessarily decrease as student numbers decrease.
Investments to Create Classrooms that Work Contained in 2005-2007 Budget
The governor’s budget proposal for 2005-2007 will place kids
in classrooms that work by:
- Increasing the per-pupil reimbursement level for the SAGE program,
which lowers class size in kindergarten through 3rd grade, to $2,250
in the 2005-06 school year and $2,500 in 2006-07 and provide additional
funding for 10 new schools to participate in SAGE.
- Providing $3 million in fiscal year 2006-07 to assist school districts
with the initial cost of starting up 4-year-old kindergarten programs.
- Encouraging more school districts to implement school breakfast
programs by providing a 50-cent increase in the state’s reimbursement
rate for school breakfasts.
- Providing additional funding for the state to maintain its current
share of funding for bilingual-bicultural education aid.
- Providing funding to expand the number of advanced placement courses
offered in the state and to enhance gifted and talented student programs
in middle schools.
- Increasing funding for special education aid and creating a new
program to provide higher levels of aid to school districts with high-cost,
low-incidence special education students.
- Addressing the concerns of declining enrollment districts by modifying
the revenue limit calculation to provide these districts greater revenue
limit authority by using either a three- or five-year rolling enrollment
average.
- Providing a $16 million increase in pupil transportation aid over
the biennium while directing greater increases to school districts
with larger geographic service areas and longer travel distances.
- Increasing the per-student low revenue ceiling, below which school
districts are exempt from revenue limits, from $7,800 per student
to $8,100 in fiscal year 2005-06 and to $8,400 in fiscal year 2006-07.
WEAC position
The Wisconsin Education Association Council supports investing in the
SAGE program and 4-year-old kindergarten - combined with other measures
- to put kids in classrooms that work. WEAC supports these items in
the governor’s 2005-2007 biennial budget bill.
Talking points
Investing in classrooms that work will boost student achievement:
- Reducing class sizes by increasing funding for SAGE and expanding
the program will enhance learning.
- Overall, analysis of SAGE student test results suggest that
students in smaller classrooms tend to score significantly higher
in language arts, mathematics and reading as well as total score
after adjusting for individual pre-test results, socioeconomic
status and attendance.
- Classrooms with fewer students are more likely to have higher
class average achievement scores and are more likely to contribute
to closing the achievement gap between children of color and their
peers.
- Providing grants to communities to start 4-year-old kindergarten
will give kids an equal chance to succeed by providing early educational
opportunities.
- The value of 4-year-old kindergarten is supported by research
on early brain development demonstrating the cost benefits of
early learning opportunities.
- Children in 4-year-old kindergarten benefit from the availability
of school support services to address special needs: e.g. school
nurse, psychologists, specialty teachers and special education
services.
- 4-year-old kindergarten grants kids access to special resources
and quality learning materials which enhance curriculum: e.g.
libraries, art, music, and technology.
- Children who participate in early education programs are less
likely to need special education services, and are less likely
to become involved with the criminal justice system.
- Research shows that early childhood education programs reduce
the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged children,
children of color and their peers.
- Teachers with BA or higher degrees in 4-year-old kindergarten
childhood education have the experience and training to provide
quality learning opportunities for young learners.
Investing in classrooms that work will help children learn better by
meeting their educational needs:
- Spurring participation in the school breakfast program which offers
kids a nutritious breakfast in a safe environment will improve the
ability of children-in-need to learn.
- Maintaining the state’s share of bilingual-bicultural aid
will assist children with diverse cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic
backgrounds overcome barriers to learning.
- Enhancing programs for gifted and talented students will allow
schools to offer an educational setting that is challenging and will
make it possible for these kids to reach their full potential.
- Increasing special education aid will help schools provide services
to children with exceptional needs. It will also alleviate pressure
on school districts forced to choose between special education and
regular education programs because of the state’s failure to
keep its commitment to fund special education.
Investing in classrooms that work by lending a helping hand to school
districts with declining enrollment and high transportation costs will
equalize educational opportunity for students:
- Cushions the impact of declining enrollment on small schools that
receive less per-pupil equalized aid each year from the state.
- Alleviates the heavy burden on school districts shouldering the
increasing cost of transporting kids to school, especially those rural
districts with larger geographic service areas, some of which spend
more than $1,000 per year on each student’s transportation.
This will lessen the financial pressure on school districts to cut
necessary educational programs just to pay for transporting the kids
to school.
- Reflects an understanding that costs do not necessarily decrease
when the number of students decreases.
Additional information
If you have comments or questions, please contact Deb Sybell, WEAC Legislative
Program Coordinator, at sybelld@weac.org
or by phone at 800-362-8034 ext. 227.
Resource page on the 2005-07 state budget
Posted April 19, 2005