School Boards' Lack of Action to Repeal Revenue Controls is Disgraceful

It is "disgraceful" that the Wisconsin Association of School Boards has not joined WEAC in the fight to repeal school district revenue controls, WEAC President Terry Craney said Thursday (October 25, 2000) in a keynote address to the annual WEAC Convention.

"Revenue caps are negatively affecting the heart of our public schools," Craney said. "From our largest local in Milwaukee to our smaller locals in northern Wisconsin, districts are finding it necessary to cut programs and reduce staff."

At statewide hearings this fall, he said, individual school board members stepped forward and testified to the damage revenue caps are causing in their school districts.

"But collectively, the school board's association has never had the courage to confront the Legislature or to confront the governor," Craney said.

"Instead, they have passively watched as district administrators, teachers, and support personnel struggle to maintain high quality education for all students.?The school board association's top priority seems to be whether schools start before or after Labor Day.?Talk about an example of? Nero fiddling while Rome burns.?

"Today," Craney said, "I challenge the school boards to join with us in this fight to repeal revenue controls, to do what they were elected to do, to serve the community by providing high quality education for our children."

Craney noted that Wisconsin has the best school system in the nation, as evidenced by standardized test scores that are consistently among the best in the nation. That includes a number one ranking on the ACT for eight consecutive years.

That success, he said, is threatened by revenue controls and the Qualified Economic Offer law.

Craney said it is important that WEAC members and all supporters of public education go to the polls November 7 and elect pro-education candidates to office at every level.

"Now I know many of you say you don't like politics," he said.? "You'd rather be in the classroom working with your students.? But the reality is that if you work in a public school, you are in politics.? And it is through politics that we can help every child develop their greatest abilities."

In other comments, Craney said:

• Great Schools, WEAC's statewide effort to increase public involvement in schools and improve education, is not a project or a program, "it is a framework for everything we do. ... I applaud the hard work and the effort of all the educators and community members doing this important work. You are investing in great schools.?You are helping students develop their greatest abilities."?
• Wisconsin has great schools "because 90,000 teachers and support staff know that teaching our students, developing their abilities, is a complex task which takes time and resources and lots of hard work.?We know that there are no simple answers to providing high quality education for all children. We as a society must stop thinking of education as a cost item, as a burden, as a bottom line on an accounting sheet.? We as a society must view education for what it is - an investment in our children, in our future."
• WEAC supports the SAGE class-size reduction program because research shows that smaller class size in the lower elementary grades have a long-term effect on increasing student achievement.?WEAC opposes private school vouchers because they have not been shown to be successful and they drain precious funds from public schools where the money is needed the most.
• WEAC has been at the forefront of efforts to strengthen teacher licensure and give teachers control of their profession.
• If we want students to develop to their greatest abilities, we must continue to have quality educators. To keep quality educators, we must provide adequate salaries and decent working conditions. Teacher salaries are falling behind inflation and behind salary increases for other professions. The Qualified Economic Offer law should be repealed.

The complete speech

Posted October 25, 2000