The Impact on Children is Mounting, Legislators Told

Hundreds of teachers, administrators, students and parents converged at the State Capitol Wednesday (January 24, 2001) to plead for the repeal of - or at least modifications to - the seven-year-old revenue controls on public school spending.

They received a sympathetic reception from many legislators, including Sen. Carol Roessler of Oshkosh who told them:

"We want to work with you to continue to provide flexibility, and I think greater flexibility than what we've experienced. I hope that we do make some fine-tuning changes in this session."

Rep. Frank Boyle of Superior has introduced legislation to repeal revenue controls. Sen. Richard Grobschmidt of South Milwaukee, chair of the Senate Education Committee, has promoted revenue cap flexibility so districts can address specific local needs.

Those legislators, and others, were present at a Senate Education Committee hearing which took testimony after a rally. Members of the Assembly Education Committee also attended. The hearing was so crowded that people were put in four overflow rooms where they could watch or listen to the proceedings.

The day began with a morning informational picket by CARE, a citizens group from Price County. Inside the Rotunda, various school districts set up displays, and the "endangered" Superior High School Orchestra performed as a living example of a possible budget cut.

Outside, the noon rally went on in spite of single-digit wind chills.

The dozen speakers collectively urged the audience to lobby legislators to change the law which has forced many school districts to choose between adequately heating classrooms or hiring teachers. Some in the crowd clutched signs that read: "Caps are burying schools. . Didn't you learn anything in school? Rev caps don't work."

"If our state can find ways to fund Miller Park, Lambeau Field and our highway system adequately, I'm sure we can find a fair and equitable way to fund our schools," said Randy Kunsch of the Phillips School District's citizens group, CARE.

WEAC President Terry Craney told the crowd revenue controls are the "Temptation Island" of the early 1990s.

"They sounded like a good idea until reality set in," he said. Craney said larger class sizes, decaying schoolhouses, textbook purchase delays and program cuts are gutting the quality of education statewide.

"Teachers in some classrooms in this state are still using 1970s and 1980s technology," Craney said. "What private sector business - or even for that matter, what other government entity - would still be using Apple IIE computers?"

Bob Beglinger, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers, called the caps an "insidious cancer" which is eating away educational equity and access.

"We've got to get militant and angry," former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Herbert Grover told the group of about 200. "Raise hell for children, rather than corn."

Grover was one of the Institute for Wisconsin's Future commissioners who gathered citizen testimony on revenue controls in six public hearings last year. The results of those hearings - and a report - were presented in the afternoon to the Senate Education Committee.

The report was presented by Winnie Doxsie, the PTA Wisconsin president, who said the caps were creating a growing gap between school funding and school needs.

The 66-page report said key problems facing districts are revenue controls; special-needs student costs, which grow faster than state aids; and declining enrollments.

The main proposed solutions include making the revenue limits flexible, increasing state aid for special needs programming, and providing additional financial relief to districts with declining enrollments. The proposed annual costs for these fixes is $407 million, provided in two-year phase-ins, from the school levy tax credit.

Remarks by WEAC President Terry Craney
Resource page on school district revenue controls
Institute for Wisconsin's Future report

Posted January 24, 2001