Governor's Plan Recognizes Teachers are Underpaid
The governor’s proposal to change the way teachers are compensated
is recognition that teachers are underpaid, according to WEAC President
Terry Craney.
“Teachers earn far less than people in other professions with
comparable educational backgrounds,” Craney said. “Average
Wisconsin teacher salaries increased only 2.5% a year since 1993, while
Wisconsin personal income rose 5.24% a year over the same period.”
Craney said it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract and keep
qualified people in the teaching field because of inequities in compensation.
“We are willing to discuss ideas for new innovative ways to improve
teacher compensation,” Craney said. “We hope state residents
will get involved in discussions to maintain and support a quality teaching
force in order to continue our legacy of great public schools.”
Governor Thompson’s State of the State speech Wednesday night
(January 26, 2000) called for various groups to discuss ways to compensate
teachers under what he called an “award for achievement” program.
“We are willing to pursue discussions with the governor and others,”
Craney said. “We are waiting to see details of the proposal. We
may not agree on specific issues, but we will seek some common ground.”
Highlights from the State of the State address
The theme of the governor's State of the State address was a "New Revolution
for a New Century – Wisconsin is Where the Future Begins."
Among other issues, the governor unveiled several proposals focused
on technical colleges and K-12 education. He also discussed taxes and
campaign finance reform. This summary – compiled by WEAC Legislative
Program Coordinator Bob Burke – contains bulleted excerpts from
the governor's speech and some initial observations about some items
of interest to K-12 education and technical colleges. In addition, it
summarizes some reactions that Democrats gave on public radio. WEAC
will provide additional analysis in the near future. The full text of
the governor's speech is online at: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/SOS/index.asp.
Speech highlights by subject:
The governor is calling for a seamless transition from K-12 to the
higher education system and highlighted some concepts that he has discussed
before. It is not clear what agency would coordinate these efforts.
- Study abroad grants, international education initiative and distance
learning technology.
- Building this seamless system of schools and programs such as youth
options, school-to-work, 2+2+2, and a new Virtual Technical High School
are laying the foundation
- Calling on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and the
Wisconsin Technical College System Board to meet and overcome the
final barriers to a truly integrated system of higher education
The Joint Finance Committee removed this policy from the 1999-2001
state budget along with several items as "non-fiscal" policy.
Currently, this authority only exists for UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Area
Technical College and the City of Milwaukee. WEAC does not support this
proliferation of the charter school concept because it bypasses locally
controlled school boards and the collective bargaining process.
- All UW and technical colleges statewide given charter authority
- Highlighted the Milwaukee Science Consortium – a new charter
school developed by UW-Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin
that will emphasize science and math
State science fair scholarship
It is not clear how much money will be put into this program or which
agency will administer the grants.
- State Science Fair contests will be held and winners will receive
a full college scholarship to any University of Wisconsin System school.
Excellence In Reading Initiative
Reading initiatives have been very popular across the country. There
is also federal dollars available to states for reading initiatives.
The Federal Reading Excellence Act authorizes $260 million in 1999 for
professional development of teachers, out-of-school tutoring, family
literacy and transitional programs for kindergartners. The US Department
of Education issues competitive grants to the states, which then hold
grant competitions that favor school districts with children most in
need. (For more information: www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/REA/index.html)
Forty-two states reported significant new literacy activity at the National
Reading Summit in September 1998, and more than 20 states enacted reading
improvement legislation between 1996 and 1999. Many governors have pledged
further action, according to the US Department of Education, Office
of Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs. (For more information:
www.ed.gov/inits/readingsummit)
Governor's Program highlights: A recent National Education Goals
Panel Report shows that progress in reading scores by Wisconsin 4th-graders
has remained flat since 1992. That’s not good enough for "America’s
Education State."
- Directs $1 million to develop innovative reading academies around
the state.
- Invests $350,000 to distribute the “best reading practices”
over the Internet.
- Convenes a statewide Governor’s Reading Summit to be chaired
by First Lady Sue Ann Thompson, with the help of Barbara Manthei of
the Governor’s Office of Literacy.
Award for Achievement Program
The governor is linking his new achievement program to student performance.
The governor's speech gave the following details:
- Schools would have to test 95% of their students.
- Scores would have to improve for all students, including disadvantaged.
- Schools would have to show year-to-year gains on measures such as
achievement tests, attendance and dropout rates,
- Local control would be maintained by making participation voluntary
to start.
- If the performance of students at a particular school goes up in
these areas, all staff in that school would receive financial awards
of up to $3,000.
Early childhood development – Five new early
childhood centers
Another very popular issue nationwide is support for early childhood
brain development. The governor's budget bill last year used federal
TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) dollars to fund early
childhood centers in Milwaukee. Child advocacy groups were concerned
about where the money is going to come from in the future. WEAC supported
funding for the new centers even though it may be short lived.
- Create five new Early Learning Childhood Centers that utilize the
latest innovations for developing the brain and stimulating learning
in children.
Prevention of smoking by minors
- The Tobacco Control Board will direct millions of dollars toward
eliminating the use of tobacco. Dr. Ernestine Willis of the Medical
College of Wisconsin will chair the board, while Dane County Executive
Kathleen Falk and Superintendent John Benson will be among its members.
Wisconsin tax code
The governor has vetoed the property tax-rent credit in the past. Recent
attention from the media and the public over this issue has restored
its popularity. Restoration of the credit will use up a major portion
of the $380 million revenue surplus announced last week. The Assembly
passed a version of the credit this week, but only funded it for one
year.
- Taxing businesses according to their sales only, which would cut
corporate taxes about $80 million a year.
- With a $380 million surplus, the governor said, "Now that we can
afford the property tax rent credit, let’s restore it. Get it
to my desk."
Blue Ribbon Commission on State and Local Partnership
This is in response to a concern of local cities and towns over the
lack of increases in shared revenue from the state.
- The Blue Ribbon Commission on State and Local Partnership will develop
a new system for providing and funding services. The governor said
the state will not increase the money it sends to local government
until this new partnership is in place.
Campaign finance reform
- The governor said he will sign any finance reform legislation that
gets to his desk (although he said nothing about using or not using
his extensive veto power).
Posted January 27, 2000