As Education Supporters Converge on Capitol, Senate Democrats Improve State Budget Plan
Citizen lobbyists start their day at the Dane County Coliseum.
More photos
By Joanne M. Haas
While 2,000 public education advocates lobbied legislators
in meeting rooms throughout the Madison downtown area Wednesday (June
13, 2001), Senate Democrats crafted a revised state budget plan that
addresses many of their concerns.
Senate President Fred Risser rushed two blocks through
near-record heat and humidity to deliver "the very good package" to
hundreds of the teachers, educational support personnel, administrators
and parents who came to Madison Wednesday on behalf of children.
"I think the group will be very happy with what we
did," the veteran Madison Democrat said of the budget work completed
just as the Great Schools Lobby Day got under way in meeting places
around the Capitol Square.
Among other things, the state budget plan approved
by Senate Democrats includes more dollars for special education and
increased flexibility on school district revenue caps. (More
on the Senate Democrats' budget actions.) The budget now goes
to the full Senate and must still be acted on by the Assembly before
being returned to Governor McCallum for his signature and possible veto
actions.
Special education funding and revenue control flexibility
were two of five issues that the citizen lobbyists from throughout the
state focused on in their meetings with legislators Wednesday. The other
issues were full funding of the SAGE class-size reduction program, funding
of 4-year-old kindergarten programs, and funding for 21st Century Community
Learning Centers.
The citizen lobbyists gathered at the Dane County
Coliseum, then rode in buses to meetings with legislators at the Capitol,
Monona Terrace Convention Center, Concourse Hotel, Inn on the Park,
and other downtown locations.
Concerned about son's education
Rachel Burkel of Reedsburg traveled to Madison on
behalf of her son, about to enter kindergarten, and the students in
her 3rd-grade classroom.
A crowd gathers during a Lobby Day news conference in the State
Capitol.
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"The revenue caps are forcing the (Reedsburg) district
to make hard choices – such as eliminating the at-risk and gifted
and talented programs," she said. "I have a son going into kindergarten.
I'm just concerned that the caps have forced our districts to make choices
that aren't kid-friendly."
Watertown School District administrator Andy Bare
said he anticipates hardships as the combination of revenue caps and
declining enrollments reduce his district's ability to collect vital
revenues from taxpayers.
"We're going to get where we will be cutting programs,"
said Bare, a principal for a 300-student elementary school and a rural
50-child elementary school.
But Bare said he is grateful the Legislature's budget-writing
Joint Finance Committee restored the funding cuts proposed by McCallum
to the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program, which
reduces the teacher-student ratio in early grades for schools with large
numbers of low-income students.
Revenue caps reduce programs
Hattie Arnold, a Milwaukee Public Schools 3rd-grade
teacher, echoed others' concerns about the revenue caps.
"They are preventing a lot of programs from being
implemented in our district," Arnold said, citing in particular the
need for quality K-4 education to get children started early.
For example, Arnold said she is concerned her classroom
does not have an Internet connection.
"We want our children ready for the 21st century,"
she said.
Teacher salaries force tough choices
Pam Martin, a high school psychology and sociology
teacher from the Watertown School District, told legislators about the
choices her salary forces her to make.
After finishing her master's degree, Martin owes $26,000
in student loans. On her $37,000 per year salary, Martin won't be able
to pay back the debt until age 56.
"I love my profession dearly," she told
the legislators. "But you are forcing me to choose between the
children I teach and my own children. Can I afford to send them college?"
Special education children pitted against others
Mother and daughter Gloria and Jessica Foster came
to the Lobby Day together. Gloria is a school social worker with the
Hamilton School District in Sussex and Jessica is ready to become a
Montessori teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools next fall.
"They've never fully funded special education," Gloria
Foster said, adding that the lack of funding pits children with special
needs against others. "It's a shame."
And Jessica, like other teachers, already has a record
of doling out her own funds to purchase supplies for her students –
as she did during her student teaching days.
Teachers buying more supplies
Karen Affeldt, an 8th grade teacher in Beloit, is
no stranger to that scenario that includes rationing chalk and staples.
"There is more money leaving teachers' pockets to
subsidize the budgets," she said, citing one example of a teacher who
pitched in for string that couldn't be covered by the budget.
"Yet, we are expected to keep kids literate using
technology ... that is if you're lucky enough to have a computer in
your classroom.
"We've cut programs, maintenance projects have been
put on hold, textbooks and computers can't be purchased. We can't keep
up with the technology," Affeldt said. "It's gotten so bad that
I don't even keep track of how many millions we've had to cut."
Affeldt said she took great hope in seeing all the
new faces that participated in the Lobby Day.
"Just try to let people know. Keep them hearing the
message," she said. "And it was nice that we have some people who weren't
here in the past. It lets the legislators know that it is not just one
group."
Teachers fundraise to ease budget gaps
Chemistry teacher Spence Fretschel, of Milwaukee Public Schools, can't
always afford to buy supplies for his students when the district budget
runs out.
He told the legislators about the need for microscopes in his classroom
that could not be paid for by the school's budget. When the district
could not come up with the money, the PTA offered a solution.
"On a Saturday afternoon, I sat in a parking lot at the local
Wal-Mart and sold hotdogs and brats," he said. Eventually, Fretschel
and his co-workers were able to raise enough money to buy the equipment,
though they're still frustrated about the way they had to do it.
'Get the message through to them'
Marilyn Nemeth, who retired from teaching 6th grade
for the Racine district in 1993, agreed.
"We need to keep our legislators aware that there
are many other groups of people who agree that we need help and we have
to get that message through to them," said Nemeth, who remains active
through WEAC-Retired.
Other groups on hand included WISDOM, representing
inner-city churches in the southeastern corner of the state; the Wisconsin
Coalition for Advocacy; the School Administrators Alliance; Wisconsin
Citizen Action; Wisconsin Federation of Teachers; and the school districts
of Milwaukee, Madison and Janesville.
Lobby Day photo gallery
Senate Democrats add revenue cap relief to budget
Revenue caps have created a crisis, Johnson
says
Cat in the Hat, legislators exhibit value of
small classes
Resource page on 2001-2003 state budget
Posted June 13, 2001