McCallum's Budget Proposal is "Disaster for Education," Craney Says

The state budget proposed by Governor Scott McCallum is a "disaster" full of lost opportunities for Wisconsin's children and public schools, according to the president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council.

"The governor promised opportunities for Wisconsin residents, but he's denying the opportunity for all kids to attend great schools staffed by great teachers," WEAC President Terry Craney said.

"The governor's education proposals will not improve the quality of education in our schools. His proposals instead silence the voice of parents, educators, students and the public in education matters. There is no local control or public accountability in these ideas."

Craney said the budget proposal contains a long list of alarming proposals that have the potential to endanger Wisconsin's high quality of education.

"The budget does not provide any relief from state-imposed revenue controls that are already threatening the quality of education in districts throughout the state," Craney said.

"The budget restricts the highly successful SAGE class-size reduction program. It opens the door to privatizing our public schools. The budget contains a laundry list of proposals that are not based upon research or experience."

Some of the proposals WEAC objects to are:

Limiting SAGE to kindergarten and 1st grade for schools with less than 50% poverty rates and transferring the evaluation component to the Board of Education Evaluation and Accountability.
Failing to adequately fund special education needs.
Raising income limits for participation in the Milwaukee private school voucher program.
Dramatically expanding the charter school law.
Providing school boards with new powers to close schools and reassign staff without regard to seniority or bargaining rights.
Authorizing school boards to subcontract for educational programs.
Changing the system of bargaining health care providers for teachers and staff.
Loosening requirements for obtaining an alternative teaching license.
Making the school calendar a prohibited subject of bargaining.
Severely cutting the Department of Public Instruction's budget.
Basically freezing state aid to the Wisconsin Technical College System.

OnWEAC will provide further details about the governor's budget proposal after WEAC staff further dissect and analyze its provisions and their implications.

Resource page on 2001-2003 state budget

Posted February 21, 2001