Community Forum Explores School Finance Problems in Phillips

Revenue controls are 'destructive educational policy'

5th-grade science teacher at Phillips Elementary School watches and listens from the back of the Phillips High School Auditorium Wednesday night (October 20, 1999) during a community forum on school finance. Plein is wearing a T-shirt from June's march from Butternut to Madison that protested the impact of revenue controls on schools. The march, and the community forum, were organized by Phillips teachers and support staff. Darcy Luoma of the Institute for Wisconsin's Future is giving the presentation.

Many students at Phillips High School have to wait a year to get into Industrial Arts and Technology Education programs because there is not enough space or staff. Students who do get in must work with limited resources in small and cramped shop areas.

That is just one of several school finance problems explored at a community forum Wednesday (October 20, 1999) at the Phillips High School auditorium. The forum is an outgrowth of efforts by local educators to draw attention statewide to the impact of school district revenue controls on the quality of education.

In June, Phillips educators organized a 240-mile protest walk to the State Capitol and later met personally with Governor Thompson. Wednesday's meeting -- which attracted about 130 educators, parents and concerned citizens -- was a follow-up to those events.

Darcy Luoma, education outreach specialist at the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, gave an overview of the revenue control law and how it impacts districts large and small throughout the state. She said revenue controls:

• Lock financial inequities in place. Districts that were low spenders before revenue controls must remain low spenders.
• Interfere with local control of decision-making.
• Hurt both poor and wealthy districts.
• Force many districts to:
  • Increase class sizes.
  • Raise student fees.
  • Cut academic and extracurricular programs.
  • Limit academic choices.
  • Delay needed building maintenance.

"While revenue controls may be good tax policy, they are destructive educational policy," she said.

Since revenue limits are based on enrollment, districts with declining enrollments are punished most severely, Luoma said. They lose money but can't decrease costs since they continue to need the same number of school buildings and staff. Maintenance, utility and transportation costs continue to rise.

These policies have resulted in severe inequalities in educational opportunities from one part of the state to another. If such inequities occurred in road construction, residents would be outraged. They should be even more outraged over inequitable spending on education, she said.

Then Luoma brought the discussion home by focusing on Phillips. The situation is so troubling in Phillips that it has prompted educators to take the drastic measures of marching to Madison and meeting with the governor. Yet, Luoma said, Phillips has not yet experienced the full impact of revenue controls. Its finances have been managed well over the years, and its enrollment has not yet begun to decline, although that is expected to occur in the near future.

"As a result, the district is at a point where it will be forced to make hard choices in several areas due to the constraints of the revenue limits," she said. "Although district officials say they would like to expand programs, they instead will be forced to prioritize and possibly scale back a broad range of programs. There is simply no fat left to cut."

The district is experiencing problems meeting the financial demands for technology education, special education, transportation, and substitute teaching.

Last year, the middle school guidance counselor position was cut to half time, meaning the district now has 2 and one-half guidance counselors for more than 1,200 students. Also, one keyboarding teacher is split between two middle schools on a rotation basis, leaving less time for student interaction with the teacher outside of class, Luoma said.

"School districts throughout the state are in fiscal crisis," Luoma said. "The funding shortages are pitting groups against each other in the scramble for dollars -- teachers against administrators, special needs students against athletes, senior citizen taxpayers against children, school boards against educators.

"These conflicts take away from the most important issue facing schools in Wisconsin -- ensuring that all schools have the financial resources to provide a quality education for all students."

Parent Mary Satterwhite said after the forum that she hopes the community can work together to resolve the conflict between quality education and property taxes. "We must try to provide the best we can for our children while not burdening people more than is reasonable," she said. "We must support our kids, our schools and our future."

Teri Hanson, a Phillips teacher's aide who organized June's march to Madison, said Phillips educators will have a booth at the WEAC Convention October 27-29 in Milwaukee and plan other activities in the future. They also have developed a Web site at www.nocaps.org.

• Resources on school district revenue controls

Posted October 22, 1999