State's School Funding Policies Place Districts in Dire Fiscal Situations
Greenfield hosts more than a dozen school officials from around the state.
Photos
A dozen school administrators, board members and parents from around the state spoke Wednesday of the dire fiscal issues their districts are currently facing and will face in the future as the result of the state's school funding policies.
The Wisconsin Opportunity to Learn Network-sponsored event, held in the administration offices of the Greenfield School District, gave educational leaders a chance to publicly come clean about the current fiscal concerns they have for their districts as a result of the budgetary policies passed by the legislature and Governor Scott Walker this year.
Jim Shaw, the administrator of the Racine Area School District, indicated that his district faces a $25 million deficit this year and a projected $10 million hole next year. A $13.2 million reduction in state aid this year is responsible for the deficit the district faces, according to Shaw. In comparison, the school district in Green Bay faces an $8.8 million decrease in state aid and the school district in Madison loses $6.7 million in state aid.
"How do you go about finding a solution to financial problems of that magnitude?" Shaw asked.
Shaw outlined cost-saving measures - such as sweeping staff reductions and renegotiating insurance and retirement benefits with teachers - the district took to shore up its budget.
"This is de-funding public education in Racine and I am especially concerned about how it impacts poor and diverse children in Racine, kids with above average needs," Shaw said.
A roster of educational leaders from places such as Altoona, Middleton-Cross Plains and Eau Claire took their turn shedding light on a litany of cuts they have made within their school district in response to the policy actions taken in the state's Republican-led capitol.
"Wisconsin is set to become the Mississippi of the Midwest," said Ron Heilman, administrator of the Eau Claire School District.
The familiar fall guy during the event was Gov. Walker, who has a rosier outlook on Wisconsin education. Walker has stated on numerous occasions that schools are "in good fiscal shape," a phrase found headlining on his own Web site.
"Contrary to news reports, school districts are not in good financial shape so whoever is saying that, it is not accurate," Greenfield School District Administrator Conrad Farner said during the event. "We need our legislature and our governor to recognize that we are not in good financial shape."
Administrators also outlined the stark negative impacts their fiscal actions they had to take to balance their budgets will have on their young teachers, class sizes and services for poor students.
"Districts are surviving. Surviving is not the same as thriving," Farner said. "We can't forget that we are coming off of 18 years of revenue caps that have already forced us to tighten our belts, make drastic reductions and to lower our services."
Farner took a broad approach with his remarks, saying there is a fundamental flaw in the way public education is funded throughout the state. According to Farner, the question of "what do our students need?" should be central to finding the solution to Wisconsin's funding issues.
"We can't put our heads in the sand and pretend everything is alright," Farner said. "Nowhere in the process considers the needs of our children."
James Anspaugh
8:00 am on Thursday, July 21, 2011
ff
James Anspaugh
8:06 am on Thursday, July 21, 2011
Ok, for one the Racine school district rushed a deal with the teachers union before they waited for the new law to take effect. If they would have waited and let the teachers contribute to their health care, and were allowed to get a different insurance Carrier. They would have then saved in the millions and had a surplus like every district that waited.Shame on the school board and also the press for not primting the savings of all the other districts when you post this garbage.
Paul Holley
8:33 am on Thursday, July 21, 2011
A few points of correction to Mr. Anspaugh's comment: 1.) The Racine Unified School District (RUSD) got a two-year contract extension with all seven of its bargaining units; 2.) The contract freezes salaries for two years, requires a 5.8 percent contribution to the pension system and institutes a new, high-deductible health insurance plan; 3.) RUSD is self-insured, so there is no "different insurance carrier"; 4.) The contract extension provisions saved the district about $18 million, however, the cuts in overall state aid totaled $25 million. To eliminate the remaining budget deficit, RUSD cut 125 positions, including administrators, teachers, educational assistants and support staff.
All of this was covered in Caledonia Patch and Mount Pleasant/Sturtevant Patch. I was the reporter on these stories. Everyone is more than welcome to look them up in the archive. Thank you.
CowDung
9:03 am on Thursday, July 21, 2011
According to the article, the reduction in state aid was $13.2 million. The $25 million was reported to be the shortfall they are facing this year. The $18 million saved during the contract extension should have been plenty to cover the reduction in state aid...
Denise Lockwood
8:54 am on Thursday, July 21, 2011
Here's a story list:
* Budget Battle: Senate Adjourns; Walker Delays Budget
* RUSD Board of Education Mulls Budget Projections
* District Likely to Face Largest Deficit in its History
* Racine Unified Reaches Tentative Agreement with Teachers’ Union
* Health Insurance Change, Wage Freeze Key to Filling RUSD Budget Gap
* RUSD and REA Union Reach an Agreement
* Budget-Repair Bill: What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been
* Walker Visits Southeastern Wisconsin; Says It Was Time to Move Forward
* Poll: Lazich is Safe, But Republicans Are Vulnerable
* Village Stands to Lose 30 percent of State and General Aid
* State Municipal Aid to Falls Will Drop By 50 Percent
* Legislative Fiscal Bureau Estimates Mirror RUSDs Budget Forecast
* Superintendent: Expect to See a Smaller Central Office Staff
* As Racine Unified Cuts Back, are Parents Losing Faith?
* Racine Unified Proposal Would Eliminate 125 Jobs
* Judge Nullifies Collective Bargaining Changes
* UPDATE: Unions Sue to Block Supreme Court's Reinstatement of Controversial Budget Repair Bill
* Zipperer Praises Court Ruling to Curtail Public Worker Contracts
* State Budget Debate Comes To A Head
* Neighborhood vs. Magnet Schools in Racine Unified?
* Friday Morning Talker: The State Budget, Do You Like It Or Hate It?
* Breaking News: Racine Unified Board Approves $261 Million Budget
Chris Larsen
11:43 am on Thursday, July 21, 2011
Dont forget 10+ million thrown into the black hole, shady land deal that is the new Castle du Shaw.
DJ
4:05 pm on Thursday, July 21, 2011
maybe they should also look at reducing some of the projected construction issues that are apart of this budget, I am sure some of those projects can be put aside for a good financial period. every budget has a complete listing of "wants" and maybe instead of playing swap around with some of the administrative staff and reducing teaching staff they can critically judge what is an immediate want and what is an immediate need.
James Anspaugh
4:16 pm on Thursday, July 21, 2011
I stand corrected, but look at the states surplus now and we paid of Minnisota and the doctors ins. fund that the former Governor stole.If other communities can balance there school budget then Racine could to. Maybe they should have a 10000 dollar deductible on their insurance like I had to have. Being a business owner.
James Anspaugh
4:27 pm on Thursday, July 21, 2011
Lets face it, the cost per pupil is too high. Make cuts and fire bad teachers but pay the good ones bonuses to keep them. Maybe we should privatize the schools look at the private schools, they cost less per student and a way better education. Luthern High and Union Grove Christian are examples.
Brendan O'Brien
1:02 pm on Friday, July 22, 2011
Thanks for your comments James. I would love to know more about your claim that private schools provide "way better education." Do you have the data to back that up?
Duane Michalski
6:15 pm on Friday, July 22, 2011
Brendan, i am not sure which one of the parochial schools (St Cats or Lutheran) in Racine, but one of them has 98.6% of the graduating class going to college. WAY BETTER than any RUSD stat! I don't think RUSD can even get a literacy rate over 3%!!!
Brendan O'Brien
5:33 pm on Saturday, July 23, 2011
Duane, yes. That stat is impressive, but it would be nice to know test scores and achievement levels indicators on a broad level from private schools in the area and the state. Until the books are completely open in private schools, it is a practice of guesswork to determine the true impact of privatizing schools. Also, I will dispute the cost less per student statement. For poor people who rent, their cost of education is a small fraction compared to those that can afford to send their kids to private schools and pay thousands of dollars.
LEFTY
6:33 pm on Thursday, July 21, 2011
Uh James- prove that these schools are doing better. Love that they can accept al, students including those most impoverished.
LEFTY
6:34 pm on Thursday, July 21, 2011
Walker math Ashwin coming to reality. He lies!
robert heule
7:41 am on Friday, July 22, 2011
How can Walker be the "fall guy? He created this mess in the first place. The real fall guys are the children of Wisconsin
Ben Hogan
7:57 am on Friday, July 22, 2011
Robert: How did Walker create this mess? As you may well know state funding to Greenfield was cut by 15 percent just two years ago under Jim Doyle and then again last year under Jim Doyle with absolutely no tools to help balance the budget.
Brendan O'Brien
5:37 pm on Saturday, July 23, 2011
Walker did not necessarily create the mess, the mess has been around for two decades with a funding formula that is inadequate, according to the experts
Brian Dey
9:02 am on Friday, July 22, 2011
Funny, Fox 6 News in Milwaukee contacted all 400+ districts and all but three are better off under the new budget. Of the three, Milwaukee rushed to sign contracts under Doyle and screwed themselves royally. Not sure of Eau Claire's situation, but RUSD already had a structural deficit going into this year prior to this budget, and lost federal stimulus money (which they knew would end) and were warned by me and three other board members that the state integration aid would end back in 2007 as it was unconstitutional. The finger points right back at the inept board members and a failing administration. The budget tools could go further if the board and administration actually had a spine. 3 prep periods? 37 hr work weeks? Address those and like I showed in my column, there would be no lay-offs, but rushing to sign a contract did hurt them in that regards.
David Alan
9:39 am on Friday, July 22, 2011
what financial projections were made when the union contract extensions were entered into?
Just the truth
10:53 am on Saturday, July 23, 2011
School boards really need to pay attention and investigate what administration is telling them. Administrative/manager jobs are created at extensive salaries and benefits, yet nobody can explain what these people do. Nicely written jobs descriptions are created and everyone believes that people are really going to perform these duties. Friends take care of friends at the taxpayer's expense.
Brendan O'Brien
5:43 pm on Saturday, July 23, 2011
Just the truth: Generally speaking, school districts administrators are much like the head of a company in that they hire and fire staff, oversee a budget and oversee facilities. If you want to find out what they do, you can call them and maybe spend some time with one of them at work.
James Anspaugh
8:23 pm on Sunday, July 24, 2011
I went to public schools for most of my life. Got A's and B's without doing homework. All done in class. In private school, Union Grove Christian where I went, I had to do lots of homework and studying to catch up to the other students to get a c average. A 70% was a D grade. Then I went back to public schools. Too easy to get good grades and not learn.
99% of our class went to college and were way ahead of others in college.
LEFTY
9:25 am on Monday, July 25, 2011
Well James- I had the exact opposite experience when I transferred from a Catholic school to a public school in Wauwatosa. While seemingly doing fine in the Catholic School I soon realized that I was far behind in all academic area when I entered the Public School.
CowDung
9:59 am on Monday, July 25, 2011
It's great for everyone to compare their school transcripts around here, but it really doesn't make any real point. Some private schools are good, some are not so good. Similarly, some public schools are good, some are not so good.
The only real difference is that if you find yourself (or your kids) in one of the not so good schools, the private school kid can change schools, the public school kid cannot...