| Three organizations: One Voice, One Vote by Paul Kusuda |
| The three organizations are the Japanese American Citizens League - Wisconsin Chapter; Dane County SOS Senior Council; and Wisconsin Organization for Asian Americans. Two of these groups are comprised of Asian Americans and others interested in Asian and Asian American issues/concerns and one is interested in issues/ concerns related to the elderly. They join with more than 130 school districts, teacher and education organizations, civic and faith-based organizations, parent organizations, and other groups that have created a diverse coalition to work for comprehensive public school funding. Staff services are provided by the Milwaukee-based Institute for Wisconsin's Future which has offices in Milwaukee. Among many advocacy activities of the Coalition is helping WAES in developing an alternative to the current state formula used to allocate funds for public school K-12 education. State funds are supposed to provide two-thirds of school district operational costs to educate all children from kindergarten through high school. The balance is paid through local property tax levies. Senior citizens, like many other taxpayers, have concerns about local property taxes being increased each year. At the same time, many are quite aware that the future of Wisconsin and of the nation will be in the hands of our current school children. Unfortunately, the current state allocation formula is based on the premise that those living in counties with larger property valuations than other counties have more disposable income and are better able to pay for local public education. The fact is, people's disposable income is not related to property valuation. Homeowners (and renters) living in counties with high property valuations suffer because the school fund allotment is lower than for counties having lower valuations. The formula does not take into consideration cost differentials among districts such as transportation, distances to schools, special education needs, family economic status, and proficiency in English. A School-funding Unity Group was forged after eight statewide organizations with the common interest of school-funding reform met four times in 2006 with a UW-Madison School of Education Dean acting as facilitator. The groups were Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools, Association for Equity in Funding, Fair Aid Coalition, Southeastern Wisconsin Schools Association, Wisconsin Association of School Boards, Wisconsin Education Association, Wisconsin Alliance of School District Administrators, and School Administrators Alliance. The American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin later joined. Each group approved a belief statement that I have shortened a bit without losing the thrust. We believe the following: 1) Wisconsin must have a public education system with resources to deliver high quality teaching and learning for all children. 2) The current amount of funding is inadequate to ensure student success. 3) The current financing methods are flawed. 4) While public education is a fundamental state obligation, local control and governance is essential to meet the needs of all students, their communities, and greater Wisconsin. 5) It is in the state's interest to provide high quality education for all children. 6) A school finance reform action plan must be designed for a long-term solution and for monitoring the steps to achieve it. 7) Advocates sharing the same principles working together will be more likely to succeed than working separately. / 8) The issues must be addressed with urgency. The WAES plan for allocation of state funds is such that all school districts will receive a base level of funding as the starting point to achieving fully adequate funding. In addition, augmentations will be made to enable provisions for extra staffing and programming based on needs related to special education, proficiency in English, economic status of families, and transportation differences among school districts. Other factors taken into account will be declining enrollments and small-district adjustments. Local school boards will be able to choose to increase their tax levy up to an additional two million for any purpose through a two-thirds vote. With reference to construction finance, annual debt payments will be separate from regular operating funds. For future debts, districts could carry over the debt, continue to receive state aid, and could raise their local tax levy. For future debts, districts could establish a local property tax not to exceed three million. The Construction Board would receive aid to equalize the local levy share talking into consideration individuals' low property wealth. No referendum will be required if the proposal is approved by a two-thirds vote of the school board. Although this is an over-simplified summary of the WAES Wisconsin Adequacy Plan, it gives an idea of the approach being taken. Since K-12 education is so important to assure children the opportunity to go on to post-high school academic/vocational education, we should be more involved in seeing that members of the state legislature and the governor support revamping the current state formula for allocating state funds for public education. A telephone call or a letter just might be effective. My advice? DO IT!! If you know of any group or organization wanting to know more about this vital issue of adequate funding of public education (to be accomplished without increasing local property taxes and possibly even reducing them), please contact Tom Beebe, Outreach Specialist; Institute for Wisconsin's Future; 1717 S. 12th Street, #203; Milwaukee, WI 53204-3300; (414) 384-9094. He has a lot of information which he presents in an interesting and enthusiastic way. |
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| Three organizations, one voice, one vote sounds a bit crazy, perhaps even a bit schizophrenic. Actually, it's not strange. It's just that I represent three groups simultaneously when meeting with other members of the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES). |
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