State Budget Issues

April 16, 2002

Rep. John Gard
308 East
Capitol
Madison, WI 53707

Dear Rep. Gard:

As you begin work to iron out the differences in the Senate and Assembly versions on the budget repair bill, there are a select number of education issues I want to bring to your attention.

Special Education Funding - The $27.4 million added in the Senate version of the bill should be retained. If there is a need to modify the proposal, I suggest targeting the resources to low incidence-high cost special education students. Focusing the funds in this way eliminates the concern about misidentification of special education students and will help all school districts.

Revenue Limit Increase - With an array of fixed costs, school districts depend on an inflationary increase of revenue limits. Even with the $230.67 per pupil increase, Madison Schools will have to cut $7.25 million from its 2002-03 budget. The increase in the Senate version should be a part of the conference committee report.

Cyber schools - While Madison Schools has charter schools and supports the concept of charter schools, cyber schools raise many questions, with apparently few answers. A two-year moratorium, language and contained in the Senate budget, will allow greater scrutiny of this interesting proposal.

SAGE - The SAGE program has proved to be not only popular with parents, teachers and administrators, but the annual evaluations clearly demonstrate the educational merits of the program. That said, the Assembly language allowing schools to participate in one or more grades, provides some needed flexibility for Madison. In the future, revenue limits may force the district to reassess how SAGE is configured in the district.

School District Referenda - The district opposes restrictions on school referenda for two reasons. One, the issue is strictly policy and does not belong in the budget repair bill. Two, locally elected school board members should be able to determine when local school referenda should be scheduled. The item should be deleted.

Milwaukee School Choice - With both the state and federal government focusing on accountability for students and teachers, the Milwaukee School Choice program must be held to the same standards. Taxpayers deserve a modicum of accountability for the $58 million program. The Senate language that requires participating students to take the same assessments as Wisconsin's public school students should be retained.

If you have questions, or need more information, please don't hesitate to contact Joe Quick, the district's lobbyist, at 663-1902.

Sincerely,

Art Rainwater
Superintendent of Schools