District Info |
Parent Info |
Instructional Support |
Departments & Programs |
Home
The major issue facing schools currently is the revenue cap that limits the amount of money that a Wisconsin school district can spend -- based on a formula that does not take into account the actual increased costs that occur each year.
The state does currently fund 2/3 of the cost of education across the state. This is an average figure and varies dramatically from district to district. In the case of Madison, the state funds approximately 28% of our costs. The revenue cap is a property tax measure, not an education measure. The more the state funds K-12 education, the less that property tax payers in a district have to pay.
The service reductions that district's across the state are having to make every year is the result of our inability to fund the same level of service each year. This happens because the amount of money we can use per pupil is not allowed to increase as rapidly as the cost of providing the service increases.
In the case of Madison, the state mandates that our budget can increase by only 2.6% a year, but our costs to continue providing the same services to our children increase at least 3.8% per year. This is the minimum increase that occurs because of the current state law that allows school districts to avoid arbitration with their teachers union if they offer that 3.8% increase in total salary and benefits. Obviously, that means that unions are never going to settle below 3.8%.
Salary and benefits are 86% of our budget, so the 3.8% creates a floor to our expenses. Our other expenses such as insurance and utilities rise much more that the 3.8% each year. In these areas, we are subject to the same market forces that homeowners and businesses are.
The gap that results from the difference between the 2.6% we can expend and the 3.8% minimum increase in costs (ours is usually 4.0 - 4.2%) is the reason we and almost every other school district in Wisconsin has to reduce services to their students every year.
To put this in context, if we were doing everything today that we were doing in 1993 -- when the revenue cap law went into effect -- we would have 526 more employees and our budget would be $46 million higher that it is today. I think this number quantifies the difference that the revenue cap has made in services to children.
The first step that needs to occur is for the state of Wisconsin to determine what quality of education we want for our children. The decisions relative to what it costs to provide that education determine the amount of financial resources each school district needs.
Dr. Allan Odden at the UW-Madison is currently conducting a study to determine what level and types of resources are necessary for all of our children to gain proficiency on the Wisconin Standards. These standards determine what children should know and be able to do as they move through the K-12 system.
The second step is to develop a finance plan that funds these required educational components. The funding can and should come from a variety of tax structures.
The third step is to develop a method to allow the funding to rise as costs for the same services increases. This is the critical part and what is missing in the current school finance plan.
Art Rainwater
There have been and there will be cuts of central office administrators. Counting the cuts for next year, central administrative positions have been cut by 28% in the last 6 years.
In 2000-01 there were 59 FTE (full-time equivalent) central administrative positions funded through the operating budget. Due to cuts and shifting funding for the positions to other sources (grants, reallocation from consultant fees,) there will be 42.2 FTE central administrative positions funded through the operating budget next year.
That's a reduction of 16.8 FTEs (28.4%) in the last 6 years.
In addition, many of the 42.2 central administrators are not truly administrators in that they do not supervise other staff members. They are service professionals such as accountants, attorneys, educational coordinators and technical staff, whose services — if the position did not exist -- would need to be purchased.
We agree that the average citizen has little understanding of how under-funded state and federal mandates and state-imposed revenue limits cause annual budget difficulties for Madison Schools and school districts across the state. It's difficult to translate the complexities of school aids into simple "sound bites," but the district has attempted to make school funding more understandable.
To this end, the district produced a short DVD that was distributed to all principals, PTO/A presidents and members of the media. You can view the video through the district's Web site: http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/budget.htm (about half way down the "2005-06 Annual Budget" section is an item titled "School Funding in Wisconsin.")
The video also explains the problems of managing teacher contracts that must increase by at least 3.8% and a revenue limit law that allows Madison to increase its overall school budget by about 2.5%.
One of the frustrating aspects of fighting this legislative battle is that all members of the Madison-area state delegation and US Sens. Kohl and Feingold and US Rep. Tammy Baldwin are extremely supportive of Madison School District's positions on school funding issues. Our elected officials are with us.
Unfortunately, they are ALL members of the minority party in the state Legislature and Congress, so they do not set the agenda. I encourage you to talk to your elected state officials regarding your concerns related to school funding and urge them to keep this issue at the forefront of legislative discussions.
The total budgeted expenditures for 2007-08 are $412,868,100.
The district's website below contains the total budget document as presented to the Board of Education for final approval:
http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/budget/mmsd/0708/2007_MMSD_BOE_Amended_Budget.pdf ![[PDF File]](/img/pdf-sm.gif){kind=small}
Art Rainwater:
We believe it is important that all of our middle schools offer the same opportunities for students to be able to pursue their high school education. Currently that is not true.
The course offerings across our 11 middle schools, both in terms of scope and time, are very different from school to school.
For example, the foreign languages and amount of time devoted to each one differ at each school. This means that the ability of a student to pursue a foreign language in high school is determined in some cases not by the interest of the child but by the school he or she happens to be assigned to.
This is the same for many subjects and activities across the schools.
These are the things that we are trying to make consistent through the use of the design team.
I am sure within that context that each school will have individual attributes that sets that school apart.
It should be noted that we also strongly encourage innovation in the ways we teach, as opposed to what we teach.
Why are schools open on Good Friday, and closed on the Monday after Easter?
First, you should know that the school calendar is required by state law to be negotiated with the teachers union.
For many years there have been requests by parents to align our spring break with the University of Wisconsin spring break. The school year calendars for the three years of the current teachers' contract fulfill that request. In two of the three years, Easter is part of the spring break.
However, this year Easter is not during spring break. We cannot establish Good Friday as a holiday because of its religious nature. Therefore, during negotiations we agreed to have schools closed on a Monday in April (the day after Easter) to continue to give our teachers the same number of days off during the spring as they have had in the past and will have in the future.
Unfortunately, no matter what days schools are closed, there are concerns from some parents because households have very different needs in terms of vacations.
The English as a Second Language (ESL) and Bilingual education programs are designed for students who are learning English (not currently proficient in English.)
There is lots of information about the ESL and Bilingual education programs at: http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/educserv/eslhome.htm
The Madison School District does have one dual-immersion program, designed to build fluency for kindergarten through 5th grade students in English and in Spanish. This school is called Nuestro Mundo and is located at Allis Elementary School. The address where you can find more information about this school is: http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/schools/nuestromundo/
Madison School and Community Recreation provides the recreation program for all of the citizens who live in the Madison Metropolitan School District.
The recreation department was established over 80 years ago. In most cities recreation services are provided by the parks department. The citizens of Madison chose to have it provided by the school district. There are 7 other similar arrangements in the state.
MSCR is funded through participant fees and property tax.
In elementary schools, Mondays are "early release days." Monday early release time is used to allow elementary staff to have team planning time and staff meetings coordinated by the principal. Each Monday, various teams meet to discuss students, programming and/or curriculum.
Monday early releases date back to the 1970s. According to our Labor Relations department, a committee of teachers and administrators came up with the idea in order to provide elementary teachers with planning time. Around 1976 it became part of the collective bargaining agreement between the district and Madison Teachers, Inc.
The current language reads, "This additional one hour planning time per week shall be designated for team planning, e.g. grade level team planning time. This one hour of team planning time may occur during the Monday early release time at the discretion of the principal. The one hour of team planning shall be designated for instructional purposes only."
In addition, one Monday early release per month is used for the elementary principal to meet with all school staff.