Rainwater urges school funding reform

Superintendent Art Rainwater urged the Legislature to put aside partisan differences and make necessary changes to Wisconsin's school funding formula. In a March news conference with several legislators attending, Rainwater said the time is now to support Assembly Joint Resolution 94 , which requires the Legislature to make changes by July 1, 2007.

"The time has come to say to our Legislature: Stop! — set a deadline to fix this," Rainwater said. "Remove the lives of our children — and the future of our state — from the political process. Quit being Republicans and Democrats for one time and sit down and look at our children and look at what they need and reach a bipartisan solution that serves not only the interests of our children, but the interests of all of us."

Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts (D-Verona) is the lead Assembly author of the resolution, which says that in order to meet the requirements of the state constitution, the new finance system must provide the necessary funding "to operate efficient, effective schools and classrooms rather than based on arbitrary per pupil measures." State resources should be sufficient to prepare all children "for post-secondary education, employment, and citizenship and to satisfy state and federal mandates."

Similar to the language in the state Supreme Court's Vincent v. Voight school funding decision, the resolution calls for the necessary resources to ensure the success of low-income students, and students who are English Language Learners and in special education.

Finally, the resolution urges "a combination of state funds and a reduced level of local property taxes, derived and distributed in a manner that treats all taxpayers equitably regardless of local property wealth and income."

To K-12 detractors who contend schools just need to be more creative to make cuts, Rainwater said, "We have been as creative as we know how to be. There comes a time when the mathematics of the formula destroys our children's future. That time is now."

Bills headed to Governor's desk

A flurry of activity marked the last week of the Legislature's final winter session. GOP leaders said the 2 week floor period in late April and the first week of May would be for select, unspecified legislation. Earlier this year, the legislative leaders indicated the revised TABOR, newly dubbed the Taxpayer Protection Amendment by proponents, would be debated in the spring.

The following describes some of the K-12 bills awaiting the governor's action. Historically, governors rarely indicate what bills they will sign until just before the actual signing.

Senate Bill 286 — Requires that any school district offering a human growth and development curriculum must teach that abstinence is the most effective method to prevent unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Senate Bill 618 — Increases the Milwaukee voucher program's enrollment limits to up to 22,500 students, increases aid for SAGE schools from $2,000 per low-income student to $2,500 in the 2008-09 fiscal year, and provides a small measure of academic accountability; however, voucher students are still not required to take the same state assessments that public school students take. (Signed by the Governor.)

Assembly Bill 152 — Decreases the amount of fines/forfeiture revenue for libraries, including schools, and allows the counties that collect the fees to keep as much as 30 percent (current law is 10%) of the total collected.

Assembly Bill 309 — Requires that any school district that has a human growth and development curriculum include information about marriage and parental responsibility.

Assembly Bill 730 — Allows the UW System campuses to create charter schools that are independent of local school districts.

Assembly Bill 1060 — For virtual charter school purposes, a teacher is defined as the individual who provides credit for the course, or assigns grades.

Court rules on "virtual" schools

Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge Joseph McCormack ruled that the Wisconsin Virtual Academy did not violate state law by having parents as a key educator for their child, instead of a state-certified teacher. The judge also dismissed charges that the school violated Wisconsin laws regulating the creation of charter schools and misused the state's open enrollment program.

The ruling allows the computer-based virtual school in Ozaukee County to continue to operate. The circuit court ruling only applies to Ozaukee County.

The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) argued that teachers have minimal interaction with students. The judge ruled that nothing in state law prescribes the amount of interaction time between student and teacher. WEAC has 90 days to file an appeal to the state Court of Appeals.