DPI just released their School Aid Payment Estimates for the next year.
Rep. Garthwaite voted to cut Cassville’s schools by 15.6%. Conversely, he only voted to cut Milwaukee’s public schools by 0.84%. That is going to mean that the Cassville’s school board will have to raise property taxes by the maximum amount allowable under law. It also means that they will have to go to referendum to ask the voters to raise property taxes even more.
So next time you hear the Greater Wisconsin Committee on the radio thanking Garthwaite for “protecting schools,” just remember that they are talking about Milwaukee Schools. Rep. Garthwaite didn’t do a thing to protect Grant County’s schools or us property taxpayers.
...more to come on Rep. Garthwaite's assault on local K-12 education...
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They don't vote on individual school districts. Seriously...This is just malicious. In fact, nobody in the assembly really voted on this at all. They vote on a pot of money in the bill, and from there it is divided by student enrollment and a few other factors.
ReplyDeleteIf you are going to write an anti-democrat blog, please don't make us Republicans look like idiots. You are not helping our cause.
Not true Anonymous. Months before Rep. Garthwaite voted on the budget, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau made clear that Governor Doyle's proposed cuts would be levied far more cruelly, and quite disproportionately, upon rural school districts than they would upon urban centers like Milwaukee. Did Rep. Garthwaite stand up and fight against these unfair cost shifts to rural property tax payers?
ReplyDeleteNo. He stood by and voted with the majority of Democrats from Madison and Milwaukee.
In past years Democrats and the teachers' union WEAC have furiously attacked Republicans for "cuts" to education when they actually increased spending by modest percentages. It is only fair to point out, correctly, that Rep. Garthwaite knowingly vote to cut state aid to schools in his district.
It is quite a problem for me that he supported an education budget that slashed the most struggling school in his district by a huge percentage. He should be held accountable for it.
I understand what you are trying to say, but it still isn't correct. They did say that rural schools would be hit harder by the cut, true, but there is no way to adjust that on a school by school basis. In order for rural schools to operate with the same funding levels the overall amount of state aid would need to be increased, which would increase the urban areas as well (which you wouldn't be happy with). Or the rural schools would need to bring in additional students, since much of the formula is based on enrollment. The school funding formulas, including the revenue caps and equalization aid calculations, were all brought in by Tommy Thompson in 1993. This isn't new. The school funding storm has been brewing ever since. Without major funding reforms or reductions in health care costs, every school in the state will be bankrupt in 10 years or less. Some are already.
ReplyDeleteThere have been groups trying to convince the legislature to work on this reform for years, but some of our republican buddies won't even give them the time of day.
Anonymous - I find it funny that you blame Republicans for inaction on school funding reform the day after Governor Doyle dropped his plan for any reform this session. http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/87074057.html
ReplyDeleteIn case you haven't noticed, Democrats control all branches of government in Wisconsin yet they haven't so much as introduced a bill or held a hearing on this subject. Democrats are very good at clamoring for change but they're not so good at governing these days.
At any rate, you are incorrect about the school funding formula. There are several forms of aid that are paid by the state to local school districts just as there are several variables that go into the formula. The Democrats made a conscious decision this session to adjust those variables and the funding levels for the different aids in a way that benefited Milwaukee but hurt many rural school districts.
The GOP introduced budget amendments that would have assisted these rural districts, however, those amendments were shot down by Democrats including Rep. Garthwaite.
I'm not blaming republicans only. I was just laying it out there since you already tried to make it clear this was completely the democrats fault. I agree they are to blame as well. Everybody is. This was a crappy formula to begin with and it continues to be yet nobody is doing much about it.
ReplyDeleteYou are right - there are several forms of aid paid by the state. Can you even name them? Can you tell me what the average percentages each of these aids make up? Can you explain how they are calculated and distributed? I can. Its my job. I am NOT wrong about the funding formula. That formula accounts for the vast majority of aid. Anything else is minimal and in most cases not nearly enough for their intended purposes. So the schools need to make up for that with the equalization aid they are given (the majority I spoke of). And that equalization aid is calculated by the funding formula.
This is all besides the point. You originally stated that Phil Garthwaite voted against the Cassville School District. What he and every other representative voted on was the amount of money in the education pot. The formula does the rest through enrollments, property valuation, etc. Cassville is in an unfortunate situation with low property values and declining enrollment. Even if the total pot of money was increased, Cassville residents would have had an increased property tax bill. That is a formula problem.