MON., FEB 26, 2007 - 11:24 PM
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Many school districts have considered dissolving
ANDY HALL 608-252-6136
ahall@madison.com
A fourth of the Wisconsin school districts responding to a new survey say they've considered dissolving or consolidating to deal with financial pressures.
"To me, that is a signal of defeat. It is a signal of desperation," said Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, a group representing state superintendents that conducted the survey with the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the 96,000-member union of teachers and staff members.
A majority of school districts also say they've harmed students' education and school operations to comply with state revenue limits, according to the survey results released Monday.
Turner and Stan Johnson, president of the teachers union, said the school-funding crisis threatens the state's economic development.
The latest edition of the annual survey, examining the 2005-06 school year, included responses from 268 (63 percent) of the state's school superintendents.
Revenue limits, implemented in the 1993-94 school year to hold down growth in property taxes, control the amount of money that districts are allowed to raise from local taxpayers.
But educators have long complained that the limits fail to keep pace with rising expenses that include teacher salaries and benefits, which are allowed on average to rise at a faster rate.
Also, educators say, the revenue limits fail to keep up with other costs such as utilities, gasoline, and the expenses of educating students in special education and limited-English- proficiency programs.
Among the survey's findings:
Twenty-seven percent of superintendents said their school boards have held discussions during the past few years about the possibility of dissolving or consolidating their school districts. Among those districts, more than 90 percent said the talks were prompted by financial problems.
Increasing portions of districts report changes that could reduce the quality of educational services. Since the 1998-99 school year, for example, the percentage of districts increasing class sizes grew from 48 to 74 percent. The percentage laying off teachers during that period rose from 36 to 62 percent.
Johnson said class cuts threaten children's ability to grow into well-rounded adults, as courses are reduced in such areas as art, language, music, technology and physical education.
Discussions about consolidation and dissolution were concentrated among small districts with little or no growth in enrollment since 1993.
Six in 10 Wisconsin districts are experiencing enrollment declines.
This survey was the first asking about dissolution, in which a district simply folds and its students are taken in by others, and consolidation, in which two districts merge into a single district.
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Many school districts have considered dissolving
ANDY HALL 608-252-6136
ahall@madison.com
A fourth of the Wisconsin school districts responding to a new survey say they've considered dissolving or consolidating to deal with financial pressures.
"To me, that is a signal of defeat. It is a signal of desperation," said Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, a group representing state superintendents that conducted the survey with the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the 96,000-member union of teachers and staff members.
A majority of school districts also say they've harmed students' education and school operations to comply with state revenue limits, according to the survey results released Monday.
Turner and Stan Johnson, president of the teachers union, said the school-funding crisis threatens the state's economic development.
The latest edition of the annual survey, examining the 2005-06 school year, included responses from 268 (63 percent) of the state's school superintendents.
Revenue limits, implemented in the 1993-94 school year to hold down growth in property taxes, control the amount of money that districts are allowed to raise from local taxpayers.
But educators have long complained that the limits fail to keep pace with rising expenses that include teacher salaries and benefits, which are allowed on average to rise at a faster rate.
Also, educators say, the revenue limits fail to keep up with other costs such as utilities, gasoline, and the expenses of educating students in special education and limited-English- proficiency programs.
Among the survey's findings:
Twenty-seven percent of superintendents said their school boards have held discussions during the past few years about the possibility of dissolving or consolidating their school districts. Among those districts, more than 90 percent said the talks were prompted by financial problems.
Increasing portions of districts report changes that could reduce the quality of educational services. Since the 1998-99 school year, for example, the percentage of districts increasing class sizes grew from 48 to 74 percent. The percentage laying off teachers during that period rose from 36 to 62 percent.
Johnson said class cuts threaten children's ability to grow into well-rounded adults, as courses are reduced in such areas as art, language, music, technology and physical education.
Discussions about consolidation and dissolution were concentrated among small districts with little or no growth in enrollment since 1993.
Six in 10 Wisconsin districts are experiencing enrollment declines.
This survey was the first asking about dissolution, in which a district simply folds and its students are taken in by others, and consolidation, in which two districts merge into a single district.
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