31 Ways in 31 Days—Way #1 Massive Cuts to School Funding Threaten Wisconsin’s Tradition of High-Quality Education

by Kids Forward | July 1, 2011

Home 9 Early Care and Education 9 31 Ways in 31 Days—Way #1 Massive Cuts to School Funding Threaten Wisconsin’s Tradition of High-Quality Education ( Page 16 )

A well-educated workforce is more important than ever to the state’s economic future. Yet this budget cuts nearly $750 million in general state aid from the public school system over the biennium. As a result, we risk weakening Wisconsin’s commitment to our public K-12 education system and jeopardizing educational opportunities for the next generation of Wisconsin workers.

In addition to the $750 million cut in general state aid, the state is also cutting support for specific school programs, and implementing new restrictions on how much revenue districts may raise at the local level. All told, the total cut to districts amounts to more than a billion dollars over the biennium.Can Wisconsin sustain a top-notch educational system with such heavy losses? Governor Walker says yes. He points to cuts in compensation for school teachers and other public employees as a way for districts to lessen the blow of the loss in resources.

But teachers and school districts are understandably concerned about the public school system’s ability to weather steep cuts. Many of them express doubts about the ability of public schools to continue to contribute to Wisconsin’s economic development. “This budget completely ignores the tie between strong schools and a strong economy,” said Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) President Mary Bell. “That’s not the Wisconsin way.”

Wisconsin has long recognized that public schools are one of the cornerstones of our state’s economy. We need to make investments in our education system today if we want to have a well-educated workforce tomorrow.

Tamarine Cornelius
Tomorrow—Way #2: Unspecified Cuts to BadgerCare with Minimal Oversight

About the series: “31 Ways in 31 Days” is a series of posts to the WCCF blog exploring the recently-passed biennial budget’s impact on children and families in Wisconsin. Each day in July, we are posting a description of one way the budget will affect kids and families, with an eye toward what should be done going forward to help improve outcomes and move us closer to the goal of making Wisconsin a place where every child has the opportunity to grow up, learn, and thrive in a safe, healthy, economically secure home and community.

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