Thursday, December 29, 2011

Winnequah 10K...

A special thanks to the Meriter Foundation whose $5000 Donation, along with $2500 from the Monona PTO and a $2500 capstone donation from an anonymous donor, has helped the Winnequah endowment fund reach its initial goal of $10,000 with the Monona Grove Education Foundation.

The MGEF has set up an endowment fund for each of the schools in the district with an initial goal of $10,000.  When this amount is raised the funds will be administered by the Madison Community Foundation.  A $2500 "capstone grant" from an anonymous donor will be contributed to each fund when it reaches $7500 to put it over the top.

Winnequah school is the first to reach the $10K goal.  You can find the MGEF on facebook or the MG website  to contribute!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Whither Madison Prep...

The proposed Madison Prep Charter School was voted down by the Madison school board on Monday.   A bold proposal to address the achievement gap in Madison, Madison Prep supporters have a very good point- the status quo is not working for minority students.

There wasn't any magic to the Madison Prep proposal:  longer school year, extended school days, smaller class ratios, additional support services, we know these things work, and taken together these things would likely make a significant impact on student achievement.  But all these things cost significant amounts of money which is ultimately the problem.  What distribution of resources is the most effective and fair?

Personally I would like to see Madison Prep with a contract to operate for a fixed period of time of 3 to 5 years,  with an evaluation against pre-defined goals at the end of that time.  A cost-benefit evaluation could then be made of whether or not Madison wanted to raise the resources to extend the model across the board, or drop it in favor of another model.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Last meeting of the year...

Is tomorrow evening in the High School IMC. You can find the agenda here. Items of Note:
I. Unfinished Business
1. Report on Monona Grove Education Foundation Endowment Funds
Last year the Monona Grove Education Foundation inaugurated endowment funds for each of our schools, with the goal of reaching a $10,000 initial investment in each fund. A capstone grant is available for the last $2500. The MGEF will provide the board with an update of the fundraising.
2. Discussion and Possible Approval of MGHS Parking Lot Concepts
Hopefully we will give approval to the modifications to the parking and entrance to the lot on the South Side of the High School
4. Discussion and Possible Approval of the Budget Process and Budget Calendar
The proposed calendar for finding $1.2M in savings next year can be found here.
J. New Business
1. Discussion and Possible Approval of Superintendent's Contract
2. Discussion and Possible Approval District Administrators' Contracts

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Good news and bad news...

Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?  OK, I’ll start with the good news: according to the PMA budget projections the district is “only” facing cuts of $1.2 Million for next school year.  How is that “good”? – It’s about ½ what we were anticipating.  Still brutal, but not as bad as I thought.  $1.2M is about 3.5% of our total operating fund, about the cost of 21 teachers.

So if that’s the good news what’s the bad news?  In 2014 the deficit is additional $875K, in 2015 an additional $540K, in 2016 another $500K, in 2017 another $500K – through 2017 the cumulative total deficit $12.5 million dollars vs. our current cost to continue.  Each year our capacity to provide a quality education is reduced an incremental amount, and the deeply corrosive effects of Wisconsin’s school funding system continue to degrade our children’s future.   And don’t think for a minute that this is, in the long run, saving you money.

I hear people talk of a referendum to balance the budget?  To do so would require a referendum that starts at $1.5M and grows by at least $650K each subsequent year.  (For every dollar we raise in an operating referendum the state reduces our aid by 30 cents, so we would have to compensate)   If you can tell me how to structure an acceptable referendum that meets these conditions, I’m all ears.  Of course then we have the funding cliff at the end to deal with.

Eventually we will need additional revenue sources to adequately fund our schools. Perhaps we can expand on Newt Gingrich’s repugnant idea and hire out low income students to clean other people’s buildings as well as our own.  (Please note the sarcasm in that last comment!)