This doesn't seem like the right direction...

The Legislature's budget-writing committee on Tuesday signed off on a proposal by Gov. Scott Walker to phase out a program designed to help students -- especially those from low-income families -- find a path to a college degree.

You can find the full story here.

Wisconsin Covenant scholars who follow the program's guidelines -- and earn at least a B average in high school -- are guaranteed spots in the University of Wisconsin System, the state technical college system or one of the state's 20 private colleges.

Education isn't an expense, its an investment.

P.S. Sorry for the posting hiatus...

More changes...

Adam Mella, managing editor of the Herald-Independent has announced in this week's edition that he is leaving us.  Over the last several years Adam has provided excellent coverage of local events and government affairs, and I think the quality of the reporting has only improved under his leadership.  Adam's tenure has also seen the development of a frequently updated web presence that has provided a new and valuable level of service to our communities.

 Thanks for your good work Adam, and good luck in your future endeavors!

Election results

In a shocking upset Dean Bowles and Susan Fox win seats on the Monona Grove School board.

Congratulations! and welcome to the board Dean!

Belated board meeting wrap up...

The board approved the charter school planning grant application after a presentation by Nancy Gagnon and some of the other proposers, although many questions remain to be answered during the planning grant period.  The charter school proposal as presented calls for up to 180 seats (3 grades of 2 sections of 30 students each), very preliminary budget numbers were about $950K/year in operating costs.  The proposal calls for a school that is an "instrumentality" of the district: although it has a separate governance board it would not be a distinct fiscal entity - this is the way our current charter school (MG21) is operated.  The school would use a "project based learning" model and feature an environmental and health sciences curriculum.  Ann Schroeder raised concerns that there was not sufficient room n Winnequah for 180 Middle School students.

The next step would be to negotiate and agree to a charter in December of next year.  IMHO any agreement would have to be budget neutral - the costs of the charter school should not exceed the differential savings of taking those students out of our existing program -  anything more would result in fewer resources for students in our existing programs. 

The board also approved open enrollments for next year.  Out of a total of 206 applicants we accepted 125 based on available space.  This includes 55 4K, 20 Kindergarten students at Winnequah, and 30 high school students. 

We also got a look at an updated budget forecast: we are anticipating a $3.1M deficit representing a proposed budget reduction of 5.5% per student.  The deficit can be offset by projected savings of $1.1M in WRS and Health insurance payments (the pay cut to teachers), $100K revenue from open enrollment, $850K in Federal Jobs Bill revenue, $245K savings from the Maywood/Winnequah consolidation,  $340K from staffing maximization (reducing staff and moving them around to match student needs) and $362K in program and services reductions (more on those next time).  This leaves us with a projected negative $88K balance on the year, plus whatever is required for remodeling in Winnequah due to the consolidation.


P.S. The H-I website embeds my cell phone video of the 1812 overture played by the combined 4th-12th grade orchestras at the bottom of the front page:  http://www.herald-independent.com/, check it out!

March 30 meeting

The board will meet tomorrow Wednesday with a few items on the agenda.  In closed session the board will:

III. Motion to Move into Closed Session Pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes 19.85 (1)(c)
(e) for Consideration and Deliberation Regarding Administrative Contracts/Salaries,
Superintendent Evaluation,  Possible Contract Extensions for Support Staff,
Possible Negotiation of Resignation Agreement with an Employee and Strategies
for Real Estate Practices Regarding School District Properties.

In open session the board will:

A. Discussion  and Possible Approval of Planning Grant Application for School of
      Health and Environmental Sciences - Nancy Gagnon and Stephanie Ramer   (30 Min) 

The board will review the planning grant application proposed by a group of Monona residents for "the Monona Grove Environmental and Health Sciences Charter School" designed to serve as many as 75 middle school students with a project based learning environment.  You can review the document here. 

B. Discussion and Possible Approval of Open Enrollment Recommendations    (30 Min)
C. Discussion of 2011-2012 Budget Reduction Items.                                          (60 Min)

The proposed 2011-13 state budget puts the district in need of significantly more budget cuts than we had planned- the board will consider recommendations for the administration for different directions we can go.

Expand vouchers because...?

From today's WSJ:

The test results show the percentage of students participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program who scored proficient or advanced was 34.4 percent for math and 55.2 percent for reading.


Among Milwaukee Public Schools students, it was 47.8 percent in math and 59 percent in reading. Among Milwaukee Public Schools students coming from families making 185 percent of the federal poverty level — a slightly better comparison because voucher students come from families making no more than 175 percent — it was 43.9 percent in math and 55.3 percent in reading.

That is a gap of 9.5 percent in the math proficiency between the MPS students and voucher school students.  At the very least the state should stop to look at the Milwaukee voucher program and seriously consider if and under what conditions it should continue- because what is happening now is not working. 

3/16/2011


The Honorable Senator Luther Olsen
The Honorable Senator Mark Miller
The Honorable Representative Gary Hebl
The Honorable Representative Joe Parisi
Madison, WI

Gentlemen,

Thank you for taking the time today to allow me to express my concerns about the impact of the Governor’s 2011-13 budget on education in the Monona Grove School District and the state of Wisconsin.

As I noted to some of you, according to the website //www.usgovernmentspending.com, K-12 education spending in Wisconsin over the past decade has shrunk from 4.5% of GDP in 1990 to 4.05% in 2010. In other words the education “piece of the pie” has shrunk more than 12% in a little over 10 years. To the dubious extent that Wisconsin is “broke” it is certainly not the fault of public education.

Those of us involved with public education don’t need to be told of this statistic because it has become part of our way of life: Year after year we adjust and cut, increase class sizes here, reduce a student service there, and always defer maintenance of our infrastructure. At the same time our ability to compensate qualified staff has increasingly slipped behind inflation. On top of the corrosion over the last decade I fear the significant cuts in the proposed budget will do irreparable damage to our schools. Wisconsin is known for one of the best education systems in the country (although it admittedly has problems), but the proposed budget now places that system and our reputation at risk.

Please contact me for additional information or if I can be of any assistance.

Regards,

Peter Sobol
Member, Monona Grove School Board

The pesky spam filter

blocked a half dozen comments.   They are in now, but hopelessly out of date.  Thanks for commenting anyway!

Board agrees to MGEA contract extension (with modifications)

The MG school board met in special session this afternoon and approved an extension of the current contract with MGEA for the next school year with several important modifications:

1) Teachers will contribute 1/2 the WRS pension contributions from their salary.  This is the same requirement as the "Budget repair bill".

2) Teachers will pay 12.6%  of their health insurance costs.  This is the same requirement as the "Budget repair bill".

3) Only teachers currently eligible for retirement within the next 5 years will retain the current retirement benefits.  No provisions for retirement benefits for teachers retiring beyond the next 5 years are provided in the contract, these will be up to the board to provide in policy.

4) There will be a 0% increase to the salary schedule, although step and lane increases will occur.

5) The district calendar will be determined by the board and is no longer a subject of bargaining, teacher transfers also become a management prerogative. 

Estimated Fiscal impact:  The WRS and Health care contributions will save the district about $1M a year.  The salary schedule freeze will probably cost less than the possible CPI salary increase that would be the subject of bargaining under the "budget repair bill".   The agreement also allows the board to very significantly reduce retirement benefit liability in the future.

Question:  Why would the board agree to this contract when the "budget repair bill" would allow us to "do anything we want" next year?

1) Without a contract, disputes regarding employment are governed by applicable (and complex) state law, which means they end up in court, which can be expensive.  Considering the vast changes in the law there is considerable risk of litigation - this contract protects the district from that risk because it establishes the working conditions and compensation and procedures for resolving disputes.  Private companies frequently establish agreements and systems which minimize recourse to the legal system in the event of disputes.

2) In the event that the new law is overruled in court, or repealed in whole or in part (either of which is a possibility) it is a very distinct advantage for the district to have an established contract with these terms (especially reduced retirement liability) in places as a starting point for any new contracts. 

3) The operating structures of the district are long established through our contract - this extension provides the district and the staff with a bridge that allows us to adapt to both the new law and other budget changes with some degree of security and structure, while giving the board significantly improved flexibility. Continuity of operation is critical to good management of any organization. 

5) Establishing a cooperative environment through a voluntary agreement rather than the adversarial relationship that will result from a one-sided imposition of conditions will go along way towards helping us adapt to the new realities.  The relative goodwill is a significant advantage to the district.

Once the "budget repair bill" becomes law (no later than March 25th) we would not have the opportunity to enter into this contract and would therefore be unable to obtain the risk protections afforded.  This is a good deal that provides important benefits and reduced risks to the district.