our kids, our schools, our future

7/28/2019 Our Kids, Our Schools, Our Future

1/6

OurSchools

AToolkitfor parents,teachers

and School BoardmembersTo Support andStrengthen ourPublic Schools

Our kid

s Our Future

Public Education . . .

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Produced by C Uphoff forOregon Area Progressives

Wisconsin is #1 in High School graduation rates


2/6

EXPANSION OF PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHERS - talking points

In his February 20 budget presentation for 2013-14, Governor Walker said he plans to add $73 mil-lion in additional voucher funding and spending authority, along with an expansion of voucherschools in nine additional communities.

Students enrolled in private voucher schools reduce the amount of State Aid that is available to

support our public schools. This means higher property taxes, less money for our public schools andmore money for private, and often for-profit, voucher schools that arent held to the same standard ofaccountability as public schools.

Study after study and the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam (WKCE) , which is administeredstate-wide, have shown that students in Milwaukees voucher schools do not perform better in readingor math than their counterparts in the Milwaukee Public Schools and in many cases do worse.

Approximately 75% of students, who had enrolled in Milwaukees voucher school program in 9th

grade, withdrew from the program by the 12th grade.

The question needs to be asked. Why are we paying more perstudent for private charter and voucher schools that arent

performing as well as public schools?

Students in voucher schools risk losing their due process rights.

SPECIAL NEEDS VOUCHERS

Why should we spend scarce taxpayer dollars on unregulated special needs vouchers thathave not been shown to improve outcomes in other states? Wisconsin should invest in specialeducation funds that can benefit all students,"

EXPANSION OF PRIVATE CHARTER SCHOOLS

This bill creates the Charter School Oversight Board (CSOB), attached to DPI, and authorizes it toapprove nonprofit, nonsectarian organizations, or consortia of such organizations, to contract withpersons to operate independent charter schools.

The CSOB consists of the state superintendent of public instruction and ten other members. Of thelatter members, two are appointed by the state superintendent, two are appointed by the governor,and six by the leaders in the senate and assembly. The bill prohibits the CSOB from promulgating ad-ministrative rules and provides that any policy or standard adopted by the CSOB is exempt from therulemaking process.

The bill removes the restrictions that limit who may attend private charter school.

The bill eliminates the restrictions on converting all of a school districts public schools to charterschools and explicitly permits a school board to do so.

The school code (chapters 115 to 121 of the Wisconsin statutes) does not apply to charterschools. You may want to take a look at a few of the things contained in these chapters, fromwhich charter schools may be exempt.

118.016 Assessments of reading readiness118.017 Foreign Language Instruction118.07 Health and safety requirements118.13 Pupil discrimination prohibited118.19 Teacher certificates and licenses

Under this bill, in the 201314 school year, the state pays an operator of an independent charterschool a per pupil amount of $7,852 and, beginning in the 201415 school year, the state pays anoperator of an independent charter school a per pupil amount in each school year of $7,931.

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Copyright 2013 Charles Uphoff - may be reproduced, with permission. [email protected]

Average State Aid Per Student

$4,900

$6,442

$7,852

$0 $2,000 $4,000 $6,000 $8,000 $10,000

Average State Aid forPublic Schools

Guaranteed State Aid for

Private Voucher Schools

Proposed State Aid forPrivate Charter Schools


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The expansion of voucher and private charter school programs will mean Wisconsins taxpayerswill be paying more but getting less.

Taxpayers will be paying more property taxes to make up for lost state aid to public schoolswith less accountability for dollars spent on voucher and private charter schools.

Under current law, Wisconsin pays 61.6% of the total cost of vouchers (about $3,969

per student) The remaining 38.4% (about $2,474) is paid by the school district andproperty taxpayers.

An analysis by the Green Bay Area Public Schools found that taxpayers would pay anadditional $1,231,080 in property taxes if just 200 of the districts students were en-rolled in private voucher schools.

This is a backdoor assault on the property taxpayer. And were going to fight like hellto get it changed - Sen. Mike Ellis (R-Neenah)

Voucher and private charter schools are not subject to the same degree of scrutiny oraccountability to the taxpayers for the services they provide.

Paying more money for charter schools leaves less money for public schools.

The money paid to private charter schools means lessmoney is available for all public schools, not just thosedistricts with charter schools

More public school districts will be forced to cut back onsports, music and the arts, because of funding cuts,while voucher schools, that get more money, often offerfewer choices and extra-curricular activities for their stu-dents than the public schools.

One third of the voucher schools in Milwaukee andRacine do not have teachers for art, music and physicaleducation. (January 2013 report by the Public Policy Forum)

Despite receiving more money per student, in 2011, voucher school students did not do aswell on standardized reading and math tests as Milwaukee Public School students.

Although public school districts lose funding when students are enrolled in private voucherschools they may still be required to provide transportation for those students or reimburseparents for transportation costs.

Almost two-thirds of Wisconsin's 424 school districts will re-ceive less general state aid in the 2012-'13 school year thanthey did last year

The Republican-controlled Legislature dramatically cut fund-

ing for schools and limited districts' ability to make up thosefunds by raising local taxes - changes that were passed aspart of the biennial 2011-'13 state budget.

Wisconsin boasts the highest high school graduation rate in the nation, and although Wisconsinstudents average ACT scores dropped slightly this year compared to last, state students stillranked second nationally among the 28 states where at least half the students took thestandardized test.


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4/6

Contact Governor Walker, Senators and Representatives

To Contact Governor Walker:

By Phone: 608-266-1212

By Email: [email protected]

By Mail: 115 East Capitol, P.O. Box 7863, Madison, WI 53702

By Phone: Use their direct lines or call the Legislative Hotline and leave a message for yourlegislators: 1-800-362-9472; or from Madison, 608-266-9960

By Email: Example: [email protected]

Senators: Sen.(insert last name)@legis.wisconsin.gov

Representatives: Rep.(insert last name)@legis.wisconsin.gov

By Mail: Senators P.O. Box 7882, Madison, WI 53707

Representatives A-L P.O. Box 8952, Madison, WI 53708

Representatives M-Z P.O. Box 8953, Madison, WI 53708

Introduce yourself

Who are you? Why are you there? and Why do you care?

Take a friend with your, theres strength in numbers.

Remember in all of your interactions with legislators and staff. relationships matter!

Make note of the persons with whom you speak.

Dont assume the legislator or their staff, with whom you speak is the enemy, state your

case and ask how they might help.

Dont ramble or rant.

Dont assume because a legislator may smile and nod that they are on your side.

Ask specifically where they stand on the issues you are raising. Leave a written summary of your concerns and what you are asking them to do.

Thank the persons with whom you speak, by name, for taking time to meet with you.

Know something about the persons with whom you are speaking

Demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter you wish to discuss and it doesnt hurt if you

know a bit about the district they represent.

q Know the current status of proposed legislation.

q What specific changes would you like to see?

q Pick a few of your best talking points that support your position.

Be mindful of political considerations that might be persuasive but dont threaten.

Take the time to familiarize yourself with the relevant information, resources and the posi-

tions being taken by the opposition and various interest groups.

Proposals in the budget for the expansion of vouchers and charter schools overturn the

principle of local control and take locally elected school boards out of the picture regarding

vouchers and charter schools. Local control could be an effective talking point.

There are many services and programs in the public schools that voucher and privatecharter schools may not offer, such as art, music, foreign languages and transportation.


Contact information courtesy of WREA


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WISCON SIN STATE SENATE

SENATOR PHONE ROOM STAFF

(D3) CARPENTER, Tim 68535 109 South StuartEwy,RussellDeLong,ScottMay

(R2) COWLES, Robert 60484 118 South RyanSmith,KatherineWhite,JasonMugnaini,AnnaWatson

(D15) CULLEN, Timothy F. 62253 108 South KelleyFlury,JamesStoa,BenVanPelt

(R8) DARLING, Alberta 65830 317 East HeatherSmith,JelenaRadich,RobertDelaporte, AndrewEvenson,HollyPattersoNickKitzman

(R19) ELLIS, Michael G. 60718 220 South KurtSchultz,LynnNelson,ScottKelly,KayReetz

(D27) ERPENBACH, Jon B. 66670 104 South TrygKnutson,KellyBecker,JulieLaundrie

(R33) FARROW, Paul 69174 323 South AndrewGustafson,ScottRausch,JacobMargis,DougLundgren,JennaZantow(R13) FITZGERALD, Scott L. 65660 211 South DanRomportl,CindyBlock,TadOttman,RobRichard,EricBott,TomEvenson,

AdamFoltz

(R20) GROTHMAN, Glenn 67513 10 South RachelVerVelde,MichaelMurphy

(R18) GUDEX, Rick 65300 415 South TimLakin,ShawnSmith, AngelaHodkiewicz

(D30) HANSEN, Dave 65670 106 South JayWadd,JessicaLundquist,JohnWagnitz,CharlesSchultz

(D6) HARRIS, Nikiya 62500 3 South CindyMcGinnis,DavidCrowley,LisaBahr

(R10) HARSDORF, Sheila 67745 18 South MattWoebke,BrookeFroelich,BrittanyLewin

(D25) JAUCH, Bob 63510 310 South JeffBuhrandt,StevenKuligJr.,LisaLundquist

(R11) KEDZIE, Neal 62635 313 South DanJohnson,MichelleOsdene,DougWheaton,KatieScott

(D7) LARSON, Chris 67505 206 South JustinSargent,ShannonPowell,AshleySiefert,LacyLangbecker, SarahBarry,GregRenden,GillianMorris

(R1) LASEE, Frank G. 63512 316 South KevinJenkins, RobertKovach, JohnVanderLeest,LarsFiorio

(D24) LASSA, Julie 63123 126 South JessicaFordKelly,DanielleWilliams,MarkKnickelbine,RitchWilliams

(R28) LAZICH, Mary 65400 8 South TriciaSieg,BrittanyBrzenk

(D21) LEHMAN, John W. 61832 5 South DeniseStromme,BeauStafford,GeoffreyGaston,MichaelTierney

(R9) LEIBHAM, Joseph 62056 15 South LucasMoench,KatyPrange,LukePetrovich,AlexHansen

(D16) MILLER, Mark 69170 7 South BethBier,JohnAnderson,BridgetEsser,LizTrevino

(R23) MOULTON, Terry 67511 306 South NathanDuerkop,W.ScottNelson,HilaryShaw,MarkMorgan

(R14) OLSEN, Luther 60751 319 South DeannaPettack,SarahArchibald,AmyHarriman

(R29) PETROWSKI, Jerry 62502 123 South TimFiocchi,DerekPunches,DanAlamillo,LaneOling

(D26) RISSER, Fred A. 61627 130 South DianneCieslewicz, SarahBriganti,TerryTuschen,CassieJurenci

(R17) SCHULTZ, Dale W. 60703 122 South ToddAllbaugh,TomJackson,JoeHasler,SanchitMulmuley

(D32) SHILLING, Jennifer 65490 20 South TonyPalese, KaraPennoyer,NathanHoudek,AlexMadorsky

(D4) TAYLOR, Lena C. 65810 19 South EricPeterson,JazminePinel,GaryBennett,MichaelLaird

(R12) TIFFANY, Tom 62509 409 South JenniferEsser,EricSearing,TylerWenzlaff,NathanSimmons

(D31) VINEHOUT, Kathleen 68546 22 South LindaKleinschmidt,JoelNilsestuen,BenLarson

(R5) VUKMIR, Leah 62512 131 South DeanCady,JasonRostan,JasonBooth,LucasFuller

(D22) WIRCH, Robert 78979 127 South PaulaMcGuire,StevenGillitzer,StephenPienkos,JonathanKnudson

SenateChiefClerksOffice 62517 B20 (SE) JeffreyRenk,ChiefClerk TourInformation 60382 Rotunda (C)

Human Resources Manager 48471 301 (RJC) MarkKaeppel CapitolPolice (Emergency) 67700 B2N (C)

SenateOfficeAccounts 62517 B20 (SE) MegganFoesch CapitolPolice (Nonemergency) 68797 B2N (C)

Travel&PerDiem 62517 B20 (SE) RachelVeum LegislativeCouncil 61304 1 E. Main, 4th

Fl(E)

Telecom.& Maint. 62517 B20(SE) MegganFoesch LegislativeFiscalBureau 63847 1 E. Main, 3rd

Fl(E)

JournalClerk&CommitteeInfo. 61803 B20 (SE) Elizabeth JonesQueensland LRB (BillDrafting) 63561 1 E. Main, 2ndFl(E)

Citations& Flags 61803 B20 (SE) SarahBurhop LRB (Reference&Documents) 60341 1 E. Main, 2nd

Fl(E)

Supplies,Equip.&Furniture 62517 B20 (SE) DennisNelson LegislativeAuditBureau 62818 22 E. Mifflin

SenatePrinting/Graphics 74356 B20(SE) CindyMarecek,GinaWard CapitolFacilitiesManagement 61485 17 W. Main, Rm 119

WebPage Design/GIS 74356 B20 (SE) MikeMarquardt,GinaWard LegislativeWebsite: www.legis.wi.gov

Sergeantat ArmsOffice 61801 B35S (C) TedBlazel, Sergeant

SenateScholarProgram 62506 B35S (C) JacobClark

Photographer 19476 B7 (W) GregAnderson

Photographer 70897 B23 (W) JaySalvo

SenateMail 61006 B35S (C) CharlesJohnson

HearingRoomSchedules 62506 B32S (C) JacobClark

LTSBHelp Desk 79528 RJC 17 W. Main, 2nd

Floor, Suite 200

DIRECT ALL SENATE CORRESPONDENCE TO: P. O. BOX 7882, MADISON, WI 537077882

(C)=Capitol, (E)=1E.Main, (RJC)= RisserJusticeCenter Effective: 01/11/13


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L a k e S u p e r i o r

Lak

eM

ic

hi

gan

L a k e

W i n n e b a g o

Price

Dane

Clark

Polk

Grant

Vilas

Iron

Rusk

Sawyer

Bayfield

Oneida

Sauk

Forest

Marathon

Douglas

Dunn

Iowa

Taylor

Marinette

Oconto

Rock

Dodge

Wood

Barron

Jackson

Burnett

Ashland

Lincoln

Juneau

Monroe

Vernon

Portage

Chippewa

Shawano

Adams

Green

Langlade

Pierce

Buffalo

Washburn

Waupaca

St. Croix

Columbia

Brown

Lafayette

Richland

Waushara

Jefferson

Crawford

Eau Claire

Outagamie

Walworth

Fond du Lac

Florence

Trempealeau

Waukesha

Manitowoc

Door

Racine

La Crosse

Sheboygan

Marquette

Pepin

Winnebago

Calumet

Washington

Green

Lake

Kenosha

Menominee

Kewaunee

Ozaukee

Milwaukee

25

12

17

29

23

31

14

24

2

32

1

10

27

9

13

11

20

15

18

30

21

8

19

33

16

28

Iowa

Minnesota

Illinois

Michigan

5

22

26

2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4 W I S C O N S I N S E N A T O R S2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4 W I S C O N S I N S E N A T O R S

** Senate Districts are formed from three consecutive Assembly Districts. For example, Senate District 1 is c omprised of Assembly

Districts 1, 2, and 3. S enate Distr ict 2 is com prised of Assembl y Districts 4, 5 and 6,

and so on.

Michael Ellis (19)

Glenn Grothman (20)

John Lehman (21)

Robert Wirch (22)

Terry Moulton (23)

Julie Lassa (24)

Robert Jauch (25)

Fred Risser (26)

Jon Erpenbach (27)

Mary Lazich (28)

Jerry Petrowski (29)

Dave Hansen (30)

Scott Fitzgerald (13)

Luther Olsen (14)

Tim Cullen (15)

Mark Miller (16)

Dale Schultz (17)

Rick Gudex (18)

Frank Lasee (1)

Robert Cowles (2)

Tim Carpenter (3)

Lena Taylor (4)

Leah Vukmir (5)Nikiya Harris (6)

Kathleen Vinehout (31)

Jennifer Shilling (32)

Paul Farrow (33)

Chris Larson (7)

Alberta Darling (8)

Joseph Leibham (9)

Sheila Harsdorf (10)

Neal Kedzie (11)

Tom Tiffany (12)

8

28

5

7

4

3

6

Milwaukee County Inset

Source: U.S. Census Bureau's TIGER 2010 data

was used in the creation of these districts.

Projection: All data is projected

in Wisconsin Transverse Mercator

(WTM 83/91)

Legislative Technology Services Bureau

17 W. Main St., Suite 200

Madison, WI 53703

(608) 266-6640, Ext. 1

www.legis.wisconsin.gov/redistricting

50 5 10 20 30 40

Miles

STATE OF WISCONSIN

Senate Districts

2011 Wisconsin Act 43