From the Herald-Independent:
It should come as no surprise that the Monona Grove School District is struggling to devise a plan to reduce spending. That is simply the way of the world as we all focus on surviving this severe recession. However, the problems confronting our school district are not just the result of the current economic calamity, but a fundamental cancer that has plagued all levels of government for several years. That cancer is unsustainable spending levels.
The State of Wisconsin certainly shares in some of the blame by encouraging school districts to spend and then promising to pay about 2/3 of statewide public school costs. The single largest state funded program is K-12 public education. In the current school year (2009-10), the state will spend $5 billion on public school aid, which amounts to 37.3 percent of the entire state general fund budget. The remaining 1/3 is financed through the local property tax and other revenue sources.
In this week’s edition, you will also read a column from Peter McKeever of Monona who feels passionately that the school district should not cut one dollar and, in fact, he called for a referendum to exceed to the state revenue limit on the district’s property tax levy. I respectfully disagree with Mr. McKeever’s proposal for increasing property taxes. Now is not the time to solve our district’s spending problems by simply taking more money from our families and senior citizens.
We can wish that the situation facing our school district was different, but the financial realities only get worse for the children if the residents of Cottage Grove and Monona fail to come together behind well-crafted long term budget reductions. Frankly, I am disappointed that many of the preliminary budget reductions being advanced by district officials have significant direct impact on children. At the same time, the list of preliminary reductions seems to avoid employee compensation concessions and aggressive reductions in non-academic areas of the budget, especially in administration.
The State of Wisconsin certainly shares in some of the blame by encouraging school districts to spend and then promising to pay about 2/3 of statewide public school costs. The single largest state funded program is K-12 public education. In the current school year (2009-10), the state will spend $5 billion on public school aid, which amounts to 37.3 percent of the entire state general fund budget. The remaining 1/3 is financed through the local property tax and other revenue sources.
In this week’s edition, you will also read a column from Peter McKeever of Monona who feels passionately that the school district should not cut one dollar and, in fact, he called for a referendum to exceed to the state revenue limit on the district’s property tax levy. I respectfully disagree with Mr. McKeever’s proposal for increasing property taxes. Now is not the time to solve our district’s spending problems by simply taking more money from our families and senior citizens.
We can wish that the situation facing our school district was different, but the financial realities only get worse for the children if the residents of Cottage Grove and Monona fail to come together behind well-crafted long term budget reductions. Frankly, I am disappointed that many of the preliminary budget reductions being advanced by district officials have significant direct impact on children. At the same time, the list of preliminary reductions seems to avoid employee compensation concessions and aggressive reductions in non-academic areas of the budget, especially in administration.
Mr. Mikalsen currently serves as the Cottage Grove Village President. He has worked on education policy in the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Research Assistant and Policy Analyst since 1991. He also previously served on the Mosinee School Board.
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