Community Q & A Highlights Fiscal Impact of State Budget on Racine Unified

About 100 residents gathered at the Siena Center on Aug. 1 for a community Q & A session with Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) and State Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) about the impact of the state budget on Racine Unified School District.

Wanggaard, however, did not attend because he was in Madison for the senate vote on extending unemployment benefits. He said he accepted the school board's invitation back in May because normally, the state legislature is not in session.

"I was looking forward to talking with residents with Representative Mason about this issue," he said in a phone interview on Aug. 2. "But as the author of the unemployment benefit bill, it was my responsibility to shepherd it through the senate."

Wanggaard furnished to Patch the email from July 25 when he let Kim Plache from RUSD know that he would be unable to attend the forum because of the unemployment vote.

"I understand residents are disappointed," he said. "It would have been great to talk about the nuts-and-bolts effect on Racine Unified. If we can reschedule, I'd be glad to participate."

After copies of an analysis from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) were handed out, Mason went over some of the more important points. Specifically, he said vouchers are getting too much attention when what matters is the overall affect of the state budget on the school district.

"Rarely have I given a presentation that doesn't end on some type of good note," he said. "This is as dire as you can think of for Unified."

In a nutshell, Mason categorized the state budget's cuts to education as the wrong priorities and said it jeopardizes the future of our children.

According to the information provided by the LFB, which will be adjusted for enrollment, RUSD can expect $13.2 million less in general school aid for the 2011-2012 school year. High poverty aid will be reduced by almost $1 million for each of the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years.

"We have a higher than normal percentage of children in poverty so this hits even harder," Mason said.

Vouchers, of course, don't help. The Bureau estimates that aid to RUSD will be further reduced by about $618,000 for the coming school year and by just over $1.2 million in 2012-2013.

Ann Brodek asked how school choice is allowable under the separation of church and state.

"As long as all private schools, religious and non-religious, are participating in school choice programs, then there's no conflict," Mason explained.

Mike Frontier raised the point of revenue.

"We talk a lot about cuts, but what about revenue? If we had a one-cent increase in the sales tax, we could eliminate about 25 percent of the state's deficit," he stated.

Mason agreed, but said now isn't the time to talk about raising taxes.

"Before we talk about new taxes, we should talk about dedicating some resources to collect the $800 million in unpaid taxes that are floating around," he said. "Maybe you'll notice that's about the same amount cut from education."

Another point highlighted by the audience and reiterated by Mason is the difference between Racine's student population and that of other communities like Appleton. That town spends less per pupil but has higher graduation rates.

The difference, Mason pointed out, is that Racine to Appleton is not an apples-to-apples comparison.

"If you take the same number of kids from solid middle class backgrounds who have health insurance and get regular doctor visits and compare them to kids who are classified as underserved so they may not have health insurance and don't have regular visits to the doctor, you will see great variations in their performance," he said.

Why then, Mason added, wouldn't you marshall resources so children can succeed instead of cutting $20 million.

"This is what needs to be explained in-depth to the public," he concluded.

Dr. Jim Shaw took to the microphone next and summed up the future success for Racine Unified as depending on three points:

• Community support, saying the state budget and budget repair bill have separated the people from the schools. "These are our schools, our kids," he said. "We need changes in the state budget, but barring that, we need funds and that means community support."
• Community partners
• Expanded programs so school choice within the district can also grow.

Shaw did not address his resignation, which was announced earlier in the day.