The following testimony will be presented to the Senate Committee on Education Reform and Government Operations today, Jan. 27, 2015, at the hearing on the so-called School Takeover Bill, Senate Bill 1 (SB1). If you want to know why those who care about public education in Wisconsin stand united in opposition to this dangerous bill, please read and share with your friends, encouraging them to speak out NOW to defend our schools. You can click here to find out more about the bill how you can submit your own testimony to the committee.
Many thanks to Pam Kobielus of the No Vouchers Coalition for sharing her powerful testimony and doing her part to make an impact in her community to protect local schools from the privatization efforts that threaten the future of our schools and our children. Her organization conducted a survey of Wisconsinites, and the results she shares in her testimony make clear that they overwhelmingly oppose legislation which weaken and punish struggling public schools while they give voucher schools a free pass to continue siphoning public funds from the schools that need it most.
-----------
TESTIMONY PRESENTED IN OPPOSITION
TO SENATE BILL (SB1),
Relating to: the school and school district
accountability report, chronically failing schools and school districts, and
educational options information
My name is Pamela Kobielus. I am submitting this statement to the record
as written testimony in opposition to Senate Bill 1 (SB-1) and ask that this
testimony be distributed in its entirety to all members of the Legislative Committee
on Education Reform & Government Operations.
Good morning members of the
Committee on Education Reform & Government Operations. I am the founder of
“The No Vouchers Coalition”, located in the northern community of Merrill, WI. Unlike corporate lobbyists who claim to
represent the interests of public school parents while donating large sums of
money to Republican candidates in Wisconsin to promote lobbyists’ “for-profit”
educational business interests, we are a true – and rapidly growing -- voluntary
grassroots organization representing member public school parents, business
owners and other taxpayers who support the public school system. Our group charges no membership fees. Our group accepts no donations, nor does our
group make contributions to any political party or candidate. Our group’s sole interest is in ensuring
that elected representatives protect educational opportunities for each and
every child in Wisconsin.
I have attended both public and
private schools in Wisconsin, graduating from the public high school in in
Merrill, WI in 1972. I went on to
graduate with a Bachelor in Business Administration (B.B.A.) from the
University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI, and, received my Masters in Business
Administration (M.B.A.) from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst,
MA. I have more than thirty (30) years management
and executive experience working in private industry, transferring the
knowledge I acquired in school to successful positions working in media, commercial
banking, mortgage banking and in the utility, healthcare and technology industries.
I have first-hand knowledge of the
benefits of a public school education.
It is what prepared me for the future and it was instrumental in my
success working in private industry, and, also, in running my own profitable
businesses.
Several years ago, I retired to
care for my widowed, retired mother who is now 83 years old. My plans to spend my time caring for my
parent were interrupted, when I accidentally learned in the local media that
our school district was struggling with cuts to the public school education
budget. After attending local Board of Education
meetings in two separate years, I undertook personal research to determine the
genesis of the budgetary problems facing our rural public school districts in
Wisconsin. What I found alarmed me,
and, in the summer of 2014, I founded “The No Vouchers Coalition” with a small
group of other concerned residents. In
the past seven (7) months, our group has grown rapidly as more and more people
learn what has happened to funding for our local public schools over the last
decade.
In the manner of the magicians,
Penn & Teller, it is our intention to peel away the onion of Republican
legislators’ proposed school reform.
Because what we found will make public school parents of any political
affiliation angry, we will continue to pull back the curtain to show voters in
Wisconsin what is fact and what is fiction in Republican legislators’ magic
act.
As those of you on the Committee
who are also in private business know, it is easy to “make” something – even
something good -- fail. You can make a
project, a business division, or even an entire company fail. First, one can withholding funding for the
entity you wish to destroy. Figuratively speaking, you shut off its air
supply, slowly choking it to death. Second,
you can withhold authority while still holding management accountable for performance,
which is now out of their control. However,
these methods are not ethical nor are they good business sense when the entity
you wish to destroy is producing a quality product that is needed and which
contributes to the economic health of the community.
What Republican legislators in
the State of Wisconsin are attempting to do is to cause public school
districts to fail by defunding their operations, so that privately-run
for-profit businesses can “take over”, have “unfettered access to”, “get their
mitts on” – however you wish to describe it – large, very large amounts of
public taxpayer money. We’d like to
remind legislators that those tax dollars, sourced from hard-working families
in our local communities, belong to the taxpayers of Wisconsin and should
remain in Wisconsin, benefiting the children of Wisconsin, and not some
out-of-state for-profit business whose primary loyalty is to individual stockholders
or hedge fund managers.
The media is catching on as
well. In an editorial published this
week (on January 26, 2015), the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram noted: “There’s also a segment in the private sector that would love
to get its hands on the billions of taxpayer dollars now used to support
public schools. Whether those folks would be in the long-term best interest of
most students is far from clear.”
The No Vouchers Coalition
agrees: Wisconsin’s public school
children are not for sale to the highest bidder.
You may ask how our group came to
learn that Republican legislators are actively working to defund Wisconsin’s
public school districts. The answer is:
we had to do our own research. For example, we learned that for the school
year 2013-2014, it was mandated that public schools take $64 million off the
top of their budget in order to fund primarily privately-run, charter schools
located mostly in Southeastern Wisconsin.
We found that few people understood this meant deducting the following
amounts from budgets of Northern Wisconsin public school districts: $219,568 from Antigo; $876,928 from Eau Claire;
$1,976,652 from Green Bay; $182,169 from Medford; $262,120 from Merrill;
$54,259 from Rhinelander; $405,509 from Superior; $29,367 from Tomahawk, and,
$757, 025 from Wausau. The entire list
of cuts, which negatively impacted our local public schools can be found
here: http://pb.dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/pb/pdf/2013_14_2r_Deducations_by_District.pdf
Furthermore, we determined that Republican
legislators did not make clear to public school parents, local businesses or
other taxpayers that these cuts to local public school districts were mandated
in order to fund primarily privately-run charter schools. How do we know this? We surveyed members of “The No Vouchers
Coalition” and other members of our local communities. That is how we know. We asked -- something Republican legislators
failed to do. And, while the
distribution of our surveys was not meant to be a statistical sampling of the
community, 90.2% of respondents told us that legislators did not make clear
these monies were to be taken from local public school districts to give to
privately-run charter schools. In
summary, Republican legislators do not have a mandate from voters for the
types of reforms which are being proposed in Senate Bill 1 (SB1). We would posit that the only mandate which
Republican legislators have is to serve the business interests of
privately-run education corporations which donate to the Republican caucus. We suggest that it is necessary and indeed appropriate
for all legislators to hold public hearings throughout Wisconsin, on days and
at times that are convenient to working families.
For clearly communicating the
intent, purpose and amount of public school budget cuts for the 2013-2014
school year, I give Republican legislators a grade of: F
We also heard from Gov. Walker
that he had increased public school budgets for the 2014-2015 school
year. Gov. Walker’s claim included a
sin: a sin of omission. That is, we
determined that while public school budgets for certain school districts were
increased, 48% of school districts across that state saw significant budget
cuts. For example, we identified the
following cuts for public school districts in my immediate area: $88,092 for Antigo; $462,700 for Merrill;
$565,078 for Rhinelander; and $297,443 for Tomahawk. We began to see a clearer picture that
pointed to an ongoing, systematic defunding of local public school districts.
So, we again surveyed our members
and the public to see if Gov. Walker made clear to them the fact that nearly
half of public school districts in Wisconsin received budget cuts for the
2014-2015 school year. We found that
95.5% of respondents said that Gov. Walker did not make these additional
budget cuts clear.
For clearly communicating to
Wisconsin residents the fact that nearly half of public school districts got significant
budget cuts for the 2014-2015 school year, I give Gov. Walker a grade of: F
The negative impact of budget
cuts on our local public schools is evident from sample comments submitted by survey
respondents to The No Vouchers Coalition, including:
“There have already been cuts to programming that our public school
system used to provide.”
“Our school district recently successfully passed a referendum to
stabilize funding for our schools. We are up in the northwoods and there are
no adequate alternatives to public education...”
“I have seen reduced staffing and larger class sizes. Our district is
having a referendum this spring.”
“I have no children in school now, but have talked with parents who
have said their children no longer have the same opportunities as mine did.”
“There has been some staff reduction.”
“I have seen a reduction in staff and programs in our school district.
We recently passed a referendum for sports and technology.”
“My kids are in grades 5, 2, and 4K. Their classes have gotten larger
in size in the past couple of years and their teachers are clearly being asked
to do more with less. The "teacher wish list" now includes things
like printer paper! They are being asked to provide their own paper for the
printer so that my kids can have worksheets.”
“We have had cuts to programs, cuts to the arts and larger class
sizes. We have a hard time retaining the quality of staff we used to. We have
not had a referendum recently but we have closed all the schools we can and it
was a huge community loss and family loss.”
“There has been reduced staffing, increased fees to parents, reduced
busing, referendums to increase local property taxes, our district does not
have the technology needed for every child.”
As you can see from member and
citizen comments, budget cuts are hurting our public schools and the children
they are supposed to serve. The pain you
are inflicting on families who live in our rural communities is very, very
real.
As elected legislators, you have
an obligation to provide necessary funding “for the establishment of district
schools, which shall be as nearly uniform as possible (Wisconsin Constitution,
Article X, Section 3).” With these
repeated public school budget cuts, you have failed to meet your obligation to
the children of Wisconsin.
Our members, who include small
business owners, also understand the negative impact these budget cuts have on
local communities. In Merrill, WI, for
example, my hometown, where taxpayers regularly pay taxes to the State of
Wisconsin, our local public school district has had state aid for public
schools cut $262,120 in 2013-2014 and $462,700 in 2014-2015, for a total of
$724,820 over a two year period. We found similar cuts to public school
budgets in district after district throughout Wisconsin.
The compound negative affect of
fewer tax dollars being returned to citizens can and does have a devastating
impact on jobs and the economic health of businesses in our local
communities. As legislators, you are
systematically removing these monies from our local communities. When fewer tax dollars are returned to our
communities to circulate locally, job growth stagnates, taxable wages decline
and local businesses suffer. In
addition, homeownership declines shrinking the property tax base necessary to
fund community services, which in turn either increases local property taxes
or results in cuts to community programs and services.
Because of all this, we encourage
all our business members to contact the recently formed Wisconsin Business Alliance
to better understand the negative impact that public school budget cuts have
on job growth, local taxes and the economic health of the communities in which
we live.
While these monies no longer
circulate in our struggling local economies, they do fatten the coffers of
lobbyists and the privately-run education corporations whom these lobbyists
represent. As you know, these lobbyists
were the only people testifying in support of Assembly Bill 1 (AB1) earlier
this year and were granted preferential scheduling over the testimony of
Wisconsin citizens who had traveled from all over Wisconsin to testify in
opposition to that bill.
As we talked with members in our
communities to gauge their understanding of public school funding, it became
apparent that Republican legislators’ desire to implement bold education
reforms are not clearly understood by Wisconsin voters. So we asked our members and the general public
which “tool” they preferred to stabilize public school funding: (a) local property tax increases, (b) cuts
to school programs and services, (c) a combination of tax increases and school
cuts, or, (d) none of the above. Property
tax increases and/or school budget cuts were unacceptable to more than 96% of
our members.
With regard to giving local
communities adequate “tools” to offset reduced state aid for local public
school districts, Gov. Walker did not clearly explain how these “tools” work,
and I give him a grade of: F
Senate Bill 1 (SB1) also includes
a mandate to defund public school districts that have one or more “chronically
failing” schools. Republican
legislators propose measuring the success or failure of public and independent
charter schools by creating a new report card by which two separate
“accountability boards” will judge performance. In effect, legislators are creating an
“easier” test for independent charter schools to take in order to receive a
passing grade. If legislators are so
confident in the ability of independent, charter schools to perform, we
challenge them to first require these schools to meet the same nationally
recognized standards and operating requirements that public schools must meet. I suspect, given that the State of
Wisconsin has lost more than $139 million to unaccountable, privately-run
for-profit schools over the last decade(1), legislators do not have
this confidence and therefore are proposing an “easier” test for these
schools.
Creating an “easier” test for
independent charter schools takes budget and staff resources that are just not
available, given the $2.2 billion deficit Gov. Walker and the legislature now
face. Taking additional money from the
Department of Public Instruction, or, from Wisconsin’s general budget to
create this separate method of grading school performance only adds to the
budget pressures of local public school districts and/or increases local
property taxes.
Rather, we believe that
legislators are not confident that independent, charter schools can
meet the current standard of accountability that has been established for
public schools.
Meaningful improvements in school
performance can only be achieved by first addressing the underlying issues of
poverty, the need for affordable housing and the availability of jobs with
family-sustaining wages. These
conditions exist in all Wisconsin communities, not just in larger urban areas.
Second, improvements can only be
realized if public schools have resources necessary to implement
evidence-based best-practice strategies.
Given Act 10’s $1.6 billion cut to public school budgets, the
additional budget cuts absorbed by public schools over the last two years, as
well as cuts to food share programs and the refusal to accept the return of
tax money (that Wisconsin citizens paid to the Federal government) to improve
access to healthcare insurance programs, we are not confident that Republican
legislators will fund Wisconsin’s public school system in a manner adequate to
implement performance improvement plans that may be mandated.
Senate Bill 1 (SB1) differs from
Assembly Bill 1 (AB1) in that it calls for establishing two separate
“accountability boards” for any school receiving public funds. The bill would establish (1) the PACB -
Public and Charter School Board, and, (2) the CAB – Choice Accountability
Board for schools receiving voucher money.
Each of these boards would have the authority to review annual reports
and identify “failing” schools, review and implement “improvement plans” (for
public schools only!).
What is different, and, in our
view perhaps unconstitutional, is the fact that the public school
accountability board would be appointed by the Superintendent of Public
Schools, while the private school accountability board would consist of the
Governor’s political appointees.
--------
First, the Wisconsin Constitution
(article X, Section 3) calls “for the
establishment of school districts, which shall be as nearly uniform as
practicable…” Separate
accountability boards is not uniform.
The full scope of accountability standards at the federal and state
level as proposed are not uniform.
Furthermore, the establishment of
Academic Review Boards (ARBs) violates current law by usurping the authority
of the State Superintendent in the Department of Public Instruction
(DPI). As noted earlier in this testimony,
Republican legislators appears to be purposely setting up the DPI for failure
by (1) defunding public schools, and, (2) by slowing removing constitutional
authorities vested in the DPI, while still holding DPI accountable for both
current and proposed (new) performance standards. In private industry, it is the equivalent of
your boss reducing your budget significantly, then requiring you to bring a
project in on-time, with a smaller budget, using the original specifications
and quality requirements, while taking away your management authority and
giving it to your co-worker, whose budget is larger and whose performance
standards are set much lower.
Senate Bill 1 (SB1) also gives
the Public and Charter Board full discretion to “implement or modify any
requirements required to be in a school district improvement plan.” This appears to be purposely vague. For without specific changes to this
language – reviewed and approved by local communities – this appears to allow
a politically-appointed board to punish and take control of local school district
decision-making authority. Whereas
local school districts with locally-elected Boards of Education providing
oversight currently have the autonomy to make changes and implement
improvement plans, SB1 would allow the PACB to usurp local authority, giving
the PACB the ability to do anything it wants from shuttering schools, selling
off property and facilities, to replacing staff with lower-paid, less
experienced teachers whose “life experiences” form the basis for the granting
of professional licenses and certifications.
Republican legislators never
asked their constituents – local families, businesses and other taxpayers –
how they felt about giving up the authority they vested in elected members of
their local Board of Education and turning that authority over to a partisan
board appointed by the Governor.
However, we did.
We told our members and other
community members taking the survey that Republican legislators may be trying
to create a statewide board of unelected officials with the authority to
create privately-run charter schools anywhere in the state of Wisconsin – paid
for with local property taxes. We asked
whether they preferred locally-elected Boards of Education, or, a statewide
board of unelected officials managing local community schools. The answer was very clear: 97.3% preferred a locally-elected Board of
Education. We find it ironic, to say
the least, that the Governor and Republican legislators in Madison continually
complain about federal mandates (and the lack of state control), then
demonstrate the height of hypocrisy by proposing legislation designed to take
away local control and authority by legislating the creation of a state-level
board of appointed officials.
Let’s be clear. The proposed penalties for public schools
found to be “failing” are harsh and swift.
“The bill authorizes the DPI to withhold state aid from a school
district that fails to comply with an improvement plan for a chronically
failing school or school district…” The
penalties are intended to pull funds from schools and districts where the tax
base and budget are least able to support implementation of effective
improvement plans.
By contrast, the only penalty for
privately-run voucher schools that are identified as “chronically failing” in
SB1 is to freeze enrollment at current levels for a period of three years. These “chronically failing” schools would
continue to receive public taxpayer funding (vouchers) from the state as long
as the student remained enrolled at the private school. Senate Bill 1 (SB1) contains no provision or
penalty to the “chronically failing” private school for not meeting standards,
for failing to demonstrate achievement, for shutting down in the middle of a
school year, or, for leaving the State of Wisconsin. Penalties for “chronically failing” private
schools are anything but penalties. And
Republican legislators should know that a substantial percentage of our members
and other taxpayers are well aware of the types of chronic failures associated
with these types of privately-run schools – most likely as a result of media
reports noted earlier in this testimony.
To proceed without clearly establishing in SB1 immediate and harsh
penalties for privately-run schools who misuse public taxpayer money is a dereliction
of legislators’ fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers.
Finally, with respect to
“accountability”, SB1 proposes letting schools make an appeal after being labeled
a “chronically failing school” and letting the politically-appointed board
decide whether or not “exceptional circumstances justify (the school’s)
performance on the annual accountability reports.” Because public schools must maintain current
operating and performance standards, while privately-run schools do not (and
are graded using the *easy* test), this has the appearance of being an
underhanded way of setting up public schools for failure, while giving
“chronically failing” private schools access to a “free pass”.
If the Assembly and Senate
fast-track this bill knowing what we have told you today that your
constituents are saying, we will hold those legislators accountable at the
ballot box – for failing to adequately communicate the contents of this bill,
for failing to communicate how Governor Walker’s “tools” hurt public schools
and increase local property taxes; for failing to fulfill a constitutional
obligation to provide adequate funding for public schools that are open to all
Wisconsin children, for failing to consider the negative fiscal impacts on
jobs and the economic health of our communities, and, for failing to
acknowledge constituents’ strong preference for local control.
Finally, we ask Wisconsin
legislators to identify all the authors of Assembly Bill 1 (AB1) and Senate
Bill 1 (SB1), so that Wisconsin taxpayers can see the financial campaign
donations made to legislators by privately-run, for-profit educational
corporations seeking to expand their business footprint in Wisconsin.
In summary, we oppose Senate Bill
1 (SB1) as written. We ask legislators
to incorporate the express wishes of their constituents in the final language
of the bill, and, then, to hold hearings with constituents across the State of
Wisconsin on days and at times that are convenient to the working, taxpaying
families they represent.
Thank you.
Pamela
Kobielus
Founder, The
No Vouchers Coalition
Merrill,
WI
Your kids who only get one balanced meal a day, and that's at school.
