Schools, Poverty, Money and Wisconsin I

Given the significant growth in the student population living in poverty and significant budget cuts imposed by the state of Wisconsin, it is nothing short of a miracle that the Madison Public Schools demonstrate success.

The Capital Times article on Friday, January 14, 2007 brings home a critical point about educating our children. Besides, a quality teaching faculty, and money, which translates into low student to teacher rations, parental involvement is critical.  One place where a principal can make a difference is in motivating teachers and parents to work closely together. Mendota's principal is Sandy Gunderson.

Successful Students Successful School: High Poverty Mendota Elementary Beats The Odds

...Today Mendota's book room is a richly stocked and perfectly organized resource where teachers can easily access appropriate materials to supplement lessons and curriculum for students of widely varying skills and abilities.

Gunderson has promoted an integrated curriculum and strong sense of teamwork among the teachers at Mendota, a system that is geared toward making sure every child's needs are well known to staff members, and not just teachers.

The halls and classrooms are bright with student art and immaculately clean; the students greet custodians Ed Carberry and Dan Zimmerman enthusiastically by name. In turn, they are also greeted by name.

Teachers, meanwhile, systematically share information about how each student is doing and ideas for improvement....

...At recent parent-teacher conferences, more than 50 percent of the classes had 100 percent participation, and all classes had better than 80 percent participation...

The introductory paragraphs to the Wisconsin State Journal story on Sunday say it all.

Financial crunch takes its toll; lauded program loses ground

Citing a lack of money, increasing numbers of Wisconsin schools are pulling out of a state program credited with boosting the scores of vulnerable poor and minority students.

The number of schools in the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program has fallen 17 percent in six years, and many of the 480 remaining SAGE schools are struggling to retain the program because state payments have failed to keep pace with rising costs, a Wisconsin State Journal review shows.

The SAGE pullouts across the state come even as poverty rates are rising among the elementary students whom experts say can benefit most from the program's small classes. The cuts are also among the first indications that class size is being sacrificed to balance budgets, the State Journal found in an analysis of the effects of the state's school funding system....

It is time to take this issue to Governor Doyle and the State Legislature. School boards, educators, city officials, and of course, the citizens must make it clear that more money is needed for all of our state's public schools. This is not a time for silence or weakness, or apologies to friends in higher public office. For those looking for a solution, we can start with a 1/4 percent local school district sales tax.  And while we are at it, there can be 1/4 percent for the cities as well.