Wisconsin public schools are facing a crisis, that message delivered by two state legislators in a presentation given in Rhinelander Thursday evening.
In a show of bipartisan concern, Republican State Senator Dale Schultz and Democrat Assemblywoman Mandy Wright are taking their message around the state, in an effort to explain the situation and motivate citizens to challenge their legislators to work together to address what's seen in rural Wisconsin as an unfair school funding system.
The legislators said the state’s public school districts are being slammed by a perfect storm of growing poverty and increasing income disparity, the loss of 3,000 educators during the past four years, and a steep reduction in state funding, especially for rural schools.
Republican State Senator Dale Schultz says Wisconsin is slowly losing it's "Forward" thinking edge..
"....there will come a day when the Wisconsin brand won't be that we're a shining star in the snowbelt. That we have an educated economy and a robust citizenry in a place that everybody envies. We've had that reputation for a long, long time...."
Representative Mandy Wright says the funding problem has been complicated by the Governor and majority in the legislature who plan to push to siphon tax payer money for an unlimited voucher system for private schools, which would cost the state an additional $1 billion.
Schultz, who is retiring from the legislature, says he was motivated to go on the road to talk about an issue that was troubling him. He says his daughters received a quality education...
"...we think they received a high-quality public education. You might get a high quality education through home schooling or parochial schools, that's great. But we have an obligation to provide a high-quality public education opportunity for every child in this state...."
State Representative Rob Swearingen from Rhinelander headed up The Speaker's Rural Schools Task Force which included Schultz and Wright. The group made some recommendations about rural public financing. More at this website.
