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April 5, 2012

Ongoing Language Deformation Battles: Past Wisconsin school Spending surveys shed new light on '11-12 results


Notes: Fund Balance is a District's reserve cash/assets. The Madison School District's fund balance, or equity declined significantly during the mid-2000's, but has grown in recent years.

*The most recent survey was conducted by the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators and used a different format. The other surveys were conducted by the Wisconsin Education Association Council. WEAC didn't respond to questions about whether it had results for the 2008-09, 2009-10 or 2010-11.
SOURCE: WASDA/WEAC surveys with comments from local newspaper reporter Matthew DeFour & Clay Barbour:
Matthew DeFour & Clay Barbour:
Wisconsin superintendents survey last fall found state budget cuts prompted school districts to eliminate thousands of staff positions, increase class sizes, raise student fees and reduce extracurricular offerings this school year.

But this week, Gov. Scott Walker's office said those results don't tell the full story and that similar surveys from past years show school districts fared better after his education changes went into effect.

Further, the governor's office contends the organizations that conducted those surveys -- the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators and the Wisconsin Education Association Council -- were unhelpful, and in WEAC's case actually worked against the administration as staff tried to compare recent results to past surveys.

"It's unfortunate that WEAC stands in the way of survey data that they have released in the past, which shows the governor's changes are working and are good for their members and the state's schoolchildren," said Cullen Werwie, Walker's spokesman.

The older surveys show more school districts increased class sizes, reduced extracurricular programs, raised student fees and tapped reserves to balance their budgets in each year between 2002 and 2008 than they did in 2011-12.

In past years, about two-thirds to three-quarters of districts reported increasing student fees each year. This year, 22 percent of districts reported doing so.

Related: WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators, Sparks fly over Wisconsin budget's labor-related provisions and Teachers Union & (Madison) School Board Elections.

Describing the evil effects of revolution, Thucydides writes, "Words had to change their ordinary meaning and to take that which was now given them." (P. 199 of the Landmark edition)

Politics and the English Language by George Orwell (1946).

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 5, 2012 8:38 AM
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