Trends in Madison Metropolitan School District funding
Looking for respite to plan
Looking for respite to plan
Madison Metropolitan School Board members Johnny Winston Jr. (l) and
Marj Passman
Marj Passman
secondary class sizes and alternative programs would affect a lot of students of color in this district. Small class sizes have worked in this district. We’re not where
we want to be as a district in terms of the test scores and things like that. We have to do better. But increasing class size is not going to help the situation. We just
know that. So these cuts I am looking at right now are real problematic. It could really affect students of color the most in this district. When you look at budget
cuts, usually it does. It affects the students who are marginalized the most.”
Marj Passman, a former district teacher, is one of the newest members of the board. And as a lover of history, she has ‘gone to school’ on the budget cuts
and how they have affected the district. In her view, the cuts have already gone too far. “There are people who are still coming back saying ‘You’re top heavy
administratively,’” Passman said. “There’s evidence to disprove that. Ten years ago, that might have been valid. Five years ago that might have been valid. It’s
not valid any more. We’ve lost administrators. We’ve lost clerical help. We’ve lost people in business services. We’ve lost people in maintenance. And there’s a
list that tells us how much we’ve saved since the revenue caps were put in place: $93 million. So we have done our share of cutting back. And there’s one very
good way I can notice it. I can actually park in the parking lot of Doyle now. If that isn’t evidence, nothing is. And there are people down there who are
tremendously stressed. They are doing 2-4 different jobs. And we have people who are administering things that might not even be their forte. So this isn’t good
either.”
That goes for the teacher side of the equation as well. “We have teachers who are carrying very heavy loads now,” Passman said. “I know I depended on that
full-time social worker, that school psychologist, that educational assistant, and that special ed teacher who had time to discuss the curriculum with me and
modify it. And we’re cutting down to bare bones. The school nurse at West High School saw 500 children a week. She is the first line of defense for a child’s
illness and all of the public health that there is in the city. That’s asking a lot.”
Next issue: More budget talk
we want to be as a district in terms of the test scores and things like that. We have to do better. But increasing class size is not going to help the situation. We just
know that. So these cuts I am looking at right now are real problematic. It could really affect students of color the most in this district. When you look at budget
cuts, usually it does. It affects the students who are marginalized the most.”
Marj Passman, a former district teacher, is one of the newest members of the board. And as a lover of history, she has ‘gone to school’ on the budget cuts
and how they have affected the district. In her view, the cuts have already gone too far. “There are people who are still coming back saying ‘You’re top heavy
administratively,’” Passman said. “There’s evidence to disprove that. Ten years ago, that might have been valid. Five years ago that might have been valid. It’s
not valid any more. We’ve lost administrators. We’ve lost clerical help. We’ve lost people in business services. We’ve lost people in maintenance. And there’s a
list that tells us how much we’ve saved since the revenue caps were put in place: $93 million. So we have done our share of cutting back. And there’s one very
good way I can notice it. I can actually park in the parking lot of Doyle now. If that isn’t evidence, nothing is. And there are people down there who are
tremendously stressed. They are doing 2-4 different jobs. And we have people who are administering things that might not even be their forte. So this isn’t good
either.”
That goes for the teacher side of the equation as well. “We have teachers who are carrying very heavy loads now,” Passman said. “I know I depended on that
full-time social worker, that school psychologist, that educational assistant, and that special ed teacher who had time to discuss the curriculum with me and
modify it. And we’re cutting down to bare bones. The school nurse at West High School saw 500 children a week. She is the first line of defense for a child’s
illness and all of the public health that there is in the city. That’s asking a lot.”
Next issue: More budget talk
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
While he is only approaching middle age, Johnny Winston Jr. is the senior
member of the Madison school board. Since he was elected in 2004, Winston has
seen a complete turnover of the people who sit at the table of school board
meetings on Monday nights. The superintendent, legal staff, board members —
all of them — have turned over.
Winston has also witnessed the paring down of the school district’s budget
every year in order to fit under the state-imposed revenue caps. He has seen the
fat, the muscle and now some of the bare bones get trimmed away in the process.
“We are talking about increasing class sizes if a referendum doesn’t pass,” Winston
said about the referendum that would allow the district to exceed the revenue
caps by $13 million over three years. “We would be talking about issues that I don’
t find appealing at all. Elementary education class sizes, secondary education
class sizes, direct services to alternative and at-risk students, teaching and
learning support, special education cuts to the tune of $2.9 million, research and
development and business services would all be affected. The elementary and
Part 1 of 2
While he is only approaching middle age, Johnny Winston Jr. is the senior
member of the Madison school board. Since he was elected in 2004, Winston has
seen a complete turnover of the people who sit at the table of school board
meetings on Monday nights. The superintendent, legal staff, board members —
all of them — have turned over.
Winston has also witnessed the paring down of the school district’s budget
every year in order to fit under the state-imposed revenue caps. He has seen the
fat, the muscle and now some of the bare bones get trimmed away in the process.
“We are talking about increasing class sizes if a referendum doesn’t pass,” Winston
said about the referendum that would allow the district to exceed the revenue
caps by $13 million over three years. “We would be talking about issues that I don’
t find appealing at all. Elementary education class sizes, secondary education
class sizes, direct services to alternative and at-risk students, teaching and
learning support, special education cuts to the tune of $2.9 million, research and
development and business services would all be affected. The elementary and