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
change in the state legislature,” Passman said. “These November elections are going to be very crucial to the future of education. And if we can have this
breathing room of three years, maybe we can get a reprieve. But right now, we can’t dream. We can’t plan ahead. We can’t do extras in this school district. We
have to make sure we provide absolutely the basic essentials. That’s not a good way to run a company. That’s not a good way to run a school system.”
Winston sees the district as being in a type of competition with the surrounding suburban school districts and the private schools. He acknowledges that there has
been some White flight to other schools. And the way to counteract that, in his view, is to ensure that the needs of all students are being met and to offer
innovative programming that will lead families to choose the Madison district.
“You have to have balanced programming,” Winston said. “I’ll tell you, a program like strings, people would ask me why I kept voting for strings. I don’t vote
for strings for the same reason other people voted for strings. People would say that low-income students and students of color need strings. Well, I think so. But
folks also need to be able to read and write and things like that. But we also need to be able to preserve our tax base so that middle class families can say they
want to be here in Madison. They like the diversity. That’s important. But they also want programs that benefit their children as well. Middle class folks might be
Black, White or Latino. They could be all different colors of the spectrum. But you have to have the kind of programs that everyone can be involved in and feel
good about their school district. That’s why I have been supportive of the strings program, not because of students of color per se. It is an enhancement program
and we need to have those. A program like a dual language immersion [such as Nuestro Mundo] is an enhancer. Hopefully we can expand that model
throughout the district in upcoming years and that is being talked about on the board level.”
Passman also believes the schools need to meet the educational needs of every child. “Education for our gifted kids is important too,” Passman said. “They
are going to be the leaders out there who will be hiring the people we want them to have. We need to support the gifted children as well as all of the children.
And every child in Madison, as Art Rainwater has been saying for a long time, is our child. I hope our community realizes that. During one of these forums, I
heard someone say ‘Let’s get rid of everything that isn’t mandated.’ What would our education look like if that were the case? It would be awful. Are we not
willing to give a little of ourselves? Someone paid for my education. It’s my turn to pay for someone else’s education.”
As a student of history, Passman also emphasized that the demands on the public school systems are unlike any before in the history of our country. While
universal public education has always been a value of America, practically speaking, it hasn’t always worked out that way. “At no time in our country did we
legitimately have universal public education until this era,” Passman emphasized. “And I say that because we would have drop-outs at the age of 16 and we
would say ‘Good bye. You’re leaving. We don’t need you any more.’ We don’t say that any more. We don’t say to the child who isn’t reading in third grade ‘Sorry,
we aren’t going to help you any more.’ We don’t say that. We are saying that we want you all to be educated well. This takes money. It takes serious money. And
we have this wonderful infusion of diversity, which has always benefitted our country, always. And we need to deal with that. Homogenous areas like Scandinavia
— although that is changing now —don’t have this infusion of heterogeneity. We’re so incredibly mixed in this country. That’s worked to our benefit. But we aren’t
saying anymore ‘Because you can’t speak English, forget about your future.’ And that’s what is wonderful about universal education. That is what is costing us
money. And that is a wonderful way to spend our money.”
And that underlines one of the most important performance indicators that Winston feels the district needs to achieve: high graduation rates. “Not everyone
is going to get an A, but if we can get people passing and get them to understand that getting that diploma is the most important thing right now for them so they
can continue to build upon their lives as they graduate, that to me is the most important thing,” Winston said. “A whole lot of things happen after you graduate.
That’s the great thing about graduation. Sometimes the kids who were doing great in high school, they don’t make it, which is an unfortunate thing. But then the
kids who were struggling, even socially or economically or academically, all of a sudden bloom into these people are running businesses and they are people
whom you respect out in the community. There’s a whole lot of growth that goes on after graduation. But the big thing for us is we need to get them to graduate.”
While Passman continuously brought up the revenue caps as one the major problems facing the schools, she also readily stated that the schools cannot
continue to rely solely on the property tax. “I realize — and the whole board realizes — you can’t keep squeezing people’s property taxes,” Passman said. “We just
can’t. And the other thing people need to know is that we don’t get the whole property tax. We get less and less each year actually out of the property tax. We
have a number of federal mandates that go unfunded or have been reduced so significantly, they don’t make a dent in our needs. That is what we are facing.
The government has abandoned us. That has to be explained to the public. We really need to come up with a new way to fund our schools.”
And yet, Passman would argue that the amount of money should not be the lone driving force in deciding what public education needs. She recalled the
massive educational initiative of the federal government in the 1950s when the United States perceived itself to be behind the Russians when Sputnik was
launched. Her husband from a poor family in the Bronx was able to eventually attend Harvard University because of the level of funding that was available for
public education.
Passman warned that the United States might be behind once again. “What else can we do for our children,” Passman asked rhetorically. “How much better
can we be? It has kept us from teaching to our dreams. What else can we do for our kids that we aren’t doing now? Can we connect them with that outside world?
Can we bring in more technology for them? Can we do the creative arts better than we are doing them now? It’s kept us from thinking about any of that. That to
me is the icing on the cake of education. Of course we have to teach reading. Of course we’re going to teach math and all of those things. But the extra things
that make us a well-rounded adult or a highly educated adult or that give us promise for the future for some of our poorer children, that is missing. And if you
study the countries around the world — who are taxing their people tremendously, I know that — they are pouring incredible numbers into the schools and it is
showing. And they are showing us up. Something is wrong if we are behind some third world countries in education.”
Ultimately, the quality of public education impacts the quality of life that everyone in the community experiences. “Think about all of our children paying
our social security,” Passman said. “Think about that. The next generation wants their social security. We need everyone in the workforce. You have to look at it
that way too. I think of a senior citizen who called. She said ‘You can’t keep increasing my property taxes.’ I understand that, I do. None of us does this lightly. On
the other hand, when she is calling up to get a plumber, does she want a literate one or an illiterate one? Everyone has to be educated in this country to do the
best job they can possibly do. Every child has to participate in our society. Going off to prison is not participating in our society. So you have to look at it that
way too.”
And while Passman talked about the practical effects of an erosion in the public education system, ultimately she talked about the things that have made
America great. A good public education system is crucial to democracy because an informed electorate is crucial to an electorate making informed choices.
And it is each succeeding generation giving back to the next wave of immigrants is at the core of what has allowed America to prosper. “By giving back to
others, that’s how we move ahead in the world and succeed in each generation by giving to those who are less fortunate than us,” Passman emphasized. “That’s
why we are so lucky to be born in this country. That concept has always been there. Not all the time and not for everyone. But basically, our overall philosophy
in the United States was ‘This is the place people come to for a better life.’ They are our children, every one of them. I was given a lot and it is time to give it
back.”
“I just think right now, we are at a crossroads situation financially where we are definitely going to need the help from the community,” Winston said. It
remains to be seen what the community response will be.
breathing room of three years, maybe we can get a reprieve. But right now, we can’t dream. We can’t plan ahead. We can’t do extras in this school district. We
have to make sure we provide absolutely the basic essentials. That’s not a good way to run a company. That’s not a good way to run a school system.”
Winston sees the district as being in a type of competition with the surrounding suburban school districts and the private schools. He acknowledges that there has
been some White flight to other schools. And the way to counteract that, in his view, is to ensure that the needs of all students are being met and to offer
innovative programming that will lead families to choose the Madison district.
“You have to have balanced programming,” Winston said. “I’ll tell you, a program like strings, people would ask me why I kept voting for strings. I don’t vote
for strings for the same reason other people voted for strings. People would say that low-income students and students of color need strings. Well, I think so. But
folks also need to be able to read and write and things like that. But we also need to be able to preserve our tax base so that middle class families can say they
want to be here in Madison. They like the diversity. That’s important. But they also want programs that benefit their children as well. Middle class folks might be
Black, White or Latino. They could be all different colors of the spectrum. But you have to have the kind of programs that everyone can be involved in and feel
good about their school district. That’s why I have been supportive of the strings program, not because of students of color per se. It is an enhancement program
and we need to have those. A program like a dual language immersion [such as Nuestro Mundo] is an enhancer. Hopefully we can expand that model
throughout the district in upcoming years and that is being talked about on the board level.”
Passman also believes the schools need to meet the educational needs of every child. “Education for our gifted kids is important too,” Passman said. “They
are going to be the leaders out there who will be hiring the people we want them to have. We need to support the gifted children as well as all of the children.
And every child in Madison, as Art Rainwater has been saying for a long time, is our child. I hope our community realizes that. During one of these forums, I
heard someone say ‘Let’s get rid of everything that isn’t mandated.’ What would our education look like if that were the case? It would be awful. Are we not
willing to give a little of ourselves? Someone paid for my education. It’s my turn to pay for someone else’s education.”
As a student of history, Passman also emphasized that the demands on the public school systems are unlike any before in the history of our country. While
universal public education has always been a value of America, practically speaking, it hasn’t always worked out that way. “At no time in our country did we
legitimately have universal public education until this era,” Passman emphasized. “And I say that because we would have drop-outs at the age of 16 and we
would say ‘Good bye. You’re leaving. We don’t need you any more.’ We don’t say that any more. We don’t say to the child who isn’t reading in third grade ‘Sorry,
we aren’t going to help you any more.’ We don’t say that. We are saying that we want you all to be educated well. This takes money. It takes serious money. And
we have this wonderful infusion of diversity, which has always benefitted our country, always. And we need to deal with that. Homogenous areas like Scandinavia
— although that is changing now —don’t have this infusion of heterogeneity. We’re so incredibly mixed in this country. That’s worked to our benefit. But we aren’t
saying anymore ‘Because you can’t speak English, forget about your future.’ And that’s what is wonderful about universal education. That is what is costing us
money. And that is a wonderful way to spend our money.”
And that underlines one of the most important performance indicators that Winston feels the district needs to achieve: high graduation rates. “Not everyone
is going to get an A, but if we can get people passing and get them to understand that getting that diploma is the most important thing right now for them so they
can continue to build upon their lives as they graduate, that to me is the most important thing,” Winston said. “A whole lot of things happen after you graduate.
That’s the great thing about graduation. Sometimes the kids who were doing great in high school, they don’t make it, which is an unfortunate thing. But then the
kids who were struggling, even socially or economically or academically, all of a sudden bloom into these people are running businesses and they are people
whom you respect out in the community. There’s a whole lot of growth that goes on after graduation. But the big thing for us is we need to get them to graduate.”
While Passman continuously brought up the revenue caps as one the major problems facing the schools, she also readily stated that the schools cannot
continue to rely solely on the property tax. “I realize — and the whole board realizes — you can’t keep squeezing people’s property taxes,” Passman said. “We just
can’t. And the other thing people need to know is that we don’t get the whole property tax. We get less and less each year actually out of the property tax. We
have a number of federal mandates that go unfunded or have been reduced so significantly, they don’t make a dent in our needs. That is what we are facing.
The government has abandoned us. That has to be explained to the public. We really need to come up with a new way to fund our schools.”
And yet, Passman would argue that the amount of money should not be the lone driving force in deciding what public education needs. She recalled the
massive educational initiative of the federal government in the 1950s when the United States perceived itself to be behind the Russians when Sputnik was
launched. Her husband from a poor family in the Bronx was able to eventually attend Harvard University because of the level of funding that was available for
public education.
Passman warned that the United States might be behind once again. “What else can we do for our children,” Passman asked rhetorically. “How much better
can we be? It has kept us from teaching to our dreams. What else can we do for our kids that we aren’t doing now? Can we connect them with that outside world?
Can we bring in more technology for them? Can we do the creative arts better than we are doing them now? It’s kept us from thinking about any of that. That to
me is the icing on the cake of education. Of course we have to teach reading. Of course we’re going to teach math and all of those things. But the extra things
that make us a well-rounded adult or a highly educated adult or that give us promise for the future for some of our poorer children, that is missing. And if you
study the countries around the world — who are taxing their people tremendously, I know that — they are pouring incredible numbers into the schools and it is
showing. And they are showing us up. Something is wrong if we are behind some third world countries in education.”
Ultimately, the quality of public education impacts the quality of life that everyone in the community experiences. “Think about all of our children paying
our social security,” Passman said. “Think about that. The next generation wants their social security. We need everyone in the workforce. You have to look at it
that way too. I think of a senior citizen who called. She said ‘You can’t keep increasing my property taxes.’ I understand that, I do. None of us does this lightly. On
the other hand, when she is calling up to get a plumber, does she want a literate one or an illiterate one? Everyone has to be educated in this country to do the
best job they can possibly do. Every child has to participate in our society. Going off to prison is not participating in our society. So you have to look at it that
way too.”
And while Passman talked about the practical effects of an erosion in the public education system, ultimately she talked about the things that have made
America great. A good public education system is crucial to democracy because an informed electorate is crucial to an electorate making informed choices.
And it is each succeeding generation giving back to the next wave of immigrants is at the core of what has allowed America to prosper. “By giving back to
others, that’s how we move ahead in the world and succeed in each generation by giving to those who are less fortunate than us,” Passman emphasized. “That’s
why we are so lucky to be born in this country. That concept has always been there. Not all the time and not for everyone. But basically, our overall philosophy
in the United States was ‘This is the place people come to for a better life.’ They are our children, every one of them. I was given a lot and it is time to give it
back.”
“I just think right now, we are at a crossroads situation financially where we are definitely going to need the help from the community,” Winston said. It
remains to be seen what the community response will be.
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 2 of 2
It goes without saying that MMSD school board members Johnny Winston Jr.
and Marj Passman are for the upcoming school referendum on November 4 that
would allow the Madison school district to exceed the state imposed revenue cap
by a total of $13 million over the next three school fiscal years. Since the revenue
caps were first imposed in the early 1990s, according to Winston, most of the
dialogue about the schools has been about what to cut and what not to cut and
has prevented the school board and the schools from looking at the big picture
and what Madison schools need to be doing.
“If we could win a referendum on November 4 and not have to worry about
substantial budget cuts for a few years, we could really hone in on student
achievement,” Winston said in an interview with The Capital City Hues.
Passman, in a separate interview with The Capital City Hues, essentially
agreed with Winston. “My hope is to get a breathing room of three years with this
current referendum, get a change in government in Washington, and get a
Part 2 of 2
It goes without saying that MMSD school board members Johnny Winston Jr.
and Marj Passman are for the upcoming school referendum on November 4 that
would allow the Madison school district to exceed the state imposed revenue cap
by a total of $13 million over the next three school fiscal years. Since the revenue
caps were first imposed in the early 1990s, according to Winston, most of the
dialogue about the schools has been about what to cut and what not to cut and
has prevented the school board and the schools from looking at the big picture
and what Madison schools need to be doing.
“If we could win a referendum on November 4 and not have to worry about
substantial budget cuts for a few years, we could really hone in on student
achievement,” Winston said in an interview with The Capital City Hues.
Passman, in a separate interview with The Capital City Hues, essentially
agreed with Winston. “My hope is to get a breathing room of three years with this
current referendum, get a change in government in Washington, and get a