80th foes attack Davis
plan
Democrats find fault with his
proposal to reform state education
funding
Jim
Winter
MONROE
- The two Democratic candidates hoping to unseat Rep. Brett
Davis, R-Oregon, in November are taking issue with his
education funding reform.
John Waelti and Kris
Wisnefske, both of Monroe, question how Davis' reform will be
implemented, not talking to "special interests" and the timing
of introducing the plan.
Davis on Tuesday unveiled a
proposal that aims to bridge the gap between revenue caps and
the Qualified Economic Offer (QEO), allow voters to shift the
burden of funding from property taxes to a sales tax via
referendum, improve student testing by replacing the Wisconsin
Knowledge and Concepts Exam (WKCE) and encourage more spending
efficiencies in areas such as health care and school
administration.
"We agree on the need for K-12 reform,
and we agree on the goals," Waelti said. "We just don't agree
on how to get there."
Waelti questions the substance of
Davis' plan, such as finding efficiencies in spending among
school districts.
"I'm an economist, so I like
efficiencies," Waelti said. "But if Brett can tell all these
administrators across the state how to find efficiencies in
their budgets, I'm sure they'd like to know."
Wisnefske
also questions the efficiencies encouraged by Davis, but is
more concerned about his proposals regarding the QEO and
WKCE.
Davis' plan would keep the QEO - the minimum
annual increase in pay and benefits a district is allowed to
give its teachers - at 3.8 percent, but how it and revenue
limits are aligned to narrow a funding gap would be open to
negotiation. Wisnefske said there shouldn't be a QEO, "because
it limits the ability of teaches in wages and benefits. We
don't do that with any other public profession."
Davis
calls for a reduced reliance on property taxes for school
funding. He wants voters to decide on specific reforms,
shifting to other revenue sources, by approving them in
referendums.
"Referendums are not going to help,"
Wisnefske said. "We've already seen that across the state.
Some districts are having to close because referendums
failed."
Wisnefske also disagrees with Davis' proposal
to eliminate the WKCE and replace it with what he says are
more modern tests that deliver faster results.
She said
the WKCE is a "well-recognized, professional
test."
"What the problem with it is how we do it,"
Wisnefske said.
She proposes conducting the test in
the spring, so results are available in October and can be
worked on through the school year. Tests now are administered
in the fall. Results arrive toward the end of the school
year.
Davis said he relied on opinions from trusted
members of his 80th Assembly District in creating his plan. He
didn't "run the plan past special interest groups" to make
sure the plan was OK with them, he said.
Waelti and
Wisnefske said Davis should have included more people in his
district in creating his plan.
Waelti assumes the
special interests Davis refers to are teachers'
unions.
"No matter what you think about the unions,
they are a major player," Waelti said. "If anything is going
to get done, everyone has to be on the same page on the same
hymn note."
Wisnefske said one person cannot solve the
education reform issue. She said as many members of the
community who have a stake in the process need to be
involved.
"You need to look at the bigger picture and
have all the people at the table," Wisnefske said. "Doing it
this way is like not asking a nurse to help with a hospital
patient."
Davis' is running for his third term on Nov.
4. He is the only Republican seeking the position. Waelti and
Wisnefske will square off in a Sept. 9 primary.
Waelti
and Wisnefske both believe the announcement of Davis' reform
plan less than three months before the general election is
politically motivated.
"Oh yes it is, 100 percent,"
Wisnefske said, citing Davis' role as chairman of the Assembly
Education Committee since the start of his second term.
"People have said to me, 'isn't that
interesting?'"
Waelti said the need for reform has been
present for years.
"This should have been done a long
time ago," Waelti said. "The elephant in the room has been
ignored for too long."
Neither Waelti nor Wisnefske had
specific plans they would propose in place of Davis' plan.
Waelti would build on work done by the Wisconsin Alliance of
Excellent Schools. Wisnefske cited work being done by
Wisconsin Way, a group dedicated to "continuing, collaborative
search for solutions to control property taxes while
maintaining ... superior public services and quality of
life."
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