| 8/26/2008
11:00:00 AM |
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John Waelti: K-12 funding: Road to
reform
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John
Waelti
| I
said it all along - this campaign is about the issues. I have
major differences with Brett Davis on at least a half dozen of
'em. Let's start with K-12 funding reform.
First, where
do we agree? We agree that the formula needs to be revised. We
agree that there will need to be compromise among the interest
groups and between the Republicans and Democrats who must act
on it. And nearly all observers agree that we need to take
pressure off property taxes.
Brett recently came up
with the outline of a plan. Some of my friends, and critics
for whom I have respect, mildly, and some not so mildly,
chastised me for not having given Brett credit for putting out
a plan. OK, fair enough. He came out with a plan. So what's my
beef?
Let's put aside for now components of the plan.
He hatched his plan in near isolation without participation of
major interest groups, stakeholders if you will. Without
participation of major stakeholders, including legislators who
must act on it if it is to get anywhere, even the best plan in
the world will go nowhere - and probably not even serve as a
basis for serious discussion.
Many moons ago, while a
graduate student at the University of California, I served a
stint as a committee staffer with the California Legislature.
Some years later I served a stint in the Pentagon as economic
advisor to the assistant secretary of the Army (Civil Works).
Fourteen years of my career as an economist was as an academic
department head. And I have served on more boards, committees
and commissions than I can count. If there is one axiom that
stands out loud and clear from those experiences it is: If you
want to achieve constructive change on a complex issue, the
stakeholders must be involved in the process - before the
fact, not after.
So who are the stakeholders here?
Let's start with the students, and the parents who are
concerned with the quality of their education. The PTO's need
to be brought in. The taxpayers who foot the bill obviously
need to weigh in.
Of the specific interest groups, or
stakeholders, that come to mind is the Wisconsin Education
Association Council (WEAC), colloquially known as "The
Teachers' Union." Forget about any bones you might have to
pick with the union. Let's talk pragmatic politics. The union
is undoubtedly the most influential and powerful of the
specific interest groups. That also means they have major
responsibility. And they have much to lose in the absence of
reform through program and staff cuts resulting from failed
referenda. The union may not get everything it wants in the
process, but neither will any other group.
Other
interest groups include, but are not limited to, the Wisconsin
Association of School Boards, the Wisconsin Association of
School District Administrators, The School District
Administrators Alliance, and the executive branch of
government through the Department of Public
Instruction.
If we are serious about K-12 funding
reform, major stakeholders, including key legislators of both
parties who are crucial to its passage, must have a seat at
the table and a sense of ownership in the outcome.
To
put it another way, the final product will neither be the
brainchild of any individual legislator, nor the exclusive
product of Republicans or Democrats. It will be an amalgam of
give and take in which all participants can share the credit
for successful K-12 funding reform - and take the heat for
perceived deficiencies.
To put together such a plan
with the involvement of these stakeholders is a tall order, a
daunting task. But it is not as impossible as first appears.
The need is obvious and some groundwork already has been done.
The Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools is a statewide
coalition working for comprehensive school-funding reform. It
consists of school districts, educators, parents, students and
voters. Since it already is a working coalition, its previous
work and ongoing effort would seem to be a logical starting
point.
Can a bunch of politicians thrown together in
that tinderbox on the hill in Madison, where "power" is the
name of the game, pull it off? Surely, we are not so naive as
to believe that all will go smoothly and be peaches and
cream.
But let's give these much-maligned worthies more
credit than that. They - and as a candidate, I should say
"we," - go through this meat grinder of a process to get
elected because we want to make a positive difference for our
respective districts, and for the state as a whole.
We
need to remember that voters don't give a hoot who gets credit
or blame. They want, expect and deserve results. The need for
K-12 funding reform is way overdue. Politics is the art of the
possible. And pragmatic politics demand that the stakeholders
have a seat at the table.
It's way past time to get on
the pragmatic road to reform.
- John Waelti of Monroe
is a Democratic candidate for the 80th Assembly
District.
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