RetiredGM - They're all tax payers, yes. Did you really think I missed that point? When you shift money away from state funding and force it on local taxpayers, you increase the local burden, yet districts are required to follow the funding model they are given. My point is, the state commitment fell apart because they reduced the state pool for education funding. That failed commitment is why I say point to the state and demand answers - they're the reason we're now paying more for education than we did before.

There would be room for the Consolidated kids if all the open enrollment children were in their own schools and not in the Milton School District.

Who says there is room at the other elementary schools for Consolidated kids. Consolidated got several West kids this year because there was not room for them there. If Consolidated closes there could be close to 30 kids per class. That's to many kids in a classroom. Bernie Nikolay stated this week at kindergarten orientation that we like having class sizes low and 30 in a class is to much.

And the school district has over $3 million sitting in its fund 10 account.

Stubby---I actually do understand how it works...but thanks. My point is, school districts like Milton are excepting kids and then saying that they need a new high school or keep an elementary school open to accomodate the extra kids---not kids from their own tax payers. The money that comes with these kids from there home district is not going to build a high school or pay the bills at the extra elementary school..... so guess who is gonna pay?

Umm, not quite. Open enrollment brings in far less than the district would otherwise receive from a resident student. They only come to the district with a portion of funds from the resident district. This amount is unform across the state, but the problem is that each district has a different cost average per pupil. Districts with a low cost per member have more to gain from an open enrollment student coming to their district as opposed to a high cost per member distirct.
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The result is a balancing act to ensure that districts do not lose more student than they bring in from outside. This helps stabilize the revenue leaving their district.
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Also, it's not tax revenue that moves between districts. It comes directly off the final aid payment to the districts each year.

Leia3 - I think you don't understand the school funding system. Accepting kids from other schools is a revenue maker for school districts. They come to the district with more state tax dollars then they actually cost the district. More kids is the only way out of the fiscal mess the state has created.

RetiredGM - Taxes will increase because that is how the school funding system is set up. If you want different you're pointing the finger at the wrong "boss." Don't blame the school district for a system they have no choice but to follow. The district should not have to suffer because the state can't pay their bills.

Maybe you should stop accepting kids from other school districts. It seems that you accept all these kids on open enrollment and then say you are growing out of your schools and don't have enough teachers or classrooms to support them. Try working with the kids in you district first and then if you have room you can accept from other districts. The original intent of open enrollment was not for kids(or parents) to choose schools based on sports or on pretty buildings. What are we teaching children?

Let's just wait and see how short they are. Last year they said they were going to be short and then they found $600,000 to resurface parking lots. So my bet is that it won't be nearly as bad as it sounds. And the School Board member who said they could save $600,000 if the teachers switched insurance did not have his facts in order.

Kinsohn, can you be specific about those retirement health benefits? You seem to rant about double digit increases every time a story comes up on school budgets, no matter what the district even though every district has different benefits through their contract. I'd like to to know what the Milton health retirement benefits are and how much they have increased over the last 5 years or so. Do you actually have this information or are you just blowing smoke?

Milton had a very low fund balance for a many years under Superintendent Jon Platts. That was his practice. Now they need a good rating to borrow for a future high school, so throw out the baby and the bath water.
Milton's books have been kept in unique ways that any taxpayer can look into. They were looking for ways to spend money last year from specific funds. So, much of this is politics.
Regarding union in Milton, WEAC is a resource of its members. Not everyone likes it, but they don't control the Milton Ed. Association.
Bottom line: When times are good, educators are asking too much; when times are bad, their ripping off the taxpayer. They never win press spin.

RetiredGM - I'll bet your pension and Social Security/Medicare increase was more than what you (The boss - the taxpayer) is offering the teachers.

Went4milk's comment of 850 students leaving Milton the last 4 years is completely inaccurate - unless you count the kids who have graduated as 'leaving" and disregard the fact that new students take their place in Kindergarten. Milton's enrollment today is, in fact, greater than it was 4 years ago. There have been slight decreases - totaling about 80 students, over the past 2 years. The problem is that enrollments that were steadily increasing are now, essentially, flat.

whythink, that systems is already in place... it's called equalization aid. The problem is, the state has cut aid to school districts, which requires us to rely on local tax revenues in order to meet our revenue requirements. Since local taxes for school districts will never be distributed to other districts, we must look to the state for a fix to this problem.
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Now, is the system perfect? Absolutely not. The biggest loophole is the tax levy credit, which robs money from the equalization aid formula and redistributes it to rich districts based on property wealth (the exact opposite of equalization).

Completely wrong RetiredGM. The levy increase is to help mitigate the state pulling aid from school districts last fall by the maximum allowed by statute (15%). Even then, the allowable budgetary increase under the revenue limit was the smallest per pupil increase seen in YEARS. The state also cut reimburseable and entitlement aids recklessly. They also delayed payments to school districts in general by months in order to collect more interest. It's reprehensible.

OK, when Janesville has a shortfall I get that it is easy to blame the JEA. When edgerton, Milton, Orfordville, etc...

Does the ease to blame WEAC ever stop? When will people look at the real problem?

IMO, the real problem is the way schools are funded. I don't believe 1 extra penny is needed to save these schools. What needs to happen, IMO, is all the money from property taxes needs to go in a pot and be distributed EQUALLY. The rich districts should be doing great, adding on etc...while the districts with lower property values struggle to fix a roof.

Public education can and should be EQUAL. Seperate but equal was ruled illegal decades ago yet it still exists. School in the US are just as segregated now as the 1950's.

This issue is so much bigger than JEA, WEAC or teacher unions in general. The funding system is broken and needs to be fixed.

No additional money is needed is public education was funded the same way as most state institutions. The money goes in and then is distrubuted equally and based on need.

Things must not be that bad in Milton. They will continue to increase employee health retirement benefits at their double-digit rates, which amount to $60-100k per retiree.

It's a shame when a school district chooses health retirement benefit increases over the needs of its students. What union greed!

Parker, I agree... if only that's the way it worked. I've seen veteran teachers eat their young in order to preserve their health care benefits MULTIPLE times.

Im sure to hit a nerve here, but it was listed that if the teachers switched their healthcare coverage, it would save $600,000 that sounds like a no-brainer to me. If I was a teacher, Id agree to that, for the sake of keeping teaching positions.

could someone tell me how cutting the custodial staff, and hiring an outside cleaning company SAVES $200,000.00??

We wb even then as I have a few problems with WEAC. As we all have opinions on many issues, expressed in this forum, the Teachers' Union is not exempt.

Then we would be even, as I have a few problems with WEAC, and last I recall, we are all entitled to our opinions, even regarding Teachers' Unions.

I think WEAC would have a few problems with that jo.
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Also, if you want to blame anyone for the budget shortfalls, blame the state for emaciating school funding. If you read any state newspapers, you would see that ALL Wisconsin school districts are suffering because of state [in]action.

Has anyone looked at the staff benefit programs? Contracts should not be iron-clad in cases of budget short-falls. It's time for all people to start paying their own insurance and let the taxpayers off the hook. Not just Milton either, Edgerton blasted their taxpayers this year..be prepared.

deweeze, that's a VERY uniformed response. Using fund balance would be suicide. That is one time money that has a much greater purpose than plugging an OPERATIONAL budget gap. If it would be used to close this gap, it would be even higher next year.
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Fund balance is not a static sum of money. It is a representation of funds available at the end of a fiscal year. Those funds are utilized to stabilize cash flow throughout the year since most sources of revenue aren't even granted until January when the tax bills come in.

By the way, where does a "Dean of Students" stand in the scheme of things? I just had a principle when I went to school.

danias - I didn't like that analogy either. Dumb comment. There are a lot of jobs out there that are only part-time. Geez.

How much more rain do you want? This type of fund is set up for budget shortfalls.

deweeze - What exactly is a Fund 10 account and what is its purpose?
If it's a rainy day fund, I'm not sure I want to see almost half of it used all at once to balance this year's budget. That would be like Doyle using the tobacco money.

Over the last four (4) years 850 students have left the Milton school district and we seem to have a problem with cutting staff?? It is time to make the difficult choices and move on. When household budgets have a shortfall, something gets cut.

What the Hell are u serious! “My philosophy in life is either you’re pregnant or you’re not. You can’t be half pregnant,” McCann said.

We need to educate children~not just house them. Closing Consolidated is a sad~but necessary step. All services are being duplicated there for 90 students. There is room at the elementary schools in Milton for them. Keeping Consolidated open is a luxury we can no longer afford! Our kids went there & loved it~just being a realist!

Why is it that the news media and school districts ALWAYS tell the tax payers the negitive budget gaps but NEVER MENTIONS the school district has $2 MILLION sitting in its FUND 10 ACCOUNT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

There is no shortfall!!! They have the funds!!! Its all public record.