For people who travel the path around the Falls, it’s interesting to see how connections come together to make sense of what is reported in the news. Last week Gov. Walker released his budget for the next two years, and details have been trickling out ever since.
Prior to the budget being released, little hints came out to whet the appetite of those who were following the action. Word was leaked that there would be additional funding for transportation for rural schools. To add local color to that story, one of the Green Bay TV stations contacted our office to get our reaction to the proposal.
Last year a legislative task force held hearings around the state to listen to the particular concerns that faced rural school districts. Transportation costs was one of those concerns because transportation takes a bigger bite out of rural school districts’ budgets. The task force made a number of recommendations, including providing additional transportation funding for rural school districts.
Once the report was released, it was too late in the legislative session to do anything about it. However, State Superintendent Tony Evers included the proposal in the DPI budget that was presented to the governor, and a version of that additional rural school transportation funding made it into the budget.
With the cameras rolling, a question was asked about the positive impact that proposal would have on the parents and students of the Oconto Falls School District. The response was that this was greatly appreciated, but the details of what else was in that budget would tell the real story once the full budget was released. That comment was a classic understatement, but more about that later.
Transportation, “classic” and Wisconsin’s economy are interconnected. Wisconsin, even today, has manufacturing as a solid foundation for its economy. There was a time when Rambler Classics were made in Wisconsin. Eventually, American Motors Corporation discontinued manufacturing in Wisconsin, and that took a toll, not unlike the lack of job growth that was one factor that complicated the budget picture as Gov. Walker presented his budget.
While AMC was considering taking production out of Wisconsin, it turned to other areas for manufacturing, including Mexico. One of its products manufactured in Mexico was the AMC Pacer, which also weaves nicely into making sense of this week’s news. The Pacer was featured in a number of memorable movies, including “Wayne’s World.” More about that later.
When the details of the K-12 funding picture in the budget came out, it was said to be flat. In reality, while general categorical aid had a zero increase in both years of the biennium, a categorical aid amounting to $150 per student disappeared for the coming year.
Doing the math, when the $5 million in new transportation funding was allocated, the Oconto Falls School District would see an additional $7,925. Good news, but not really a scale tipper when looking at a $900,000 transportation budget.
The disappearance of the $150 per student aid will amount to a loss of just under $270,000 next year. Even though the district had a slight uptick in enrollment this past fall, the three-year average still took a dip, which translated to a loss of about $191,000. Do the pluses and minuses, even without using Common Core math, and the available budget for next year is about $450,000 less than it was this year.
Unlike AMC, we can’t move our work to Mexico, where we would have lower production costs.
So how does this all come together? Some readers will recall the scene in “Wayne’s World” when the characters riding in a 1975 Pacer threw in the cassette and the music came on full force, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Not that we are biased, but the name has a good ring to it. About two-thirds of the way through the song, the occupants in the car (a couple with pretty long hair) start shaking their heads in unison to the beat of the song. That technique, also used by some performers in rock bands, is known as head banging.
So how does this all come together? Given the governor’s budget, many in the education leadership field are looking for a place to throw in a cassette or 8-track tape and listen to “Bohemian Rhapsody” while they bang their heads against the wall. That may be the only way to make sense of it.
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