Speakers React To Madison School District's 2003-04 List Of 250 Vulnerable Items including cutting the wrestling program

Friday, March 14, 2003
Doug Erickson Education reporter

Late into the night they spoke.

Some begged. Some vented. Some were so small they needed a chair to reach the microphone.

Fifteen wore T-shirts that said, "Life without wrestling? I don't think so!"

Dozens sported red buttons dispensed by the teachers union -- "No more cuts."

About 500 people filled the gym at Madison's Sherman Middle School Thursday in a first wave of budget-related activism.

The Madison School District faces substantial cuts to what it calls its same-service budget. If it were to continue doing everything it does now, it would need another $9 million to $18.5 million next school year beyond what state law will allow it to spend. The exact figure may not be known for months -- it hinges on legislative action.

Speakers at Thursday's School Board hearing were reacting to a list of 250 vulnerable items compiled by administrators. Some of the items will end up as recommended cuts in Superintendent Art Rainwater's balanced-budget proposal this May. Layoffs are expected.

But first, the board will vote Monday on which items to take off the list -- ones that Rainwater shouldn't even consider for cuts.

Students were allowed to speak first Thursday so they could get home to bed. Donnie Sampson, a second-grader at Midvale Elementary School, kicked things off.

"My Reading Recovery teacher helped me learn to read, so did my first-grade teacher," he said, urging the board to keep the literacy intervention program. "Now I can read books at home to my family."

Memorial High School senior Tony Ayala warned that if a district as large as Madison drops wrestling, smaller districts might follow, jeopardizing the sport in the state. He delivered petitions signed by 354 people who want sports, including cheerleading, spared.

La Follette senior Stefanie Gunn turned in 375 signatures of people supporting minority service coordinators at the high schools. "As a minority, sometimes the odds are kind of set against you to succeed," said Stefanie, who is black. "They give us that extra push."

Some students lobbied for programs by naming specific staff members who've helped them. "She has provided a community for Hmong students who have always felt excluded in Madison," La Follette junior Pahoua Xiong said of Choua Her, a member of the district's community response team. Team members often bridge cultural divides through outreach and special programs.

Other students spoke in support of the elementary strings music program, the Open Classroom program at Lincoln Elementary and pompom squads.

Mary Seidl, psychologist at Huegel Elementary, gave board members copies of a suicide note -- with the name blocked out -- that a student left on her desk last week.

"It was very nice knowing you," the note reads. "My life was a disaster. I hated it."

Seidl said she immediately got help for the student.

"I ask you -- who will be there next year for this student if building-based psychological services are not available?" Seidl asked the board.

Tina Murray, a technology teacher at Shabazz City High School, used detailed graphs to show how the district could save $7.3 million annually by switching to more Apple MacIntosh computers instead of personal computers that use the Microsoft Windows program. The savings would come from cheaper software and a need for less technical support, among other things, she said.

Board members Bill Clingan and Ruth Robarts told district administrators to analyze Murray's research and report back.

After three hours, 70 people had spoken and dozens more were still waiting their turns. Of the first 70 speakers, 30 were students, 26 were district employees and 14 were parents and community members.

Many said they sympathized with board members and urged them to seek more operating money through a referendum -- under state law, only voters can authorize property tax increases above what state revenue caps allow. Board member Carol Carstensen said a referendum is under serious consideration.

John Matthews, executive director of Madison Teachers Inc., drew a standing ovation for advocating a public vote. "Given the information and the opportunity, the voters will enable you to operate the current programs with the current staff levels," he said.

Dean Loumos, executive director of Housing Initiatives Inc. in Madison, said the difficult task of trying to maintain high-quality education shouldn't fall entirely to board members. Let voters share the burden of deciding what to do, he said.

"This is a big deal," he said of the possible cuts. "This is something I want in on. This is something the city wants in on."