Gayda Hollnagel, reporter for the LaCrosse Tribune wrote the following:
Headline: EDUCATORS: NO "SILVER BULLET" FOR VIOLENCE.

Improving school security, earlier identification and treatment of troubled youth, and educating parents to be better parents and role models for their children could all help stop the violence in schools.

But educators, law enforcement officials, community leaders and parents all agreed Wednesday that there is no single cure for ending violence in schools.

"There will be no silver bullet that will get this thing done", said Douglas Leclair, associate principal of Logan High School in LaCrosse.

Leclair was among about 40 people attending a regional listening session on school violence conducted in West Salem by a Safe Schools Task Force established by the Department of Justice and the Department of Public Instruction.

The session was the third of five being held around the state to look at ways of improving education and safety in Wisconsin schools.

The problem with violence are not just school problems, the participants agreed. The said violence in homes, society , on television and in the movies all contribute to the problem.

"I don't think it is a gun problem, I think it is a peoples problem," said Deborah McIntosh, a parent and wife of Lincoln High School's principal, Craig McIntosh of Alma Center.

"More likely if there's a problem with a kid, it's a family problem , it not a kids problem," McIntosh said. "I'd like to see parents take more responsibility. I am not sure how that's done, but getting parents involved is vital.

Involving parents is not easy, the group members agreed, Marlin Philips, superintendent of Sparta Area Schools. and a task force member who chaired Wednesday's listening session asked for a show of hands to determine how many people in the group were just parents and no more than three or four raised their hands. "How sad," commented one of the participants.

Additional laws probably aren't the answer, but better enforcement of existing legislation might help several people said.

Truancy laws are not uniformly enforced in some smaller communities, some participates said. In some counties, judges and district attorneys fail to take truancies seriously they said.

Brad Kobiship, a community policing officer with the Onalaska Police Department, said that in Onalaska, it had been helpful to have a municipal judge available to handle truancy cases.

"We are starting to cite parents for truancy," he said. Hobishop also said Onalaska had been successful in obtaining grants for law enforcement and other programs to help schools and young people.

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REVENUE LIMIT EXPLANATION AND EXAMPLE

Revenue Limits

In 1993 Wisconsin Statute 121.90 was enacted placing a limit on the revenue a school district is entitled to receive from general state aid (equalization, and special adjustment aids, minimum aid, integration aid) and local levies. There are four basic steps in calculating a school district's revenue limit.

The first step in determining a school district's revenue limit is to determine the previous year's base. The revenue base is calculated by adding the general aids received and local levy. This number is then divided by an average of the district's most recent three September membership totals, excluding the current year for which the limit is being calculated. The result is a revenue base per member amount.

For example, to calculate a district's 1998-99 revenue limit, assume a fictitious district received $2,000,000 in general aid in 1997-98, and had a local levy, excluding debt service, of $1,500,000. Adding those together gave the district a total revenue base of $3,500,000. If the average of the three previous September membership counts, (450 in 1995, 500 in 1996, 550 in 1997) was 500, the revenue base per member is $7,000 ($3,500,000/500).

Step two determines a new three-year membership average. The last two September membership counts (500 in 1996, 550 in 1997) plus the current year September count (600 in 1998) is averaged. The new three-year average is 550. Starting in 1998, districts may include 20% of their summer school membership in the average. This number is added to the 1998 September membership count and included in the three year average.

The third step is to add the "allowable per member increase" to the revenue base per member amount calculated in step one. The allowable per member increase is determined by the legislature. In 1997-98 the allowable increase was $206 per member, in 1998-99 it is estimated at $210.53 and thereafter is slated to be increased by an inflation index.

For example, using the above figures, the revenue base per member of $7,000 is increased by $210.53 in 1998-99. This new revenue per member of $7,210.53 is the maximum allowable revenue per member for the district in 1998-99.

Step four is the final step in determining the revenue limit. To find the 1998-99 revenue limit, multiply the maximum allowable revenue per member ($7,210.53 as determined in step three) by the new three-year average (550 as determined in step two). The total amount of revenue allowed in 1998-99 in this fictitious district is $3,965,792 ($7,210.53 x 550), unless exemptions are approved.

A district's revenue limit can be increased by various factors such as new costs that occur when a district attaches new property or when the district is required to assume new financial responsibilities from another governmental unit. The revenue limit may also be increased if a district experiences a loss of Federal Impact Aid funds, passes a referendum for the express purpose of increasing the limit or is experiencing declining enrollment.

In addition, beginning in 1995-96, a minimum revenue limit per member was established. Any district with a calculated revenue limit per member below a specified minimum is permitted to raise its limit to that minimum. The 1997-98 minimum was $5,900 and the 1998-99 minimum is $6,100.

Also, it is not required that districts levy the total amount allowed. By not levying up to the maximum allowed, however, the district loses some its future ability to levy. A district that did not levy its full allowable amount the previous year may increase its revenue limit by 75% of the amount under-levied in the previous year.

After the revenue limit and any exemptions to the limit are determined, a district's allowable levy for the 1998-99 school year can be determined. This is done by subtracting the general aid the district will receive in 1998-99 from the revenue limit. The allowable levy is distributed among the general operating fund (Fund 10), the capital projects fund (Fund 40), and the community service fund (Fund 80). Any debt service levies derived from new debt since 1993 that was not approved by referendum must also be included in the revenue limit (Fund 38).

Submit questions regarding the Finance Team to:e-mail

Copyright: State of Wisconsin, Department of Public Instruction 125 S. Webster St., P.O. Box 7841, Madison, WI 53707-7841 USA Phone: 1-800-441-4563 (U.S. only) or 608-266-3390

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A PUBLIC SCHOOL WAKE UP CALL
by Andrew Rotherham
Thursday, April 29, 1999

Public education is at a turning point. Last week in New York, businessmen Ted Forstmann and John Walton unveiled their Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF) that gave thousands of privately funded vouchers by lottery to low-income, primarily urban students nationwide.

By doing so, CSF either delivered a much-needed wake-up call to supporters of public education or spelled the beginning of the end for public schools.

CSF is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization created when Forstmann and Walton each pledged $50 million of their own money, and raised an additional $75 million, to get kids out of failing public schools. Lest one think this is just another Republican ruse for vouchers, CSF’s board of advisors includes former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, Senate Democratic Leader Thomas Daschle (SD), Sens. John Breaux (LA) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (NY), and Charles Rangel (NY), a senior House Democrat.

Public response to Forstmann and Walton’s efforts ought to jar anyone out of complacency. Immediately after Forstmann appeared on television with talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, more than 200,000 parents called for applications.

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE GO TO: http://www.intellectualcapital.com/

Andrew Rotherham is director of the 21st Century Schools Project at the Progressive Policy Institute.

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1998 SCHOOL DISTRICT APPORTINMENT OF TAXES
APRIL 19, 1999

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A friend, Anne Schulz, sent me this and after the tradgety in Littlton Colorado this past week it is a reminder that whether, a classmate, a parent or a teacher, we all in one way or another, do contribute something to:

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around." His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by s classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle". His third grade teacher>wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken". Teddy's fourth grade teacherwrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present which was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stonesmissing, and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to". After the children left she cried for at least an hour.

On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one her "teacher's pets".

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it,and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name wasa little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and he was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. In addition, guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. In addition, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs.Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

Warm someone's heart today.... Pass it along.

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From the Tri County Advertiser in the STAN SEZ column was this fishing story;

He phoned home from the office and said, "Helen, something has just come up and I have a chance to go fishing for a week. It's the opportunity of a lifetime. So would you pack my clothes, my fishing equipment and my new silk pajamas? I will be home within an hour to pick them up.

Next week, he retunrned, "Did you have a good trip dear?" Helen asked. "It was great, fabulous...," he exclaimed. "But you forgot my blue silk pajamas." "No, I didn't. I put them in your tackle box."

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