The Referenda

CORRECTION: At one point in this episode, I say that the 2024 operating ref was "2m for curriculum, 8m for teachers, and 54.4m" to cover deficits. 8m for teachers is correct, but it was 4m for curriculum and 52.4m for deficits.This episode reviews some basic facts about these three important issues and what our conversations around them are like. The major goal is to help community members and school board candidates better articulate their positions. Everyone is for improving district finances, or for academic progress, or for teachers. Do we all mean the same things, though?LINKS:Tosa 2075 task force reportSecondary ad-hoc facilities page.**FINANCES**Wisconsin DPI all-staff (salary) report portalWisconsin DPI comparative cost dataWisconsin DPI comparative revenue dataWSD's financial transparency site (through ClearGov.com)WSD's budget and audit information2024 budget error records, part 1 and part 2WSD's 2024 Referendum Site (incl survey results)WSD's 2024 Referendum Progress Reporting**ACADEMIC PROGRESS**Tosa's report card pageStatewide ACT/Forward data**TEACHERS**Steven Brill's "The Rubber Room" (2009)Vlad Kogan's No Adult Left Behind (2025)WPR piece on teachers' health-care costs (2025)Statewide school funding data (2025)

LINKS to background information for the survey:1.) The Tosa 2075 Task Force website.2.) The Tosa 2075 final report.3.) The district's long-range facilities plan (adopted 2024)4.) The current ad-hoc facilities committee website, incl minutes and detailed model summaries (at the bottom).5.) Secondary model summary spreadsheet. 6.) FAQs about the proposed models and processes.7.) Analysis of learning spaces descriptions

LINKS:Ad Hoc Committee page (scroll down for current models)WI State Report Card weighting calculatorGrowth Score calculation specsTarget Group Outcomes explanationTosa's district- and school-level report cardsNativity Jesuit Academy's report card

Dr. Amanda Lewis is coming to Wauwatosa to give a talk based on her book, Despite the Best Intentions, whose 2nd edition just came out this year.EVENT INFO:Where: Underwood ElementaryWhen: Monday, October 20th, 6:30 to 8:00.What: A talk, followed by a Q&A session.If you'd like to pose a question to Dr. Lewis, send it to me here.

The district has drawn up some options, a community committee has been poring over pros and cons for months, and we're going to get a survey to take in late October. So what should we be thinking about? What are our choices?LINKS:1.) Ad-Hoc Committee page, with a list of proposed models to consider.2.) In-depth description of each model3.) What "modernization" means in these modelsDEPT PRESENTATIONS:1.) Human Capital exec summary and full presentation2.) Finance exec summary and full presentation3.) Facilities exec summary and full presentation4.) Academic Performance exec sum and full presentation5.) Pupil & Family Supports exec sum and full presentation

LINKS:Onward Tosa piece on our reassessmentsWSD 2024 referenda tax impact calculatorWauwatosa's post-reassessment 2025 tax estimatorWSD Strategic Plan (feat school-engagement indicators)SP podcast interview on board-supt relationships

*Corrected an editing mistake in an earlier version*In which I’m joined by Anne Chapman, the leading expert in Wisconsin school finance, the research director of the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials, to talk about the impacts of state budget changes on school funding decisions and community conversations. In this episode, we’ve got:A recap of Wisconsin school finance basics, featuring an extended shandy metaphorA discussion of revenue-limit and state-aid changesA conversation on open-enrollment transfer amounts and declining-enrollment pressuresA summary of special-ed and high-cost special ed funding changes.This is a cross-posting of a conversation I featured on the School Perceptions podcast. If you’re a school leader or a district administrator or a board member, that show is aimed at you and you should check it out!

I originally intended to fit something like this into the previous episode, but it clearly is too big. But here I'm talking about why local control of schools matters for us as citizens, what the state ought to be doing to invest in the cultivation of civic virtue, what districts can be doing to facilitate good conversations about schools, and ultimately, our own obligations as citizens to participate in the good governance of our public schools.LINKS:Wauwatosa's financial transparency page. Zerilli's Democratic Theory of JudgmentScribner's The Fight for Local Control Weinstein's Adam Smith's PluralismNeem's Democracy's Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America Arendt's The Human ConditionCavell's The Claim of ReasonCavell's Conditions Handsome and Unhandsome

So, I got mad, and I had to use the bleep button a few times.Here, moving backward through time, is media coverage of the budget as it has developed:Today's update. (July 1)JFC's June 13th plan.Budget negotiations reach an impasse (June 4)JFC starts over from scratch (May 9)Evers's budget proposal (Feb 26)

Links!First, just put down your name and email here if you're interested in participating in the book group at all. I'll follow up with details. Here are the two books:Manny Teodoro's Profits of Distrust: Citizen-Consumers, Drinking Water, and the Crisis of Confidence in American Government, andAmanda Lewis and John Diamond's Despite the Best Intentions (2nd edition)2030 Task Force links:2030 Task Force websiteMedia hubOpen Records hubHow to get involvedContact/Signup

I kept trying to get my thoughts down to 3 minutes in order to deliver them at public comment on June 9th 2025, but I, um, overshot it a little.

LINKS!Secondary School Ad Hoc Committee (including application)Secondary School Configuration summary

A couple of colleagues from School Perceptions join me to talk about what we saw with the 89 school referendum questions on the ballot April 1st!Here's the blog post breaking down referendum results, including graphs and everything.Here's the info on Tosa's Secondary Ad Hoc Committee.And here's a link to the School Perceptions podcast, for any school leaders out there!

In this episode:Meet Vlad KoganLearn about quality measures that isolate school effects from out-of-school effects.Understand some of the factors that impede school board accountability.Hear a bit about Vlad's forthcoming book

Sara Lerand comes on the show to talk about the local referendum question on our ballots in April, which would change the way local school board elections run -- undoing a decision that Tosa originally made in 1994.LINKS:The text of the referendum questionWauwatosa News-Times pre-election coverage from 1994Wauwatosa News-Times post-election coverage from '94.

My interview questionsHeidi's websiteHer campaign facebook pageHer campaign instagram

My interview questionsKaitlin's websiteHer campaign Facebook pageHer campaign phone number

For Public Schools Week, here, I got a little worked up.

My interview questionsShannon’s campaign emailShannon’s campaign websiteShannon’s Facebook page

My interview questionsSarah's campaign websiteSarah's email addressSarah’s Facebook page