US/ND-2: School Income Level
School Income Level
Bill Cosh (bcosh@wasb.org)
Mon, 02 Sep 1996 13:25:25 -0700
Now you are talking controversial subjects. How to determine
school/school district income is a debate that educators have spent
decades arguing over.
In Wisconsin the way the Universal Service program has been set up, it
ironically benefits the richest school districts the most, while doing
almost nothing for the poorest of districts. I hope that the suggestions
of this forum can prevent such things from happening in the structuring
of the Federal Universal Service Rules.
Have education groups in other states had difficulty when it comes to
dealing with Public Service Commissions on education issues? In
Wisconsin, our Public Service Commission has such a complete lack of
experience with dealing with education issues that they do not even
understand basic concepts, such as the varience in wealth among school
districts.
Wisconsin currently has over 100 of its 426 school districts sueing the
state over how the state distributes school aids. Unlike other states,
Wisconsin has a constitutional requirement to create school districts
that "are nearly uniform as practicable."
The district's suing are now examining the telecommunications
infrastructure that has been created in Wisconsin as a result of
deregulation and the actions of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
What they have found so far clearly shows that the wealthiest districts
(whether defined in terms of property wealth or income level of
residents) have the most advanced technology proactively deployed to
their doorsteps. The poorest districts have nothing.
Bill Cosh
Wisconsin Association of School Boards