MANITOWOC — Wisconsin's public school funding system is "truly broken," said union bargainer Jim Carlson.

In 1993, the Wisconsin Legislature changed its method of public-school funding, from funding a percentage of each school's budget — sometimes up to two-thirds — to instead providing a certain amount of money per pupil, said Carlson, who was part of an education forum Wednesday at City Hall. Carlson works with school districts in the Kettle Moraine area and Two Rivers and Manitowoc.

While questions about community volunteering at schools were slated for discussion, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Manitowoc County, the two-hour panel discussion among five Manitowoc County superintendents largely focused on district struggles that result from the funding system.

Financial challenges

Bob Scrivner, Reedsville School District superintendent, said the per-pupil funding formula assumes that if a student switches districts, he takes a fixed amount of expenses with him. But that doesn't take into account paying for the electricity at his former school or the busing system, Scrivner said, on which the same is spent regardless of whether the student leaves.

This year's per-pupil funding increased by $200, rather than the $275 many districts factored into their 2009-10 budgets, Carlson said.

Districts have struggled with revenue caps, determined by the per-pupil funding, since the 1993 funding system change, not just during this economic downturn, said Manitowoc district Superintendent Mark Swanson.

In Two Rivers, where decreasing enrollment is a problem, by adding 100 students in a pre-kindergarten program last year, the district actually lost about $300,000, said Two Rivers Superintendent Randy Fredrikson. The district previously was exempt from the revenue cap, but after adding students it had to pay to make up for those exemptions, he said.

And when a Kiel Area School District referendum to fund repair projects failed twice, the district had to secure a $1 million state trust fund loan for work that just couldn't wait, said Kiel Superintendent Jack Lewis.

Class sizes also are increasing in many districts, said Valders Area School District Superintendent Debra Hunt, and teachers are expected to have wider knowledge bases.

Other issues included setting teacher salaries, avoiding and coping with program cuts and retaining quality employees.

Fredrikson said he thinks education reform is slow to come because by shifting money around, there always are "winners" and "losers."

The economy needs to grow, Scrivner said, because taxpayers don't have enough money to provide support.

Volunteerism

While the panelists agreed that school volunteers are invaluable, Swanson said schools must carefully follow licensure rules when deciding where volunteers can help.

Booster club fundraising and volunteering in parent-teacher organizations are good ways to get involved outside the classroom, Fredrikson said. Carlson also said calling legislators about the funding formula is valuable.

Allison Wickler: (920) 686-2135 or awickler@htrnew.scom