Part 2 of a 3-part series

The classroom pulses with tiny, high-pitched voices - new readers at work.

"We're smart!" student Abdoulie Jammeh exults after he locates the word "frog."

Experts consider Abdoulie lucky to be in Jean Augsburger's classroom in Madison's Mendota Elementary, one of the many classrooms where school districts are pushing the limits of the state's school funding formula to train teachers and offer unique curriculums.

And more state classrooms could be like Augsburger's high-energy kindergarten, said UW-Madison education professor Allan Odden, a nationally known expert on school finance.

Odden is lead author of a new state report pushing a radical idea: Wisconsin schools should get enough money to adequately educate all children, including those with special needs, to actually meet the state's own education standards. In the process, he said, the state could significantly increase the numbers of students attaining proficient and advanced ratings on standardized tests.

But will anyone listen? It would mean blowing up the $10 billion system of paying for Wisconsin's public schools.

"I think it's a very important report and one that will draw a lot of attention," Gov. Jim Doyle said, while acknowledging the difficulty of coming up with additional money for schools. "Yes, I think it's going to go somewhere."

For Odden, it's a straightforward and affordable plan. It can begin, he says, by building on successful efforts such as Madison's reading program.

Odden says his statewide proposal would cost about $800 million to $900 million more - an increase of roughly 10 percent in tax dollars and a jump of at least $200 million over his earlier estimates.

Because the state spends more on education each year under the current system, Odden says his approach could be implemented over several years - without a tax increase - by slowing that growth rate.

But others say the costs and tax burden would be much higher.

Worries increase

Perhaps the biggest challenge for education reformers is convincing residents that the state faces a crisis unless it retools its schools.

Since 1993, when the state imposed revenue caps on school districts, educators have predicted dire consequences - fewer opportunities, larger classes and lower test scores.

But overall, Wisconsin residents are still happy with their local schools and most test scores remain relatively high, compared to other states.

There's a growing sense of worry, though, that the current system of determining how much money is available for education is too haphazard. This is particularly problematic for areas with rapid enrollment declines or with increases in students needing more help to offset poverty, a lack of English skills or educational disabilities.

Schools now divvy up however much is raised from a system that relies on sales and income taxes for state funding, and property taxes for local funding.

In building a new approach to budgeting for schools, Odden would take into account the characteristics of students, supplying more money, for example, for low-income, special-education and limited-English-proficiency students.

School costs and operations would be based upon research - and the state might require certain teaching approaches, a controversial issue because the state has traditionally let Wisconsin's 425 school districts make their own decisions. For example, Odden's report calls for 15 students per class in kindergarten through third grade, increased training of teachers and reduced reliance upon teachers' aides.

No districts would be required to cut spending from current levels. Those wishing to further exceed state-supported spending levels would have to seek voters' approval through referendums.

In Monroe and Madison

Odden says his plan is based on research and on successful programs that districts are already running.

He points to places such as the Monroe School District, about 40 miles south of Madison, where math scores of elementary students improved significantly after the district adopted a new curriculum and trained teachers. And to Madison, where a reading program that focuses heavily on teacher training has been credited with raising the achievement levels of minority students in elementary schools since the 1990s.

With just 16 students in her Mendota Elementary classroom, Augsburger is able to focus on individual students and small groups such as this one with Abdoulie, Dylan Virnig and Ross Wiedenbeck.

When the boys read, they ask questions, place their index fingers beside the words - and giggle.

They know how to draw clues from context and how to sound out words.

"Animals live in ponds," the boys read - haltingly - in unison with Augsburger.

"Can you point to the word 'frog?'" Augsburger asked. "I don't see it. Can you show me where it is?"

Abdoulie is the first to comply, and sounds out the letter "F."

"How did you know that was the word 'frog?' the teacher asked.

"Because we just know! We're smart!" Abdoulie says, his voice charged with a sense of accomplishment.

Underlying that scene was intensive training of Madison's reading teachers - training that gives teachers the tools to tailor instruction to each student's needs, say district reading experts Cindy Gleason, Therese Kolan and Jan Rohde.

Kolan said teachers learn how to handle key elements to help students stay on track, including phonics, reading strategies, where to begin reading on a page, how to follow the text down the page, and reading appreciation.

Teachers learn how to compile a running record of each student's progress and to develop strategies for shoring up weaknesses.

The three experts said Madison's methods already are being exported to other districts across the country.

Part of the program includes the training of reading coaches, who in turn fan out and teach the teachers.

Tough to sell

With the total bill for public schools statewide exceeding $10 billion this year, and per-pupil expenditures ranking about 12th-highest in the nation, any increase in funding will be difficult, legislators and others say.

A glimpse into the difficulties ahead for Odden's plan came Friday. Members of task force advising Odden - top leaders in politics, business and education - backed the idea of spreading successful programs but were unable in a six-hour session to reach a consensus on key points such as how the new system would be funded and how much control the state would exercise over school districts.

"Where this goes next is where the political leaders want to take it," Odden said.

One of those leaders, Senate Education Committee Chairman John Lehman, D-Racine, a member of the Odden task force, said he came away inspired. While the state isn't able to afford to adopt Odden's proposals right away, it should draw upon Odden's work to improve academic achievement, particularly in districts with low performance and low spending levels, Lehman said.

"I want it to have life," said Lehman of Odden's study, adding he's "committed to try to give it legs if we possibly can."

But another member of the task force, Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, a private nonpartisan group that studies tax issues, likened Odden's report to a helium-filled mylar balloon, glittering and attractive - but fragile.

Berry said he fears the report will be deflated, one pin prick at a time, as various educators, legislators and interest groups find some reason to oppose key provisions.

"When all is said and done, the various actors in the school-finance game pretty unanimously reject it," Berry said.

Among the obstacles, Berry said, are that the report's cost likely will be $1 billion to $1.5 billion, not the $800 million to $900 million estimated by Odden. The Wisconsin Education Association Council will rally against any proposed reductions in teachers' health insurance, he said.

Districts such as Madison and Middleton ultimately will oppose the report's emphasis on funding core classes because they offer a palette of electives, Berry predicted.

However, Art Rainwater, superintendent of Madison schools and a member of Odden's task force, remains a strong backer of the plan. "This is a major piece for our Legislature to look at," Rainwater said. "We are bleeding desperately and it's affecting the educations of our children."

Assembly Education Committee Chairman Brett Davis, R-Oregon, who recently joined Odden's advisory task force, expressed many concerns about Odden's approach, including the price tag and potential loss of local control of school operations. But the report deserves a careful hearing, he said.

"It's all a matter," Davis said, "of what are people willing to give up."

A 'unity network'

That question of what to give up may very well differ greatly among school districts.

At a meeting this month of Madison legislators and district leaders, Madison School District lobbyist Joe Quick was midway into describing the district's 14-point wish list when lawmakers zeroed in on a key question.

"Is this a unified message that all of the other school districts are sending to their delegations?" Rep. Marc Pocan, D-Madison, asked.

Statewide education groups and the state's school districts have such disparate interests that they traditionally haven't collaborated on legislation.

An effort at UW-Madison is attempting to get school districts to agree on potential solutions.

For the past seven months, Julie Underwood, dean of the School of Education, has led monthly meetings of a newly created "unity network" of representatives of 11 statewide education organizations.

They've adopted a statement of eight principles that call current education funding "inadequate to ensure student success" and declare that "current financing methods are flawed."

The group calls for developing short-term and long-term school finance reform plans.

The network so far includes representatives of teachers, administrators, parent-teacher organizations and groups advocating an overhaul of the state's school-finance system.

It aims to develop a list of recommended legislation for this year and beyond.

"The question is whether the state of Wisconsin is going to look at its future and be willing to invest in itself," said Underwood, who warns that no matter what the solution, it will cost more money.

"Everything should be up for examination."

Squeezing Schools: A 3-part series 

Part 1: Cuts threaten vulnerable students

Part 2: Should Wisconsin throw out its school finance system?

Part 3: Signs of change at the Capitol