BRILLION, WI (WTAQ) – The Green Bay Area Public School superintendent told state lawmakers she’s “losing sleep at night” over how to budget for possible unlimited vouchers.
Michelle Langenfeld told the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee Wednesday she needs the panel’s help in crafting her district’s budget for next fall.
In her prepared remarks, made available to WTAQ by the district, Langenfeld said, “Imagine yourself trying to explain to parents, who are already concerned about the $3.3 million state aid cut to the District for next year that you cannot promise that their children’s classrooms will not be impacted.”
Langenfeld goes on to say that with unlimited vouchers, the district cannot be sure what their revenue will be for next year.
“How do I explain, that if history is to be our guide, many of these students will never have attended the school district and therefore, the voucher program is literally taking money away from their students’ classrooms to pay for vouchers,” Langenfeld said.
Other area school district officials and administrators also spoke out against proposed cuts to public education funding contained within Governor Scott Walker’s budget plan.
“As one of the most frugal districts in the state, we can no longer continue to cut without adversely affecting more core programs,” said Lisa Botsford, a member of the Howard-Suamico school board.
“The potential loss of educational opportunities for our students across the state with this proposed budget is just alarming,” added Ashwaubenon superintendent Brian Hanes.
On the other side of the voucher issue, staffers from private voucher schools in Green Bay, Appleton, and Fond du Lac praised the program, calling it a success.
The Joint Committee on Finance held the first of four public hearings at Brillion High School on Wednesday. More than 200 people signed up to speak on a variety of issues related to the budget during approximately 7 hours of testimony.
Other topics were health care, smoking cessation programs, transportation funding and changes to programs for seniors and the disabled like Family Care.
“The budget proposal is too complex and too disruptive to implement,” said Pat Finder-Stone from the AARP. Fond du Lac County Board member Judy Goldsmith added, “This successful program is being replaced with an untested model.”
The next public hearing is scheduled to happen on Friday in Milwaukee.
(Additional reporting from FOX 11).