It has been well documented and covered in numerous "Our Views" the potentially disastrous decision by Democratic lawmakers to remove from the state budget the mechanism that limits the increases school districts must pay teachers in salaries and benefits.
Removing the Qualified Economic Offer (QEO) - essentially a cap on teacher salary and benefit increases to 3.8 percent annually - while keeping in place the revenue cap of 2.8 percent per year will make it even more difficult for school districts to provide services without asking property taxpayers for more money. The QEO is slated to be eliminated in 2010. The solution, of course, cannot be to remove the revenue cap. It won't be long, however, before that's proposed.
The only remedy is to reinstate the QEO. Or better yet, do what the Wisconsin Property Taxpayers proposed Wednesday. The WPT proposes limiting teacher compensation increases to available revenue. Instead of maintaining the current 3.8 percent QEO for another year and ending it next year, the WPT wants lawmakers to retain and lower the QEO to 2.8 percent - the same level as revenue limits.
That makes perfect sense, and still guarantees teachers an annual increase in salaries and benefits. Few other workers have that kind of salary security in today's economy.
While the QEO elimination proposal has received the most attention, unfortunately there were other decisions made by the Democratic-controlled Joint Finance Committee that will negatively impact school districts - and thus taxpayers - in contract negotiations. Most hurtful will be the plan to exempt school district arbitrations from giving the greatest weight to revenue limits and local economic conditions. Currently, arbitration involving any local government - city, village, town, county or school district - gives most weight to the outside economic factors. The budget committee proposes that no longer be the case for school districts, which makes little sense in any economy, let alone the current recession.
Before the revenue cap and the QEO were instituted, school property taxes were increasing statewide by double-digit percentages. Since then, they've increased by less than 5 percent annually in recent years. Removing the QEO and arbitration limits would reverse this desirable trend, and force school districts and taxpayers to increasingly decide between school programs and services or higher property taxes.
Given the current economy and the state's fiscal crisis, the proposed changes defy logic.
Removing the Qualified Economic Offer (QEO) - essentially a cap on teacher salary and benefit increases to 3.8 percent annually - while keeping in place the revenue cap of 2.8 percent per year will make it even more difficult for school districts to provide services without asking property taxpayers for more money. The QEO is slated to be eliminated in 2010. The solution, of course, cannot be to remove the revenue cap. It won't be long, however, before that's proposed.
The only remedy is to reinstate the QEO. Or better yet, do what the Wisconsin Property Taxpayers proposed Wednesday. The WPT proposes limiting teacher compensation increases to available revenue. Instead of maintaining the current 3.8 percent QEO for another year and ending it next year, the WPT wants lawmakers to retain and lower the QEO to 2.8 percent - the same level as revenue limits.
That makes perfect sense, and still guarantees teachers an annual increase in salaries and benefits. Few other workers have that kind of salary security in today's economy.
While the QEO elimination proposal has received the most attention, unfortunately there were other decisions made by the Democratic-controlled Joint Finance Committee that will negatively impact school districts - and thus taxpayers - in contract negotiations. Most hurtful will be the plan to exempt school district arbitrations from giving the greatest weight to revenue limits and local economic conditions. Currently, arbitration involving any local government - city, village, town, county or school district - gives most weight to the outside economic factors. The budget committee proposes that no longer be the case for school districts, which makes little sense in any economy, let alone the current recession.
Before the revenue cap and the QEO were instituted, school property taxes were increasing statewide by double-digit percentages. Since then, they've increased by less than 5 percent annually in recent years. Removing the QEO and arbitration limits would reverse this desirable trend, and force school districts and taxpayers to increasingly decide between school programs and services or higher property taxes.
Given the current economy and the state's fiscal crisis, the proposed changes defy logic.
