MTI LEGISLATIVE ALERT!!

Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE)

Governor's Proposal: Dramatically Cuts the SAGE Program Cuts funding to at least 370 schools state-wide in the SAGE program which have less than 50% poverty by restricting the program only to kindergarten and first grade in those schools. Provides full K-3 SAGE funding only to schools with a 50% or greater poverty. Estimates are that only between 115 and 130 schools will remain in the program, a majority of which are in Milwaukee.   What can you do? Contact the Governor, Joint Finance Committee and Legislators (see reverse) requesting that the state keep its commitment and fund SAGE so the schools currently in the program have the resources necessary to reduce class sizes in kindergarten through third grade.

Effect on Madison Children: Larger Class Sizes The Madison Metropolitan School District has combined state, federal and nearly $1 million in local funds to expand SAGE from four schools in 1999-00 to an intended 23 of 30 elementary schools in 2001-02. Approximately one-third of the MMSD population is low-income. The current plan for 2001-02 would provide SAGE for 75% of the District's K-3 students which includes 91% of the District's low-income students. Under the Governor's proposal, only 15% of the District's K-3 students would benefit from SAGE, and only about 25% of its low-income students. The Governor's proposal seriously jeopardizes the prospects for the overwhelming majority of the District's low-income students. If the Governor's proposal passes, the Madison Metropolitan School District would need to move an additional $2 million to SAGE from other programs in its budget in order to hire the 34 additional teachers needed to enable the reduced class sizes at the current SAGE schools.

"SAGE students showed significant improvement over their Comparison school counterparts from the beginning of first grade to the end of third grade in all academic areas." 1999-2000 results of the SAGE Program Evaluation, Center for Education Research, Analysis, and Innovation, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee "Last year I had a student that came in at a pre-kindergarten reading level. If I had a class of 20 or more students, there's no way I would have been able to help that student catch up." Today, the student is reading at a third grade level. Maria Dyslin, 2nd Grade teacher at Mendota Elementary

Governor Scott McCallum 115 East, State Capitol Madison, Wisconsin 53702 Phone: (608) 266-1212 Fax: (608) 267-8983 E-mail: wisgov@mail.state.wi.us Sen. Brian Burke (Co-Chair) Joint Finance Committee 316 South, State Capitol PO Box 7882, Madison, WI 53707-7882 Phone: (608) 266-8535 E-mail: Sen.Burke@legis.state.wi.us Rep. John Gard (Co-chair) Joint Finance Committee 315 North, State Capitol PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53708 Phone: (608) 266-2343 E-mail: Rep.Gard@legis.state.wi.us Sen. Scott Fitzgerald 308H, State Capitol PO Box 7882, Madison, WI 53708 Phone: (608)266-5660 E-mail:Sen.Fitzgerald@legis.state.wi.us Sen. Charles Chvala 211 South, State Capitol PO Box 7882, Madison, WI 53708 Phone: (608)266-9170 E-mail:Sen.Chvala@legis.state.wi.us Sen. Dale Schultz 303H State Capitol PO Box 7882, Madison, WI 53708 Phone:(608)266-0703 E-mail:Sen.Schultz@legis.state.wi.us Sen. Fred Risser 220 South, State Capitol PO Box 7882, Madison, WI 53708 Phone: (608)266-1627 E-mail:Sen.Risser@legis.state.wi.us

Sen. Jon Erpenbach 319 South, State Capitol PO Box 7882, Madison, WI 53708 Phone: (608)266-6670 E-mail:Sen.Erpenbach@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Tom Hebl 304 West, State Capitol PO Box 8952, Madison, WI 53707 Phone: (608)266-7678 E-mail:Rep.Hebl@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Mark Miller 112 North, State Capitol PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53707 Phone (608)266-5342 E-mail:Rep.Miller@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Terese Berceau 322 West, State Capitol PO Box 8952, Madison, WI 53707 Phone:(608)266-3784 E-mail:Rep.Berceau@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Spencer Black 219 North, State Capitol PO Box 8942, Madison, WI 53707 Phone: (608)266-7521 E-mail:Rep.Black@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Mark Pocan 418 North, State Capitol PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53707 Phone: (608)266-8570 E-mail:Rep.Pocan@legis.state.wi.us Rep. David Travis 223 North, State Capitol PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53707 Phone: (608)266-5340 E-mail:Rep.Travis@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Eugene Hahn 15 West, State Capitol PO Box 8952, Madison, WI 53707 Phone: (608)266-3404 E-mail: Rep.Hahn@legis.state.wi.us

Rep. Michael Powers 125 West, State Capitol PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53707 Phone: (608)266-1192 E-mail: Rep.Powers@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Steve Foti 215 West, State Capitol PO Box 8952, Madison, WI 53707 Phone(608)266-2401 E-mail: Michelle.Arbiture@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Robert Goetsch 314 North, State Capitol PO Box 8952, Madison, WI 53707 Phone(608)266-2540 E-mail: Rep.Goetsch@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Stephen Nass 12 West, State Capitol PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53707 Phone(608)266-5715 E-mail: Rep.Nass@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Luther Olsen 9 West, State Capitol PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53707 Phone(608)266-8077 E-mail: Rep.Olsen@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Lorraine Seratti 18 North, State Capitol PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53707 Phone(608)266-3780 E-mail: Rep.Seratti@legis.state.wi.us Rep. Richard Skindrud 18 West, State Capitol PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53707 Phone: (608)266-3520 E-mail:Rep.Skindrud@legis.state.wi.us

For additional information, see the Madison Metropolitan School District web page: www.madison.k12.wi.us

MTI 051401