02/15/2005 Primary (tuesday)
118 Quarterdeck Drive
Madison, WI 53705
(608) 238-9962
elizabeth.burmaster at dpi.state.wi.us
9440 Blackberry Road
Black Earth, WI 53515
(608) 767-1440
toddstelzel at aol.com
1652 Beach Street
Oshkosh, WI 54901
(920) 233-1082
gregg22 at sbcglobal.net
401 Buckingham Blvd.
Whitewatter, WI 53190
(262) 473-5757
paul at voteforpaul.org
View the entire forum via this Quicktime Video Clip, or read each question and click on the video/audio clips below.
(Moderator Video Clip)
Question 1:
When you look around the state of Wisconsin, you can see that the population is dispersed in very different ways. I was recently in northwest Wisconsin, in a town of 1100. I discovered that the town had a total school system for K-12. Many states have gone to a consolidation of schools, particularily in sparsely populated areas. I'm wondering what your thoughts are, each of you on consolidating some of the school systems, maybe totally, or maybe in certain ways? (Moderator Video Clip)
Question 2:
DPI seems to have two primary roles, one is regulatory and the other is leadership, in terms of education in the state. I'm wondering if you think those roles are actually compatible and if there are ways the Department could be organized differently than it is now to carry out those two roles? What are your ideas about those two particular functions? (Moderator Video Clip)
Question 3:
There's a lot of discussion about the Milwaukee School Choice program now. Some people in the legislature think it should be increased, other people around the state think it should be made statewide. The Governor has some ideas on it. I'm wondering what your ideas are on the Milwaukee school choice program? (Moderator Video Clip)
Question 4:
This whole issue of teacher compensation, how teacher's should be compensated fairly. Some people have suggested that we should go to a statewide system, have a statwide contract for teachers. What are your ideas about compensation of teachers? (Moderator Video Clip)
Question 5:
The Arts are a core academic area under the Federal No Child Left Behind and some of the research is showing that schools that have arts infused as a part of their curriculum go a long way toward solving the achievement gap among children. What actions would you take as Superintendent to insure that Wisconsin's children can reap the benefits of having arts infused in the curriculm and how would you work with local districts on this issue? (Moderator Video Clip)
Question 6:
The Governor has established a task force on educational excellence. I'm wondering what you think this task force will accomplish and how it will impact DPI? (Moderator Video Clip)
Question 7:
Several of you have mentioned ways in which teachers are trained. There have been lots of changes in society, lots of changes in technology. What can the role of the DPI Superintendent be in changing or perhaps redirecting the training of educators? (Moderator Video Clip)
Question 8:
Several times during the course of this forum we've talked about taxes and funding. I wonder what each of you thinks about the funding of public school systems and how you think it should be dealt with? Should there be more funding, should there be more property tax, more casinos? Should there be no unfunded state mandates? (Moderator Video Clip)
Closing Statements (Moderator Video Clip)
