Common good:
Not served by denying bus service

		Eye on the  Capitol  John Huebscher

One of the most important contributions of Catholic thought to public policy debates is the concept of the common good. The common good, like the principle of solidarity, calls on all citizens to think not only of themselves, but also of the entire community.

That is why the Catholic contribution to policy debates regularly includes a call to embrace a broad, rather than narrow, definition of the public interest.

Nowhere has this concern for the common good been more evident than our approach to education.

Common good

	Related articles this week:     Sidebar: Attempts to cut busing • Michael Lancaster column --     Preserving busing: For Madison's Catholic schools     Sidebar: How to preserve busing • Editorial --     Save our busing: In Madison, throughout state     Sidebar: Contact the Board of Education

In 2005, this column affirmed the value of good schools whether public schools, religious schools, or independent schools as essential to the development of our children. The piece explicitly defended taxes that support public schools as an investment in the common good for which all should be thankful.

Last year, Archbishop Dolan urged legislators to support a compromise proposal that raised the cap on the Milwaukee choice program and increased funding for the public school SAGE program.

As he did so, the archbishop affirmed that support for parental choice and support for public education are not mutually exclusive positions. He reminded policy makers that the bishops' support for the voucher program is matched by a desire to affirm and improve public schools.

In constitution

Attempts to cut busing MADISON -- On Tuesday, May 15, the Joint Committee on Finance of the state legislature defeated a motion limiting transportation funds for nonpublic school students. Motion #257, proposed by Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), would require school districts to provide transportation payments to families with several children attending an independent or religious school as if the family had only one child attending the school - a significant change from current practice. With an 8-8 vote, the motion failed to garner the votes necessary to amend the state's proposed budget for 2007-09. Although the measure did not pass as a budget item, it may still emerge as an issue this legislative session. Rep. Sheldon Wasserman (D-Milwaukee) has stated that he is considering introducing the measure as an Assembly bill. Several efforts have recently been made to limit the ability of independent and religious students to attend school safely. Assembly Bill 165, introduced by Rep. Donald Friske (R-Merrill), would eliminate transportation for nonpublic four-year-old kindergarten pupils if a district's public schools fail to offer four-year-old kindergarten as well. The bill is currently under review in the Assembly Committee on Education Reform. The Madison Metropolitan School District also recently announced, as part of its annual budget proposal, that it would no longer provide busing for Madison Catholic school students in the coming school year. Catholic school families who currently utilize busing in Madison will instead be provided with a transportation allotment, contracts that the Wasserman proposal would limit.

That is why it is so disappointing to see some school districts and legislators trying to cut or limit funding for bus service for children who attend Catholic and other nonpublic schools.

Public funds support school busing for children in Catholic schools because the people of Wisconsin amended the state constitution in the 1960s to allow it. In ratifying that amendment, the people made a commitment to the safety of our children, wherever they attend school.

The voters of that period rejected an "us vs. them" mentality that views public and nonpublic schools as rivals. Rather, they determined that children should be safe traveling to and from schools and that all schools serve the common good by their commitment to excellence in education.

Here in Madison school leaders argue that tight budgets warrant retreating from that commitment. To save money, they propose that a child who goes to a Catholic school won't get the bus ride available to his next-door neighbor who attends public school. They seek to retreat from the broad view of the common good endorsed in the 1960s. In its place they offer a contract to parents and a directive to fend for themselves when it comes to the safe transport of their children.

Reaching out

Those who make this argument seem to think that a child's moral claim for safe transit to school is a "privilege" that relies on the generosity of the school board or a "frill" available when budgets are not limited. In fact this claim is a right, guaranteed by the state constitution, sustained by custom, and grounded in a commitment to the common good.

Public school leaders in Madison and elsewhere can better serve the common good by reaching out to parents who choose nonpublic schools and forging an alliance to seek additional financial support for our schools. We should all hope that is what happens in the weeks, months, and years ahead.

Our children deserve no less.

John Huebscher is executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference in Madison.

Preserving busing:
For Madison's Catholic schools

		Diocese of Madison  Office of Catholic Schools  Michael Lancaster  Superintendent of Catholic Schools

Previously I have written about the importance and essence of Catholic education. Our schools serve as a means to evangelize, educate, and transmit our faith to the next generation. At Catholic schools, our children are able to gain what the public schools cannot and will never provide, an opportunity to learn and live their faith, to meet Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, and to every day be placed gently but firmly on the path to sainthood.

As you know, Catholic schools minister to students of all abilities, ethnicities, means, and circumstances, and no student is ever turned away for an inability to pay. We provide a superior education, both in academics and in faith, valuing every single child as a precious gift from God. As a result, many people choose to send their children to our schools, and we work tirelessly to ensure that they have the opportunity to do so.

	Related articles this week:     Sidebar: How to preserve busing • Eye on the Capitol --     Common good: Not served by denying bus service     Sidebar: Attempts to cut busing • Editorial --     Save our busing: In Madison, throughout state     Sidebar: Contact the Board of Education

Now, that opportunity is threatened. The Madison Metropolitan School District has voted to eliminate busing for our students. Many of our students take the bus because their parents can't drive them to school. Some families don't have reliable cars and therefore can't even carpool.

These families rely on the buses to get their children safely to school. How will they get to their Catholic school if they have no bus? Our parents have chosen Catholic schools for their children. If the buses disappear, how many children will be denied a Catholic education?

According to the Wisconsin State Constitution, every local school district must provide for the safe transportation of all children to school, both public and private. This measure was added in 1967, the days of Gaylord Nelson. People knew then, as we know today, that you can't educate a child if the child can't get to school safely. They also knew that the safest way to do this, is by school bus. School buses are the safest vehicles on the road - nearly eight times safer than traveling to school by car. The people of Wisconsin so valued our children's lives and education, that they didn't just pass a law, they amended our state constitution.

How to preserve busing • Attend and speak at the Madison School Board meeting to be held Monday, June 4, 7:15 p.m., at the Doyle Administration Building, 545 W. Dayton St., Madison. • Check the Web site: www.straphael.org for the latest information regarding meetings, grass roots training, and networking. • If you live in Madison: write, e-mail, and call the members of the school board and ask them to restore funding for busing. What do we say when we contact board members? Please restore funding for busing ALL of our children. All of our children need to get to school safely. Each year we pay thousands of dollars in school property taxes. All we are asking for is continuation of the state-mandated safe busing for our children. Don't put our children at risk. Please restore the busing. • If you live outside of Madison: contact the members of the education and education reform committees. If you don't know who your state representatives are, go to www.legis.state.wi.us and click on "Who represents me?" What do we say when we contact our legislators? We urge you not to support Representative Wasserman's bill to reduce funding for private school busing. All children deserve a safe ride to school. Parents who contract with buses to transport their children are charged per child, NOT per family. If they are charged per child then they should be contracted per child. Below is a list of the representatives on the Wisconsin State Assembly's Education and Education Reform committees. They can be contacted by e-mail by adding the representative's last name to Rep.surname@legis.wisconsin.gov unless otherwise noted. Education Committee Rep. Brett Davis (Chair) Rep. Scott Newcomer (Vice-Chair) Rep. Stephen Nass Rep. John Townsend Rep. Leah Vukmir Rep. John Nygren Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts Rep. Cory Mason Rep. Terry Van Akkeren (VanAkkeren) Rep. Kim Hixson Education Reform Committee Rep. Donald Pridemore (Chair) Rep. Stephen Nass (Vice-Chair) Rep. Leah Vukmir Rep. Jeffrey Wood Rep. Jim Ott (OttJ) Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts Rep. Peggy Krusick Rep. Annette Williams (Williamsa)

Now, due to a legal provision that was intended to be invoked only in exceptional circumstances, the Madison School District wants to remove busing for Catholic students and instead contract with our families to provided transportation. The Madison school board voted to eliminate busing and put the safety of our children at risk, simply to save money. They claim that it costs about $650 per year to bus each Catholic school student. Yet they are offering only $453 per student in contract to compensate for the loss of the buses. Is this fair? Is this just? Is this right?

The average home-owning family in Madison pays several thousand dollars a year in property taxes. Of that amount, an average of $2,500 goes directly to the Madison Metropolitan School District. In return, we ask that the district live up to its constitutional obligation and provide buses to ensure the safe transportation of our children to school. This is all we ask. We give $2,500 and in return ask for $650 in services. Now, they want to take that away. They will gladly take our money, but won't safely transport our children. Is this fair? Is this just? Is this right?

Right now, the eyes of ALL the public school districts in the state are fixed firmly on Madison. What will happen if this measure stands? What will happen next year, when the public schools in Waunakee, Monroe, Beloit, Janesville, Platteville, Sauk City, Lancaster, Darlington, Portage, Green Bay, LaCrosse, Milwaukee, and everywhere else in the state submit their budgets? What cuts will they propose? How many of our families statewide won't be able to go to Catholic schools because they have no way to get there?

Recently, state legislator Sheldon Wasserman proposed a bill that would reduce the contract amount offered to parents who must now transport their children to school rather than being provided a safe school bus ride. According to current state statute, if the school district does not provide a bus for private school students, it must contract with the parents for the transportation of each child. The family then uses this money to contract privately for a bus to take their children to school.

Mr. Wasserman wants to change the law so that a family with more than one child attending the same private school would receive only one payment per family, instead of one payment per child. This hurts families choosing private schools. If parents need a bus for their children, they must contract individually with the bus company. The bus company charges per child, not per family. Where will the family struggling to send their children to a Catholic school - the family that needs a school bus to get their children to that Catholic school - the family that dutifully pays their property taxes each year - where will they get the extra money to pay for the bus? Is this fair? Is this just? Is this right?

I have said before that Catholic education is the responsibility of ALL Catholics, not just those of parishes with schools. If you value Catholic education and believe in the mission of Catholic schools, you must get involved. We must all stand up for the right of our children to have a Catholic education. We must fight for the school districts to meet their constitutional obligation to provide safe busing for our students.

As always, thank you for reading and may God bless you.