Building on Victory - Next for CAST
Join with CAST to raise school finance reform to top of the agenda!

The referendum passed - thanks to all for your support and hard work! Now it's time to turn our energy to school finance reform!

Without changes in the way Wisconsin finances schools, Madison and other districts will face a future of continued budget cuts and divisive referendum battles. Our local state legislators supported the referendum and support fair funding for schools. We need them to put school finance reform on the top of their agenda for the next state budget.

Please join CAST on Wednesday, Dec. 3rd 6:30pm at Hawthorne Library and help plan an event at the State Capitol in early January to meet our legislators and ask for their leadership.

Let's plan a creative and constructive action that involves everybody-- kids, parents, educators, grandparents. Bring your ideas!

Hawthorne Library is located at 2707 E. Washington Ave., 246-4548, See  for this link for directions.

If you have questions or cannot join us on Dec. 3rd, but have an idea or want to be part of the event in January, please contact Jill Jacklitz at madisoncast@sbcglobal.net

Community and Schools Together

"Landslide," -- Thank You and Congratulations
The voters of Madison turned out in overwhelming numbers to demonstrate their support for quality public schools.  We are a community that values education!

The Capital Times declares "Madison school referendum passes in landslide."  The Wisconsin State Journal reports "Madison schools referendum passes by wide margin."  Full election results can be found on the County Clerk site. 

Thank you to all who worked hard on the campaign, supported the referendum and voted to keep our schools and community strong.

Passing this referendum was essential, but the work goes on.  Continued engagement with our schools and our district will make the Partnership Plan a reality and help make our schools even better.

The way Wisconsin funds education is still broken.  As a partner in the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools, CAST will be working hard to fix this, to make sure that the resources are there to provide every child in Wisconsin the education they need and deserve.


New from CAST
New on the web site is an up-to-date Endorsement Page, including a letter signed by 49 local elected officials.

The Press/Media Page has also been updated, with videos, a radio interview, many editorials and opinion pieces, more do-it-yourself Advocacy material, and all the latest news reports.

Check out the district referendum pages also.

Referendum ballot language can be found here; for voting information visit the Dane County League of Women Voters site .

More updates coming soon.

The Capital Times says "Vote 'yes' for..Schools"
The lead editorial in the October 23, 2008 issue of the Capital Times makes a strong case for voting yes on the school referendum, supporting our schools as an obligation to our children and their futures, and fixing the broken state school finance system.  Here is an excerpt:

The bottom line is always the same: doing right by the coming generation.

But the reality is not as simple as that.

This is not a moment at which to be satisfied with schools that do well by American standards.

That coming generation of which we speak will have to compete in a global economy where it will not matter whether schools in Wisconsin are superior to those in Indiana. What will matter is that young people educated in Madison are prepared to hold there own against young people educated in London, Frankfurt, Delhi and Shanghai.

And the only way that will happen is if the Madison Metropolitan School District has the resources required not merely to maintain but to expand upon its current strengths.

Thanks to great teachers, engaged parents, serious students and generous local taxpayers, MMSD ranks ahead of most urban school districts in the nation. Even in times of painfully cutting, quality has, for the most part, been maintained.

But there is no resting on laurels in this contest.

Heading toward the 2009-2010 school year, MMSD faces the threat of an $8.1 million deficit. Additional deficits of $4.4 million in 2010-2011 and $4.3 million in 2011-12 are projected.

The deficit is not the fault of the school district's administrators. The state of Wisconsin continues to impose dysfunctional structural controls on how districts manage their finances, while at the same time failing to meet promises to provide adequate funding for education of students with special needs and other required programs...

The only vote that makes sense is "yes."

It is essential for everyone who is heading to the polls on Nov. 4 to decide the presidential race between two men who say education is a priority -- as well as every voter who casts an early ballot -- and to make the extra effort to find the referendum question and mark that "yes" box.

Wisconsin State Journal Says "Vote Yes."
In a October 19, 2008 lead editorial, the Wisconsin State Journal urges voters to approve the November 4 school referendum.  Here is an excerpt:

Making the Madison School District's job even harder are state laws that essentially require districts to spend at a faster rate than they are allowed to collect revenue. To balance its books, the Madison district has to trim programs and personnel each year. Or it can go to referendum to ask voters for more money.

For years, trimming fat in the school budget was a good exercise for the Madison district. But after more than a decade of dealing with a state-created budget gap, the district is nearing a breaking point.

Without the Nov. 4 referendum, direct and core services for school children will suffer.

Madison should vote "yes" on Nov. 4.



About Community and Schools Together, CAST
Welcome to the Community and Schools Together, or CAST, website. CAST is a grass roots organization of parents, educators, and community members. We at CAST are dedicated to educating the citizens of Madison about school funding referenda in the Madison Metropolitan School District. We welcome your ideas and involvement as we strive for the successful passage of school funding referenda.

CAST urges you as a taxpayer to educate yourself on the issues and challenges facing our public schools. We want to provide you with information from sources throughout the community and state so that you can better understand the needs of our schools.

If you believe in quality public schools for all as an integral part of our democracy, join us in working to assure our schools have adequate resources. We look forward to sharing a positive message about the future of the MMSD.