Here & Now

Stevens Point Mayor Talks Software Controversy

Frederica Freyberg:

The Stevens Point company that lost the state bid for the 15 million dollar Education Services contract to a Minnesota company says it will appeal the decision. Skyward, Incorporated provides software to schools that tracks things like grades and attendance. It serves roughly half of Wisconsin’s school districts currently. But the new contract goes to the out-of-state company that will be the sole provider of those services to Wisconsin schools. The mayor of Stevens Point, Andrew Halverson, is not pleased with the contract decision and the potential loss of jobs. He joins us now from that city. Mayor, thanks very much for doing so.

Andrew Halverson:

Frederica, thank you and good evening.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what was your initial reaction when you learned that the home-grown company would not in fact be awarded this contract?

Andrew Halverson:

We were shocked. I think, quite honestly the shock is also really derived from the time, of course, that DOA released the press release. I think it’s very clear that when you release a press release at 5:00 on a Friday afternoon, there’s a clear reason you normally do that. I was having dinner with my wife, actually, at a local restaurant and I received a text from a Skyward employee and that’s exactly how I found out. Unfortunately, the same fashion that many of the King family found out as well. Home-grown, I’m very glad you said that, Frederica, because it is through the toils of the King family that the successes of Skyward can even be talked about here on your program today. For over 30 years this company has worked diligently to provide a superior software product to more than half of all Wisconsin school districts, and a presence of up to 80% of the school districts. And that home-grown success is something that we hope the state will embrace and understand the obvious unfounded and very, very poor decision that this will mean.

Frederica Freyberg:

What does it mean, this decision, for your city and the region?

Reed Hall:

Well, I think it means a variety of things. I think it sends a very strong message to a lot of Wisconsin entrepreneurs that, if you work hard for 30 years, at some point, understand that the state of Wisconsin may very well write you a one-way ticket to Florida, or Texas. That's one thing it means. The other thing it means is intense economic loss. For the future, obviously, jobs' creation of a company this special could mean, not only to Stevens Point, but really all of central Wisconsin. As you look at how a state should embrace economic development, every state agency from DPI to the DOA to the DNR needs to have as part of it an economic development focus. And when you can prioritize Wisconsin jobs and obviously do what’s best for the taxpayer, at a time when you can limit your conversion to only half of Wisconsin school districts as opposed to nearly 90%, I think intervention from a Department of Common Sense would make very, very much sense with this tragedy.

Frederica Freyberg:

How much jobs current and potential could be lost?

Andrew Halverson:

Well, when you look at the success of a company like Skyward, that has grown, adding 40 to 60 jobs annually for the last several years, swelling to over 350 nationwide. This is a company that we need to embrace as a state and as a local municipality. High-tech software companies providing an average compensation package of nearly $80,000, with, I might add, the top ten managers out of that equation, are the kind of jobs that we should be creating. We’ve got a Republican administration that’s talking about creating new jobs statewide. We have a Democratic state superintendent of public instruction. Both of those chief elected officials, respectively, are equally to blame in my opinion for where the situation is. I think we have an opportunity to embrace Wisconsin businesses, to do what’s best for the taxpayer ,which is at a minimum, look at a multi-vendor environment, which is clearly the national best practice right now when you look at other states that are out there. Numerous states are converting as we speak from a single vendor solution to a multi-vendor solution. Or at least two providers. I again, focus on Skyward as one of the best examples. They are two preferred providers for the Texas Education Association as we speak, well as the state of Washington. So we’ve got a proven track record. But this and many of our other supporters are not saying that we want this contract single-handedly to go to Skyward. What we really want is a fair playing field that still prioritizes local control for school districts. And that's giving school districts and opportunity. The free market for 30 years has said, through school district choice, that Skyward is the obvious better software package for many school districts throughout the state. The other unfortunate part of this is when you look at the total cost of implementation, you talk to school districts like Eau Claire, La Crosse and Stevens Point respectively, the unfunded conversion cost that school districts will experience with this, just those three school districts, is in excess of $1.7 million. Now if those are only three school districts, what is the unfunded requirement for conversion statewide for this decision? I think it’s tremendous. And it’s one of the hidden costs that obviously local school districts will be asked to bear by this poor decision.

Frederica Freyberg:

So calling this a poor decision on your part, and kind of blaming it equally on both sides of the aisle here, what happened?

Andrew Halverson:

I think what happened is you have a situation where the DPI needs a bit of respect and understanding, is that their idea was to funnel information more efficiently. No one can blame the DPI for trying to do that. They have federal reporting requirements. They need this information in an efficient fashion. The governor wanted to make sure that education, in essence, gets better. So the theory behind this is one where, quite honestly, you can see how we got to this point. But unfortunately, it’s the small distortions along the way, which has now stacked the deck against a Wisconsin company. I think that's the point of intervention. Is that, the free market has said, student information systems are important. Skyward makes sense. But you have this unwavering idea that a single vendor really is the only answer, and that’s clearly not the other answer, when you analyze other states nationwide right now. That’s really what Skyward is looking to make sure is sent in terms of a message. Taxpayers and any parent in any school district that is currently served by Skyward will be affected by this. Just Skyward’s 51% is in excess of 1 million people affected by this conversion. So the impact is very extreme.

Frederica Freyberg:

What has Skyward told you whether it in fact would pull up stakes and leave the state if its appeal for the contract fails?

Andrew Halverson:

The founder, Jim King, has made it very clear as the chairman and the owner of the company that there is no question, that is not a threat. The corporate headquarters will be moved if this cannot be changed. That’s a fact. I also can’t blame Jim. I’ll tell you a quick story. I used to meet with Jim very often as many other larger businesses and I have conversations about economic development. Jim would lay out a spread sheet that represented concentric circles of buying. He led by example to support local businesses, to support Wisconsin businesses. The tragedy of this is that his very home state is not making the decision to embrace his efforts and the hundreds of jobs that he’s created along the way. That’s not a threat. That corporate headquarters will be moved, along with numerous executives, and potentially many of the jobs that are here in Stevens Point right now. Frederica, I will also say this. It isn’t necessarily just about the short-term loss today, what is. It’s about what can be with a company that is growing like this. It’s about the future loss of jobs' creation that we really find the greater tragedy of this whole situation.

Frederica Freyberg:

Mayor, thank you very much. We will be watching that appeal. Thanks again, out of Stevens Point.

Andrew Halverson:

Very good. Thank you for your time.