La Crosse Central teacher Havlicek on cellphones’ impact on kids, voucher school costs, referendums

Central High School teacher John Havlicek in studio discussing, in his over 30 years, how kids have changed because of cellphones. We also hit on the $4.5 billion state surplus, as Gov. Tony Evers was in La Crosse on the budget, and school funding in a variety of ways, including whether it leads to better student outcomes.

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We started, though, with Havlicek teaching Spanish and how or whether that’s changed of his three decades. 

After that, we got into the state’s $4.5 billion budget surplus, how Gov. Evers was in town for a budget listening session and Havlicek’s takes for attending.

At the midway point, we got into school funding — as voters in the La Crosse School District just passed a $53.5 million referendum to build and upgrade elementary schools — and how much the voucher school system costs taxpayers and the district.

We then got into healthcare for just a bit, before discussing a listener question on how more money means better students — or better student outcomes. 

And that led into a conversation about how kids have changed in Havlicek’s time in schools with the evolution of cellphones and the negative impact they have on things as simple as interacting with each other.