No one should be surprised at the Milwaukee Public Schools speculation about dissolving itself. The suggestion, which came and went in the space of a week, is only the latest cry for help.

It made big news because MPS, being a big district, has a big effect, yet there is no essential difference between MPS and Wausaukee, or the push by citizens in Caledonia to separate from Racine Unified. All are symptoms of the festering school funding issue. An MPS board member said last week that the district will be broke in about three years under the current law.

What we have is the result of a compromise between former Gov. Tommy Thompson and the Legislature. The state imposed levy limits on school districts, allowed school boards to impose a minimum contract settlement (the qualified economic offer), and promised to fund two-thirds of public education costs. That two-thirds commitment was less than firm over the years, and combined with the levy limits and soaring costs, especially for health care, has put districts in a financial bind unless they have convinced voters to allow them to exceed the state limits.

This is happening in Wausaukee, north of Green Bay in rural Marinette County. The school board there voted this summer to dissolve the district because of financial difficulties. In August, voters agreed to exceed levy limits for 10 years, but in the meantime the dissolution process is in motion. A special state panel will rule sometime before Jan. 15.

Even though the economy is poor and school and state revenues will be severely affected by that, this is precisely the time for the Legislature to address school funding because we need to make sure that every penny is used wisely. Nothing should be omitted from consideration, including the option of allowing school districts to radically reorganize themselves if they find a better way of using resources or decide to again try some form of decentralized decision making, as some districts did in the 1980s and 1990s.

MPS may not have purposely timed its action for the weeks before a general election, but it couldn't have picked a better time. The question of school funding and educational quality is a fair one to put to our would-be legislators. Many will probably fall back on stock slogans, but some may germinate a few good ideas which can be nurtured into real reforms.

That is a cause which we should all take up because neither our bank accounts nor our economy can long withstand the status quo.