Republicans Reach School Accountability Compromise

Early Thursday night, Representative Steineke (R-Kaukauna) announced that he and Senator Paul Farrow (R-Pewaukee) had reached an agreement on the proposed school accountability legislation. Representative Steineke agreed to forgo his amendment that would have created sanctions for poor performing schools and instead pass a clean version of Senate Bill 286, a  minor school accountability bill authored by Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon), which made it through the Senate in February and requires choice and charter schools to report student data beginning in the 2015-16 school year.  Steineke officially withdrew his amendment during floor debate late last night and the Assembly unanimously passed SB 286; it now goes to the Governor for his signature.

Steineke and Farrow wrote a letter to Governor Walker telling him they will convene a working group upon adjournment of the 2013-14 legislative session to craft a comprehensive school accountability bill that they hope to pass during the 2015-16 session. According to the letter, the working group will:

·         Build a more comprehensive school report card

·         Develop a formula to determine proper weighting of the Report Card System

·         Develop a series of sanctions for schools that fail to meet expectations

·         Develop a series of incentives for schools that exceed expectations

·         Develop a process for schools to interact and share best practices

Chippewa Herald: Republicans reach deal on school accountability bill