The legislative session came to a close Tuesday
evening as the Senate adjourned for the 2013-14 regular legislative
session. The Assembly previously adjourned on March 20. Any bill
that did not pass both houses of
the legislature this session is now considered "dead."
There is speculation that the legislature may meet in special session
this summer to consider new voter ID legislation if the State Supreme
Court strikes down the current law. In the meantime, legislators
will begin campaigning for the 2014 election.
The following offices are up for re-election in November 2014:
- The Governor and Lieutenant
Governor
- Every State Representative
- State Senators from odd-numbered
districts
- The State Treasurer, Attorney
General and Secretary of State
- Every member of the U.S. House of
Representatives
Several
legislative highlights from the 2013-14 session include:
Failed to Pass
Deleting the State Treasurer:
Assembly
JointResolution 48 deletes the state treasurer from the state constitution
and
replaces the office
with the Lieutenant Governor on the Board of Commissioners of Public
Lands. The Assembly passed AJR 48 in early February and the Senate
Committee on Government Operation, Public Works and Telecommunications
held a hearing on AJR 48 on February 19 and voted to pass the measure on a party-line vote. However, the resolution failed to
pass the full Senate before session adjourned. Representative Schraa, the
bill's author, released the following
statement on AJR 48's failure to pass this session and
vowed to try again during the 2015-16 session.
Deleting the Secretary of State:
Assembly
Joint Resolution 85 eliminates the secretary of state from the
constitution and replaces the office with the state superintendent of
public instruction on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. No
action was taken on AJR 85 this session, and Representative Schraa, the
bill's author, says that he also plans to address this
proposal during the 2015-16 session since he ran
out of time during the 2013-14 session.
Cyber-Bullying:
Senate
Bill 184 /
Assembly
Bill 434 requires that the Department of Public Instruction's model policy for bullying include
cyber-bullying and appropriate responses to bullying that occurs off
school grounds. The bill also makes it illegal for a person to post a
threatening or obscene message where others can view it on the internet if
the intent is to harass, annoy, intimidate or offend
someone. In addition, a school district
official would be required to report serious bullying incidents to a law
enforcement agency. The Senate version unanimously passed out of
the Committee on Education last October but was not taken up by the
Senate, and no action was taken on the Assembly version.
Common Core/ Academic Standards:
Senate
Bill 619 and a substitute amendment to
Assembly
Bill 617 would have created
a Model Academic Standards Board charged with creating new state
standards in English, science, math and social studies to replace the
Common Core standards. The board would be comprised of members
chosen by the Governor, state superintendent of public instruction and the
majority and minority leaders in both houses of the legislature. The
Assembly version was scheduled to be voted on in committee in February but
the vote was postponed, and the Senate version received a public
hearing on March 6 but was never voted out of committee.
Student Data:
Assembly
Bill 618 creates a number of restrictions on the collection and
sharing of student data by DPI. It also increases transparency on
what types of data are being collected. The bill was passed by the
Assembly in February on a party line vote, but was never approved by the
Senate.
Technology Education Grants: Representative Fred Clark (D-Baraboo)
is circulating a bill for co-sponsorship to create three education
technology grant programs to be administered by the Department of
Administration (DOA). The draft bill would also requires the Department of
Public Instruction to create and operate a program known as the Wisconsin
Digital Learning Collaborative to provide digital learning resources to
public schools, charter schools and private schools as well as CESAs and
public libraries. Under the draft bill, DOA may also provide a subsidy to
an educational agency that obtains broadband
services from a provider who is not participating
in the TEACH program if the educational agency does not have physical
access to a data line or video link provided under the TEACH program. A
bill was not formally introduced before the legislature adjourned.
Approved by Both Houses of the Legislature
180 Day Requirement:
Senate
Bill 589 /
Assembly
Bill 749 eliminate the 180 day requirement for a school year and
instead bases eligibility for funding from DPI solely on hours of direct
pupil instruction. The bill also allows schools to receive state aid
for a portion of summer class enrollment and interim session enrollment
and funding for online courses taken during the
summer by 7th and 8th graders. SB 589 was
unanimously approved by both the Assembly and Senate. It now goes to the
Governor for his signature.
Internet Account Privacy:
Assembly
Bill 218 /
Senate
Bill 223 protects the privacy of personal internet accounts by
prohibiting employers, educational institutions or landlords from
requesting the password for, or viewing personal internet accounts of
applicants or employees unless available on a public domain or accessed on
a device paid for by the employer, educational institution or landlord.
The Senate approved the SB 223 in November and the Assembly passed
it in January. It now awaits the Governor's signature.
School Accountability: During the final Assembly floor
session, 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 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
