Joint Finance Committee Votes on Education Budget, Federal K-12 Funds

The Joint Finance Committee met to vote on education-related portions of the 2021-23 state budget on Thursday afternoon, including the Department of Public Instruction budget. The Committee voted to increase state funding for K-12 education by roughly $128 million for the biennium, about $87 million of which is going toward special education. Governor Evers had proposed a total increase of roughly $1.5 billion for the biennium. 

In addition, the Committee voted to modify the Department of Public Instruction’s plan for the use of $1.5 billion in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) dollars expected to be received by the state. The Committee's plan provides additional aid for schools that provided in-person instruction in 2020-21 and creates a $5 million literacy program. Click here for a full breakdown of the plan.

According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the state budget needs to provide an additional  $387 million to K-12 education in order to meet maintenance of effort requirements for the federal ESSER dollars.

The Committee will next be in session on Wednesday, June 2, to vote on the Departments of Natural Resources; Workforce Development; Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; and Safety and Professional Services budgets. 

Items of interest to WEMTA acted on by the Committee today include:

Department of Public Instruction--Administrative and Other Funding 

Common School Fund Estimate: The motion adopted by the Committee estimates that Common School Fund aids will be $42 million in 2021-22 and $45 million in 2022-23. This item does not reflect a funding commitment. It is simply an estimate of how much the Common School Fund will distribute to schools in the coming biennium. 

Recollection Wisconsin: The Committee did not provide funding for Recollection Wisconsin. Governor Evers had proposed providing $150,000 in 2021-22 and $300,000 in 2022-23 for Recollection Wisconsin to be distributed to Wisconsin Library Services, Inc (WiLs). Recollection Wisconsin is a consortium administered by WiLs with the Wisconsin Historical Society, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Madison, the Milwaukee Public Library, Marquette University and DPI. Its purpose is to collect digital historical resources from Wisconsin libraries, archives, museums and historical societies. 

WISELearn:  The Committee approved Governor Evers’ proposal to reduce funding for WISELearn by $150,000 in 2021-22 and by $200,000 in 2022-23. 

Public Library Aid:  The Committee approved Governor Evers’ proposal to increase public library funding by $2.5 million in 2021-22 and $4 million in 2022-23. 

Library Service Contracts: The Committee voted to approve Governor Evers’ proposal to provide an additional $12,900 in 2021-22 and an additional $25,300 in 2022-23 to fully fund the costs of the library service contracts. The contracts support: the Milwaukee Public Library; the University of Wisconsin-Madison; the Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library; and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center. 

Wisconsin Reading Corps: The Committee voted to add an additional $300,000 in 2021-22 and an additional $1.3 million in 2022-23 for the Wisconsin Reading Corps. This will increase total funding for the program to $2 million in 2022-23. 

Department of Public Instruction--General School Aids and Revenue Limits 

Transfer to the Budget Stabilization Fund: The Committee voted to transfer $350 million from the state’s general fund to the budget stabilization fund. These funds could be used to increase funding for K-12 schools if approved by the Legislature through separate legislation. 

General School Aids:  The Committee did not provide additional funding for general school aids.  Governor Evers’ budget would have provided an additional $221 million in 2021-22 and an additional $391 million in 2022-23 for general school aids. 

Revenue Limit Adjustment: The Committee did not provide an increase to the revenue limit. The Governor had proposed setting the per pupil revenue limit adjustments at $200 in 2021-22 and $204 in 2022-23 and restoring the inflationary adjustments starting in 2023-24. 

Per Pupil Aid: The Committee did not provide any additional general per pupil aid. However, they did provide $2.5 million per year for supplemental per pupil aid, which is estimated to provide roughly $3 per student in 2020-21.  The Governor had proposed providing an additional $31 million in 2021-22 and an additional $29.6 million in 2022-23 for general per pupil aid. This would have increased the per pupil aid payments from $742 to $750 per student in 2021-22 and provided an additional $75 per student payment for economically disadvantaged students. 

Two-Thirds Funding: The Committee did not approve the Governor’s proposal to restore the requirement that the state fund two-thirds of K-12 partial school revenues. 

Department of Public Instruction--Categorical Aid

Out-of-School-Time Program Grants: The Committee did not create an out-of-school-time grant program.  Governor Evers had proposed creating a new, $20 million grant program to support high-quality after-school programs and other out-of-school-time programs that serve school-age children. 

Computer Science Licensure Grant Program:The Committee did not create a computer science licensure grant program. Governor Evers had proposed providing $750,000 in 2022-23 to create a new grant program for school districts to provide assistance to eligible employees for the purpose of obtaining a license or permit to teach computer science. 

Contact Your State Senator and State Representative in Support of Ed Tech PD!

The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee is voting on the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) budget on Thursday, May 27 at 11 a.m. 

WEMTA's DPI budget priorities include:

• Creating a new $7 million educational technology professional development grant program to replace the TEACH Educational Technology Training Grants, which were eliminated in the last budget 

• Expanding BadgerLink to include new statewide licenses for SoundzAbounds and iClipArt, which were eliminated along with state funding for the Wisconsin Media Lab 

If you support these items, you can contact your state representative and state senator and ask them to support investments in educational technology professional development and BadgerLink in the state budget.

• Provide real-life examples from the past year that showcase the importance of and the need for state investments in educational technology 

• Let them know that there is not currently a dedicated state funding source for educational technology professional development due to the elimination of both the TEACH Educational Technology Training Grants and the Personal Electronic Computing Device Grants 

• Let them know how your school library program could benefit from state funding for educational technology professional development 

How to Contact Your Lawmakers

• You can find out who represents you on the Wisconsin State Legislature's homepage using the "who are my legislators" toolbar: https://legis.wisconsin.gov/ 

Joint Finance Committee Delays Taking Action on Broadband, Will Vote on DPI Budget May 27

 The Joint Finance Committee was in session today to act on portions of the proposed 2021-23 state budget. They had planned to vote on the broadband provisions in the Public Service Commission budget, but delayed taking action on those items.

Committee Co-Chairs Senator Markelin and Representative Born said that they chose to delay voting on the broadband items after the Governor's announcement that he plans to use $100 million in federal stimulus funds to support broadband expansion.

"The Governor has stated that the details of [the $100 million] will be available on June 1, so we believe it's prudent to wait until after that to take up the Public Service Commission and to act on the broadband expansion," said Senator Marklein. "Obviously it's an important topic to me and an important topic to many members of our caucus."

The Committee will be in session again on May 27 to vote on the Department of Public Instruction budget.

Governor Evers puts $100 million of federal stimulus funds toward broadband

Governor Evers announced on May 18 that he is using $100 million of federal stimulus funds received by the state for broadband expansion grants. The Public Service Commission will begin accepting grant applications starting June 1, 2021 with a due date of July 27, 2021. 

Governor Evers has indicated that this is the first batch of broadband initiatives that he plans to fund with federal stimulus dollars. 

The $100 million in federal funds are in addition to the nearly $200 million in broadband investments included in the Governor's 2021-23 state budget, which the Joint Finance Committee will vote on May 20.  

Key State Budget Vote on Broadband May 20!

The Joint Finance Committee will meet on Thursday, May 20 at 11 a.m. to vote on the Public Service Commission (PSC) items in the state budget related to Broadband. 

The following items from the PSC broadband budget will be taken up on Thursday:

• Increasing funding and staff for the statewide broadband office by $496,300 for the biennium 

• Broadband expansion grant funding of $151.7 million for the biennium 

• Broadband line extension grant program funding of $5.4 million for the biennium 

• Broadband connector program and planning grants funding of $600,000 for the biennium 

• Broadband service reporting requirements for internet service providers to help with broadband mapping efforts

If you support these items, contact your state senator and state representative to let them know how broadband expansion would benefit you and your students! 

ACT NOW To Get Federal Stimulus Funds for Your School Library!

Congress passed a series of stimulus bills related to COVID-19 during 2020 and 2021. Several of these bills provided significant funding to Wisconsin school districts to help them respond to the pandemic. It is critical that we advocate for strong school library programs at the local level! 

 

We break down the opportunities for you to advocate at the school district level for federal stimulus funds to be used to help your school library program. You can view a PDF copy of this guide here. 

Possible projects that could receive stimulus funding include: 

• Expanded hours 
• Reconfiguring physical spaces 
• Summer literacy programs 
• Purchasing devices and hardware

Helpful Advocacy Resources

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has created recommendations for how schools can use the federal stimulus funds, which you can view here. There are specific recommendations for school libraries and digital learning. 

American Library Association: The ALA has created a detailed resource page to help you advocate for your school library at the local level! It includes a sample letter that you can send to your principal, superintendent and school board! They have also prepared this helpful list of ideas on how school libraries can use federal stimulus funds. 

Available Funding Sources

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund: Congress provided dedicated funding to K-12 schools through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSR) fund in three of the stimulus bills. Most recently, the American Rescue Plan Act provided $1.5 billion to Wisconsin K-12 schools, 90% of which will be passed directly on to local school districts. 

What the Funds Can Be Used For: ESSR funds can be used for a variety of activities including (but not limited to!):

• Providing technology for online learning to all students
• Purchasing educational technology (including hardware, software and connectivity) for students
• Summer learning, summer enrichment or comprehensive afterschool programs

What Your School District Is Getting: A break down of how much each Wisconsin school district has received from the ESSR in each of the three stimulus bills can be found on page 11 of this document. 

E-Rate Emergency Connectivity Fund:  The American Rescue Plan Act established a $7.1 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund as part of the E-Rate program. The FCC is required to reimburse 100% of eligible equipment expenses. 

What Funds Can be Used For: Eligible purchases include: Wi-Fi hotspots (including hot spots for buses and bookmobiles); Modems; Routers; Devices that combine a modem and router and connected devices (laptops, tablets, etc.). Purchases can support devices used by students and school staff off-campus! The FCC released guidance on this program on May 10, 2021. You can view the full rules here. 

What Your School District is Getting: Nothing--unless you apply for these funds!

How to Apply For Funds: The FCC has said they want the application process to be quick and easy! The FCC has directed the Universal Service Administrative Company to open a 45-day application window as soon as possible. During the initial application window, schools and libraries may apply for funding for eligible purchases made between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. 

Institute for Museum and Library Services:  The American Rescue Plan Act provided a total of $200 million for the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services is required to provide 89% of the funds to State Library Administrative Agencies. It is not yet clear how much Wisconsin is receiving under this provision.