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.