The Joint Finance Committee voted 11-4 along party-lines on June 13 to pass a Department of Public Instruction (DPI) budget that provides an additional $778.5 million in state funds to schools ($837.6 million all funds).
Early Literacy and Reading Improvement:The Committee voted 11-4 to place $50 million GPR in the Committee’s supplemental appropriation to fund a literacy program.The Governor’s budget provided $10 million GPR per year to create two new appropriations, including $9.1 million annually to contract with and train literacy coaches to implement a comprehensive program of trainings for educators to improve early literacy and reading outcomes for Wisconsin Students.
Common School Fund Reestimate: :The Committee voted 11-4 to re-estimate Common School Fund revenue by an additional $7 million per year for an estimated $52 million in aids per year.
Shared School District Services: The Committee voted 11-4 to place $5 million in their supplemental appropriation for shared school district services. The Governor's budget did not include funding for shared services.
Wisconsin Reading Corps (657): The Committee did not approve the Governor’s budget proposal to provide an additional $1 million in 2023-24 and $2 million in 2024-25 to support literacy tutoring services provided through the Wisconsin Reading Corps.
The Literacy Lab (657): The Committee did not approve the Governor’s proposal to provide $75,000 in 2023-24 and $1.3 million in 2024-25 to the Literacy Lab, to provide evidence-based literacy intervention programs in public schools located in Milwaukee and Racine. The organization places trained full-time literacy tutors in elementary schools.
Reach out and Read: The Committee voted 11-4 to provide $500,000 in 2023-24 for Reach out and Read, Inc. to support the integration of books and reading into pediatric care. The Governor’s budget provided $250,000 per year to Reach out and Read, Inc.
Public Library Aid: The Committee voted 11-4 to provide an additional $2 million SEG in 2023-24 and $4 million SEG in 2024-25 to public libraries.The Governor’s budget provided an additional $7 million SEG per year. In 2022-23, public library aid totaled $20,013,100 SEG from the universal service fund
Recollection Wisconsin: The Committee voted 11-4 to approve the Governor’s proposal to provide $150,000 SEG in 2023-24 and $300,000 SEG in 2024-25 for Recollection Wisconsin and to require the State Superintendent to annually distribute the funding to Wisconsin Library Services, Inc to support the digitization of historic materials in public libraries throughout the state.
BadgerLink and Newsline for the Blind: The Committee voted 11-4 to approve the Governor’s budget proposal to provide an additional $104,000 SEG in 2023-24 and $203,000 SEG in 2024-25 to maintain the current level of services provided through BadgerLink and Newsline for the Blind.
Library Services Contracts: The Committee voted 11-4 to approve the Governor’s budget proposal to provide an additional $29,800 SEG in 2024-25 to fully fund the cost of the statutorily-required library service contracts. DPI contracts with the Milwaukee Public Library, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center.
