Capitol Update, January 17

State Treasurer

State Representative Michael Schraa (R-Oshkosh) announced Wednesday that he will be making changes to his proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the offices of Secretary of State and State Treasurer due to concerns raised by other legislators and legislative council. Schraa intends to amend his current resolution, AJR 48, to only delete the State Treasurer position, and he is currently circulating a bill for co-sponsorship to delete the Secretary of State position. By separating the two proposals, Schraa says he can avoid any constitutional issues relating to the referendum process.

Representative Schraa: Schraa renews call for legislature to eliminate Treasurer, Secretary of State

Common Core

The Senate Select Committee for Review of the Common Core Standards Initiative met on Thursday where they discussed their findings from studying the standards.  The chairman of the committee, Senator Paul Farrow (R-Pewaukee) will be creating a final report.  The committee did not vote on any recommendations.

Channel3000: Senate committee discusses Common Core changes
Sen Farrow: Senate Common Core committee concludes hearings

State of the State

Governor Walker will hold his State of the State address next Wednesday, January 22, during which he intends to unveil additional income or property tax cuts due to the state's $1 billion surplus. 

WJFW: State of the State will focus almost exclusively on job initiatives and training.

Capitol

The Department of Administration has reopened the first floor doors of the Capitol building for regular use for the first time in 12 years.  After the attacks on September 11, 2001, the ground floor doors became the only primary entrance and exit, and the first floor doors, located at the top of the steps, remained locked for security purposes.

Department of Administration: DOA Reopens First Floor Capitol Doors

New Representative

Representative Ken Skowronski (R-Franklin) was sworn in as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly on Tuesday.  He won the special election for the 82^nd district last month.  There are no longer any vacant seats in the Assembly.

Representative Vos: Welcoming Rep. Ken Skowronski to Assembly
Representative Skowronski: Rep. Ken Skowronski Takes the Oath of Office

Governor’s Race

State Senator Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) has announced that she will not be running for Governor this year.  Speculation had increased in the past couple of months that she would run, but after receiving a severe broken arm in a car accident last month she says that her recovery is not at the point where she is able to run.  Senator Vinehout previously tried her hand at running for Governor during the recall election.

Marcia Mercedes Perkins will be running for Governor as a Democrat, which will force a democratic primary election.  Wisconsin elections records show that she registered to run on Monday, and that she also filed for the 2010 governor’s race.  Little is known about her.

La Crosse Tribune: Kathleen Vinehout says crash injuries prevent run for Democratic nomination for governor
Vinehout for Wisconsin: Senator Vinehout Statement on Not Running for Governor This Year
Green Bay Press Gazette: Mystery Democrat jumps into governor’s race

Retirement

Representative Dan LeMahieu (R-Cascade) has announced that he will be retiring at the end of the session.  He has represented the 59^th district in the Assembly for the past 12 years.

Representative LeMahieu: Rep. LeMahieu Announces Retirement

https://www.iste.org/about-iste/advocacy

WEMTA is excited to announce the launch of  ISTE's new Advocacy Network.  The new network will include many new features including an Advocacy Toolkit, the Voices Carry Blog, policy news and information, US State profiles, connections to social networks and the opportunity to tell your digital learning stories- Join Today! 

Capitol Update, January 10

Charter Schools

The Assembly Committee on Urban Education held a public hearing on Thursday for Assembly Bill 549 regarding charter schools in Wisconsin.  Representative Kooyenga (R-Brookfield), the bill’s author, stated in his testimony that he introduced the bill because Wisconsin is in need of educational reform.  He feels that charter schools will shake up the "status quo" and have proven success, using Milwaukee Public Schools as evidence.

One of the biggest changes proposed by the bill would be to increase the entities that are able to establish an independent charter school.  Currently only UW-Milwauke, UW-Parkside, Milwaukee Area Technical College and the city of Milwaukee are able to do so.  The bill expands that to all four-year UW institutions, two-year UW campuses, CESAs and technical college district boards.  Representative Kooyenga argues that this will create more competition and innovation in education leading to better opportunities for students.  The increased opportunities also occur because the bill removes the restriction that students can only attend a charter school located within their school district.

Representative Kooyenga stated that the other most important part of the bill is that it will allow high performing charter schools to automatically replicate and any of the authorizing entities that they approach must contract with them.  The charter school must have testing scores 10 percentage points higher than the public schools in the district in order to qualify for this.

Other notable changes as a result of the bill include eliminating district-run charter schools and relabeling them, allowing independent charter schools to have their own governing board and allowing independent charter schools to establish their own method of evaluating teachers and principals.

Opponents of the bill are concerned that it will lead to decreased funding for public schools, potentially resulting in increased property taxes, and that it takes away local control of schools within a district.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Independent charter school debate highlights ideological divide

Wisconsin Public Radio: Bill Gives More Institutions Power To Authorize Charter Schools

Rural Schools

Representative Mandy Wright (D-Wausau) has announced that she is currently drafting a bill that would grant up to $10,000 in student loan repayments for new teachers who stay in rural areas.  The bill intends to help attract and retain teachers in rural school districts where the salaries are typically lower than in larger districts due to differences in their tax base and enrollment numbers.  She hopes to have the bill introduced and voted on this session.

WEAU: New bill would reward teachers for staying in rural districts

State of the State

Governor Walker has announced that he will be delivering his annual State of the State address on Wednesday, January 22 at 7:00 PM.  He will outline what his agenda is for the coming year.

Office of the Governor: Governor Scott Walker Requests Joint Session of the Legislature for 2014 State of the State Address

2014 Legislative Preview

The legislature will reconvene on January 14 to begin the final stretch of the 2013-14 legislative session, which officially ends on April 3. 

Republican leaders have identified a package of bills meant to address heroin abuse, additional charter school legislation, and the bills authored by the Speaker’s Task Force on Mental Health as their top priorities for the last few months of the legislative session. Democrats say they will continue to work on economic issues, including student loan relief and tax reform. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he would like to look at additional tax cuts if the state’s surplus increases in the Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s January budget projections.

Also on the horizon is the November 2014 election.

Democrat Mary Burke announced her candidacy for governor in October and State Senator John Lehman (D-Racine) is the first Democratic candidate in the race for lieutenant governor.  State Senator Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) is considering a run for governor as well but has yet to make an official announcement.

Governor Walker indicated in several year-end interviews that he would like to eliminate the state income tax and it appears he intends to make it a campaign issue. 

In addition to the governor’s race, every member of the state Assembly, state senators from odd-numbered districts, the Secretary of State, State Treasurer and Attorney General will be up for re-election in 2014.

Assembly Speaker Vos year-end interview

Assembly Minority Leader Barca year-end interview

Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald year-end interview

Senate Minority Leader Larson year-end interview

Marshfield News Herald: Legislature could look at more tax cuts in 2014

Capitol Update December 20

Governor’s Race

Governor Walker has not officially announced yet that he will run for re-election, but he did say on Monday that “I don’t see any way I don’t run for governor again.”  This statement came as result of rumors that Governor Walker will not be running for re-election, and will instead focus on a 2016 presidential run.

Wisconsin Public Radio: Walker Dismisses Rumors That He Won’t Seek Re-Election

Assembly Special Election

A special election for the vacant 82^nd Assembly District seat was held on Tuesday.  Republican Ken Skowronski beat out Democrat John Hermes in the election.  The special election was needed as a result of former Republican Representative Jeff Stone accepting a position as head of the state Public Service Commission’s water division.

WKOW: Skowronski wins special Assembly election

School District Health Insurance Study

Representative John Jagler (R-Watertown) and Senator Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) have introduced Assembly Bill 579 and Senate Bill 438, which would require the State Superintendent to annually collect detailed information about the cost of health insurance benefits from each school district in the state.

Under the bill, the state superintendent shall include in his or her report, for each school district, the total health care benefit cost incurred by the school district and the average of the health care benefit cost incurred, by the school district, per school district employee for all school district employees that receive health care benefits from the school district.

AB 579 has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Labor and SB 438 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Education.

Biometric Data Collection

Representative Tom Larson (R-Colfax) has introduced a bill which prohibits a school from collecting biometric data, such as fingerprint identification or retinal scanning, from a student unless a parent or guardian has provided written consent.  The bill is in response to the recommendations approved by the Assembly Select Committee on Common Core Standards. There is no known school district that is currently collecting such data and the Common Core standards do not include the collection of biometric data.  The bill is currently circulating for co-sponsorship.

Representative Tom Larson: Larson Introduces Biometric Data Bill

Collection of Student Information

Representative Don Pridemore (R-Erin) introduced a bill that puts limits on the collection of a student’s personal information.  The bill includes provisions which limit who is able to access a pupil’s records, which information is provided to a parent or guardian when requested, requires consent to provide personally identifiable student data to a research organization and to maintain records of such disclosures.  It also prohibits the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) from collecting more student data than it is permitted to, from providing such data to a federal agency and it requires that DPI post on its website the data that it collects and why.

The bill addresses one of the recommendations made by the Assembly Select Committee on Common Core Standards.  It is currently circulating for co-sponsorship.

Representative Don Pridemore: Pridemore introduces bill to protect student information

Union Re-certifications

On Thursday, voting closed for the annual re-certification elections of the 400 unions representing teachers, school support staff and school office workers in the state.  The purpose of the voting is to see whether members want the union to continue to represent them in negotiations on base wage increases based on inflation, the only collective bargaining that Act 10 permits.  Act 10 also requires that 51% of the union’s eligible voters approve of the re-certification.

Somewhere between 80-90% of the school worker’s unions received enough votes to continue to wage negotiations.

Wisconsin State Journal: Most Wis. School unions survive elections

Race-Based Mascots

On Thursday Governor Walker signed AB 297 into law as 2013 Wisconsin Act 115,which makes it more difficult to challenge the use of race-based mascots and school nicknames.

Act 115 essentially reverses a 2010 law that required the Department of Public Instruction to review a school’s use of a race-based mascot or nickname if a complaint was filed against the district. Under Act 115, complaints on offensive mascots or nicknames will now be referred to the Department of Administration instead of DPI and must be accompanied by a petition signed by members of the community equivalent to 10% of the district’s student population.  The Act also shifts the burden of proof from the school district to those filing the complaint.

AB297 passed through the Assembly in October and the Senate in November.  Walker delayed signing the bill until today, the last day he could act on the bill before it automatically becomes law. Walker says he empathized with opponents of the bill but argues that it is a matter of freedom of speech for schools and that changing a school’s mascot or nickname should be a local decision.  Opponents argued that it’s a matter of discrimination and civil rights, not freedom of speech.

Governor Walker sent a letter to tribal leaders before signing the bill, telling them of his intentions.  He suggests that the best solution is educating others on why certain phrases and symbols are offensive.

WISN: Governor says he will decide on mascot bill next week

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Scott Walker signals he will sign school mascot bill

The Oshkosh Northwestern: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker empathizes with mascot bill opponent

The Cap Times: Gov. Walker’s defense of Indian Mascot bill as free speech called ‘bogus’

Wisconsin State Journal: Scott Walker will sign bill making it harder to force schools to drop Indian nicknames

Rural Schools Taskforce Hears School Technology Concerns

The Speaker’s Taskforce on Rural Schools held a public hearing in Madison on Tuesday to hear from several educational organizations, including WEMTA.

WEMTA Past President Sandra Heiden testified along with Kristy Bovre, Kris McCoy and  Michelle Byholm about the challenges facing library media specialists in rural communities. The group addressed concerns about limited resources, the “extinction” or scaling back of the position, inadequate access to broadband, and challenges with the certification process.  Michelle Byholm highlighted the fact that in rural communities there is often no public library, so the school library is the only library that rural students have access to,  making the Common School Fund incredibly important in these districts.

In response to the concerns raised about the certification process, Representative Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) asked how the process could be streamlined and argued that school librarians do not need to be licensed as teachers. He and Representative Ed Brooks (R-Reedsburg) said they would like the Taskforce to look at streamlining the certification process and reducing some of the credit requirements in order to get more specialists in the field.

Jerry Fiene of the Rural Schools Alliance recommended the creation of a new Technology for Educational Achievement program (TEACH 2) with some components directed to rural school districts. Fiene argued that TEACH 2 should be based on four pillars: statewide broadband access, block grants for rural schools to support technology, a state-led digital learning effort that receives state funding, and statewide professional development to all districts in the state.

John Forester of the School Administrators Alliance agreed with Fiene that Wisconsin should create a TEACH 2 program, saying that Wisconsin has fallen behind other states in terms of school technology since the original TEACH program went away. He also called on the state to show leadership on the issue of statewide broadband access.

State Superintendent Tony Evers told the Taskforce that rural schools are unable to take advantage of technology in the same way that urban and suburban school districts do because of a lack of affordable, high speed internet. Evers told the Taskforce that rural schools need affordable and adequate bandwidth to ensure that digital learning is happening.

WEMTA at the State Capitol 

Betsy Kippers and Ron Martin of the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) also addressed the challenges facing rural schools in the area of technology. Kippers said that scores of schools are going without specialists and there is not enough time or training to implement new technologies in rural schools. She advocated for better integrated technology in rural schools and described library media specialists as the “backbone of connecting students, teachers and the community.”

Other challenges facing rural schools that were addressed include: teacher retention and recruitment, transportation costs, challenges with the funding formula and referenda.

Representative Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander), the Taskforce’s chair, said he plans to hold three more hearings throughout the state. Swearingen hopes to release a final report by February and he said that recommendations for improving broadband access will likely be included in the report. 

WEMTA Invited to Testify at Rural Schools Task Force Meeting

The Rural Schools Task Force, chaired by Representative Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander),  has invited WEMTA to provide testimony at a Task Force meeting on Tuesday, December 17 in Madison.


One of the Task Force’s charges is to look at challenges surrounding access to technology in rural schools. 

“During our previous public hearings we have had very little public testimony due to time constraints. The Task Force is holding a meeting in Madison so we can hear from the educational groups now, instead of on the road.  This will free up time so we can allow more time for the public to provide testimony,” said Rep. Swearingen in a press release issued by his office. 

 The Task Force has held two previous meetings, but broadband access has only been mentioned in the context of students not having access to high-speed internet in their homes. Testifying at the hearing will be a great opportunity for WEMTA to address library and technology issues in our public schools. 

To see more information about the previous two hearings, you can visit the Task Force's website.