The standstill over the state budget continues. Assembly and Senate Republican leaders are still trying to reach a deal on transportation and K-12 education funding. In an attempt to bring an end to the budget standstill, Governor Walker announced this week that he would be willing to reduce the level of borrowing in the state's transportation budget by $200 million but reiterated his commitment to passing a budget without a gas tax or fee increase.
While transportation funding has dominated most of the news coverage, legislators are also trying to reach agreement on the K-12 education budget. One news outlet reported this week that Republican leaders are negotiating "whether, and how much, to raise income eligibility limits for parents who want to send their children to a private school through the voucher program."
Friday, July 7, 2017
Thursday, June 22, 2017
K-12 Funding Negotiations Stalled Over Ed Tech Grant Program
Despite
earlier reports that the Joint Finance Committee was on track to vote on K-12
education funding on Thursday, the Committee announced today that they will not
meet this week as negotiations continue between Senate and Assembly
Republicans.
Committee
members have said that one of the sticking points is the proposed $9.2 million
grant program to help schools purchase one-to-one computing devices included in
the Assembly Republican K-12 plan released a few weeks ago.
Budget committee won't meet this week as laptops, borrowing
stall negotiations
·
MATTHEW DeFOUR and MOLLY BECK Wisconsin State Journal
·
29 min ago
Closed-door budget negotiations dragged on Wednesday as
Republicans continued to haggle over how to fund education, transportation and
tax cuts.
Joint Finance co-chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette,
said after a meeting between GOP leaders of the Assembly and Senate that the
two houses have made progress toward agreement on education spending.
One
hurdle in reaching agreement, Nygren said, is an Assembly proposal to spend
$9.2 million on grants to give schools money to purchase laptop or tablet
computers to ninth graders for five school years. He said that is not the only,
or biggest, disagreement remaining on K-12 spending.
Assembly Republican leaders said after meeting with their
Senate counterparts Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. they they weren't ready to
hold a Joint Finance Committee meeting this week. They also acknowledged the
committee won't likely wrap up its work next week in time for a July 1 deadline
for passing the budget.
"It's going to come down to transportation being the
main stumbling block for us moving forward," Nygren said.
Nygren and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said
Senate Republicans continue to support relying on borrowing to fund
transportation, even more than the $500 million proposed by Gov. Scott Walker
and Assembly Republicans are "solidly against that."
"We've had the same discussion multiple budgets in a
row now and I think our position is right now we're going to stop having this
reliance on bonding," Nygren said. "We need to come up with a
solution to pay our bills rather than continue to borrow on our kids'
futures."
A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald,
R-Juneau, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Joint Finance Committee won't meet Thursday, though
Nygren said it's possible the committee will meet next week to finalize
education and a few other topics where there is no disagreement. Transportation
and tax cuts won't likely be resolved before July 1, when the new budget
calendar begins.
If a budget isn't signed into law by then, funding for state
government will continue at current levels. In 2015 the budget wasn't signed
until mid-July, and Vos and Nygren remained hopeful this year's budget would be
completed by then.
Vos said he preferred to continue meeting with Senate
Republicans to work out a deal before scheduling another budget committee
meeting.
"It's not for lack of working on the budget, it's just
doing it in a process to try to find consensus," Vos said.
Vos said the negotiations haven't reached a point where they
are considering passing the transportation budget in a separate bill, which
would allow them to court Democratic votes. He said a proposal by Rep. Amy
Loudenbeck, R-Clinton, to raise fees on
"My hope is we are able to find a long-term solution
for transportation," Vos said. "It seems to be elusive which leaves
us with a lot of bad choices, frankly."
State Assembly Passes UW Free Expression Bill
Democrats argued that the bill has a chilling effect
on free speech and repeatedly referred to it as the "campus gag
rule." Republicans countered that the bill is needed to ensure that people
of all political views can have their voices heard on campus.
AB 299 does the following:
· Requires the Board of Regents to
develop a free expression policy that adheres to a set of criteria outlined in
the bill. It instructs UW institutions to remain neutral on the public
policy controversies of the day
· Requires the UW
to suspend any student that violates the Free Expression Policy twice and expel
any student that violates the Free Expression policy three times. Disciplinary
actions would apply to individuals who "engage in violent or other
disorderly conduct that materially and substantially disrupts the free expression
of others." However, the bill does not define what the "free
expression of others" entails.
· Allows any
person to make a report that someone has violated the Free Expression
Policy.
AB 299 now goes to the Senate for approval.
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
State Assembly Passes Student Data Bills
The State Assembly voted unanimously on Wednesday to pass
two bills authored by the Study Committee on Student Data. The
bills now
go to the Senate for approval.
Assembly Bill 71: requires the State
Superintendent to create, maintain and post a pupil data inventory on DPI’s
website. This data inventory must include every distinct type of pupil data
collected by DPI from schools and school districts, a definition of the type of
pupil data collected, the purpose for collecting the pupil data, and a citation
to the specific provision of state or federal law requiring collection of the
data. The list must be updated every time DPI makes changes to the type of data
they collect.
Assembly Bill 72 requires the State Superintendent
to develop a model data privacy and security plan, which includes certain
elements like guidelines for access to pupil data and to the student
information system. This bill also requires the State Superintendent to provide
guidance and training to school districts on data privacy and the security of
pupil data. The Superintendent must work with stakeholders to develop and
promote best practices regarding the quality, usefulness, openness, privacy,
and security of pupil data.
Monday, June 19, 2017
Senate, Assembly Republicans Closer to Reaching K-12 Funding Deal
Senate and Assembly Republicans are rumored to be close to
having a deal on K-12 education funding and could vote as early as this
Thursday, June 22. Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair John Nygren (R-Marinette) told Committee members to keep the date open for a possible vote, but nothing has been officially scheduled at this time.
Assembly Republicans developed their own K-12 funding proposal, which they released two weeks ago, and Senate Republicans are working on a plan of their own which is closer to what the Governor had proposed but provides additional funding to low-spending school districts.
Governor Walker had proposed a $649 million increase to K-12
education funding but Assembly Republicans would
decrease this amount by $70 million and provide additional resources to
low-spending school districts. The Assembly Republican plan also includes
about $9.1 million annually to provide grants to schools to provide “personal
electronic computing devices.” Public, private and charter schools could
apply for grants equal to $125 per 9th grade student to pay for any
of the following: purchasing personal electronic computing devices; purchasing
software for the devices; purchasing curriculum that includes content that may
be accessed on the personal computing devices; or training professional staff
on how to effectively incorporate personal electronic devices into a classroom
and into high school curriculum.
If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to
contact your state representative and state senator and ask them to support the
Governor’s proposed increase to K-12 funding.
WEMTA has also been monitoring the following items, which
were included in the Governor’s proposal:
·
Library Service Contracts: the Governor’s
proposal provides an additional $10,300 over the budget biennium
to fully fund the Library Service Contracts. The
Assembly Republican plan makes no changes to this.
·
Eliminating Expiration Dates for Teacher and
Administrator Licenses: the Governor’s proposal includes a concerning
requirement that would eliminate expiration dates for teaching and
administrator licenses. Teachers and administrators would no longer need to
renew their licenses and there would be no ongoing professional development
requirements. Instead, school boards would be required to conduct background
checks on everyone who holds a teaching or administrator’s license at least
once every five years. The Assembly Republican proposal makes some
modifications to the Governor’s proposal. Their proposal includes Milwaukee
Public Schools and independent charter schools in the requirement to conduct
background checks every five years and grants provisional three-year licenses
to new educators, administrators and pupil services professionals. Under the
Assembly Republican plan, a lifetime license could only be granted after
completion of six semesters of experience. The Assembly Republican plan also
requires DPI to update PI 34, the administrative rules for teacher licensure,
to simplify the process by January 1, 2018.
·
Newsline for the Blind: the Governor’s
proposal provides an additional $52,200 over the budget biennium to fully fund
Newsline for the Blind costs. The Assembly Republican plan makes no changes to
this.
·
Online Bullying Prevention: the
Governor’s proposal provides $150,000 for grants to a nonprofit organization to
provide training and an online bullying prevention curriculum for pupils in
grades kindergarten through eight. The Assembly Republican plan accepts the
Governor’s proposal.
·
Sparsity Aid for Rural Districts: the
Governor’s proposal increases sparsity aid funding by $20 million. Per pupil
payments for districts that meet sparsity aid requirements would increase by
$100 for a total payment of $400 per pupil. It also creates a second-tier of
sparsity aid for districts that have enrollment between 745 and 1,000 with a
population density of less than 10 students per square mile. The Assembly
Republican proposal rejects the Governor’s proposals to increase sparsity
payments.
·
Milwaukee Performance Funding: the
Governor’s proposal creates a new $5.6 million performance funding program for
Milwaukee schools. $1.9 million will be distributed to schools that
“significantly exceed expectations” or “exceed expectations” on the school
report card. $3.6 million will go to schools that increase their numeric score
by at least three points on the school report card. The Assembly Republican
plan is silent on this provision.
·
Milwaukee Summer School Grants: the
Governor’s proposal provides $1.4 million for summer school grants to
Milwaukee public schools. Grants would help schools develop, redesign or
implement a summer school program to increase pupil attendance, improve
academic achievement or expose pupils to innovative learning activities. The
Assembly Republican plan is silent on this provision.
How to Contact Your
Legislators:
The first step in
contacting your legislator is knowing who your legislator is. The easiest way
to do this is the tool found on the Legislature’s home page, at http://legis.wisconsin.gov. In the right-hand side of that page is a link that says
Find My Legislators! Type your address in the box below that link to get
the names of your state representative and senator.
· Phone.
You may leave a message for your legislator’s Capitol office or indicate your
position on legislation through the toll free Legislative Hotline, at 1-800-362-9472.
· E-mail. The
e-mail addresses of members of the Wisconsin Legislature all have the same
format. For members of the Assembly, the form is Rep.Jones@legis.wisconsin.gov; for members of the Senate, the form
is Sen.Adams@legis.wisconsin.gov
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
State Assembly to Vote on Student Data Bills June 21
The State Assembly
will vote on two bills related to protecting student data on June 21.
These
bills were authored by the Study Committee on Student Data and do the
following:
Assembly
Bill 71: requires the State Superintendent to create, maintain and post a
pupil data inventory on DPI’s website. This data inventory must include every
distinct type of pupil data collected by DPI from schools and school districts,
a definition of the type of pupil data collected, the purpose for collecting the
pupil data, and a citation to the specific provision of state or federal law
requiring collection of the data. The list must be updated every time DPI makes
changes to the type of data they collect.
Assembly
Bill 72 requires the State Superintendent to develop a model data privacy
and security plan, which includes certain elements like guidelines for access
to pupil data and to the student information system. This bill also requires
the State Superintendent to provide guidance and training to school districts
on data privacy and the security of pupil data. The Superintendent must work
with stakeholders to develop and promote best practices regarding the quality,
usefulness, openness, privacy, and security of pupil data.
ASSEMBLY
PROPOSED CALENDAR FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21
Assembly Rules
will meet at some point during Wednesday, June 14 floor session to finalize the
schedule for 1 pm, Wednesday, June 21.
Assembly Bills
AB-071 Pupil
Data Inventory (Legislative Council) An inventory of pupil data.
AB-072 Pupil
Data Security (Legislative Council) Responsibilities of state
superintendent related to privacy and security of pupil data.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Joint Finance Committee at Odds over K-12 Budget
Divisions are forming between the State Senate and Assembly
on the Governor’s proposal for K-12 education, and it is not clear when the
Joint Finance Committee will meet to vote on the education budget.
Governor Walker had proposed a $649 million increase to K-12
education funding but Assembly
Republicans released their own plan on Tuesday which would decrease this
amount by $70 million but provide additional resources to low-spending school
districts. The Assembly Republican plan also includes about $9.1 million
annually to provide grants to schools to provide “personal electronic computing
devices.” Public, private and charter schools could apply for grants equal
to $125 per 9th grade student to pay for any of the following:
purchasing personal electronic computing devices; purchasing software for the
devices; purchasing curriculum that includes content that may be accessed on
the personal computing devices; or training professional staff on how to
effectively incorporate personal electronic devices into a classroom and into
high school curriculum.
Senator Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) quickly
rejected the Assembly Republican proposal, saying “The State Senate remains
committed to fully funding K-12 education as Governor Walker proposed in his
administrative budget.”
Contact your state representative and state senator and
ask them to support the Governor’s proposal for K-12 education funding. See
this urgent statement from the Wisconsin Public Education Network for more
information: http://www.wisconsinnetwork.org/blog/wisconsin-parents-assembly-education-plan-hurts-kids-betrays-promise
You could also let your legislators know if you support
the Assembly Republican plan to provide $9.1 million annually for grants to
schools for “personal electronic computing devices.”
WEMTA has been monitoring the following items, which were
included in the Governor’s proposal:
·
Library Service Contracts: the Governor’s
proposal provides an additional $10,300 over the budget biennium
to fully fund the Library Service Contracts. The
Assembly Republican plan makes no changes to this.
·
Eliminating Expiration Dates for Teacher and
Administrator Licenses: the Governor’s proposal includes a concerning
requirement that would eliminate expiration dates for teaching and
administrator licenses. Teachers and administrators would no longer need to
renew their licenses and there would be no ongoing professional development
requirements. Instead, school boards would be required to conduct background
checks on everyone who holds a teaching or administrator’s license at least
once every five years. The Assembly Republican proposal makes some
modifications to the Governor’s proposal. Their proposal includes Milwaukee
Public Schools and independent charter schools in the requirement to conduct
background checks every five years and grants provisional three-year licenses
to new educators, administrators and pupil services professionals. Under the Assembly
Republican plan, a lifetime license could only be granted after completion of
six semesters of experience. The Assembly Republican plan also requires DPI to
update PI 34, the administrative rules for teacher licensure, to simplify the
process by January 1, 2018.
·
Newsline for the Blind: the Governor’s
proposal provides an additional $52,200 over the budget biennium to fully fund
Newsline for the Blind costs. The Assembly Republican plan makes no changes to
this.
·
Online Bullying Prevention: the Governor’s
proposal provides $150,000 for grants to a nonprofit organization to provide
training and an online bullying prevention curriculum for pupils in grades
kindergarten through eight. The Assembly Republican plan accepts the Governor’s
proposal.
·
Sparsity Aid for Rural Districts: the
Governor’s proposal increases sparsity aid funding by $20 million. Per pupil
payments for districts that meet sparsity aid requirements would increase by
$100 for a total payment of $400 per pupil. It also creates a second-tier of
sparsity aid for districts that have enrollment between 745 and 1,000 with a
population density of less than 10 students per square mile. The Assembly
Republican proposal rejects the Governor’s proposals to increase sparsity
payments.
·
Milwaukee Performance Funding: the
Governor’s proposal creates a new $5.6 million performance funding program for
Milwaukee schools. $1.9 million will be distributed to schools that
“significantly exceed expectations” or “exceed expectations” on the school
report card. $3.6 million will go to schools that increase their numeric score
by at least three points on the school report card. The Assembly Republican
plan is silent on this provision.
·
Milwaukee Summer School Grants: the
Governor’s proposal provides $1.4 million for summer school grants to
Milwaukee public schools. Grants would help schools develop, redesign or
implement a summer school program to increase pupil attendance, improve
academic achievement or expose pupils to innovative learning activities. The Assembly
Republican plan is silent on this provision.
How to Contact Your
Legislators:
The first step in
contacting your legislator is knowing who your legislator is. The easiest way
to do this is the tool found on the Legislature’s home page, at http://legis.wisconsin.gov. In the right-hand side of that page is a link that says
Find My Legislators! Type your address in the box below that link to get
the names of your state representative and senator.
· Phone.
You may leave a message for your legislator’s Capitol office or indicate your
position on legislation through the toll free Legislative Hotline, at 1-800-362-9472.
· E-mail. The
e-mail addresses of members of the Wisconsin Legislature all have the same
format. For members of the Assembly, the form is Rep.Jones@legis.wisconsin.gov; for members of the Senate, the form is Sen.Adams@legis.wisconsin.gov
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