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Capitol Update August 28, 2024

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | August 28, 2024

Joint Audit Committee

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee will hold a public hearing and executive session tomorrow August 29th at 10:00am to discuss the proposed audit on school district financial monitoring.  The DPI will provide testimony.  This memorandum will be the basis of deliberations by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee at its public hearing and executive session on Thursday, August 29.

SAA will be closely monitoring the hearing, providing subsequent updates and offering feedback throughout the audit process. The hearing will be streamed live here on Wiseye.org.

Act 95 Update

Following communications issued jointly by SAA and WASB, regarding the many unanswered implementation questions on Act 95, the guaranteed admission process. DPI recently announced they will consider school board requests to waive certain requirements listed in Wis. Stat. s. 118.58(2), specifically the provision detailing that “pupils shall be ranked on the basis of academic achievement and the sole criterion for ranking pupils shall be the pupil’s grade point average.” Using the DPI’s authority under Wis. Stat. s. 118.38, the DPI aims to provide flexibility to districts in how districts rank the top 5 and 10 percent of students to submit to UW-System under the Guaranteed Admissions Program as created under 2023 Act 95.

School boards should submit a waiver request to waivers@dpi.wi.gov using the waiver process spelled out on the DPI website. When considering whether to grant a waiver, the DPI will focus on the reasons why the district cannot comply with the requirements of Wis. Stat. S. 118.58(2), the district’s proposed alternative policy for determining the top 5 and 10 percent class ranking, and how achievement and academic results will be utilized to determine this ranking.

In considering these waiver requests, the DPI is hoping to assist districts resolve some common issues districts are running into under Wis. Stat. s. 118.58(2), including, but not limited to:

  1. How to resolve ties between students for the top 5 or 10 percent provisions
  2. How to apply competency-based grading
  3. How to implement weighted or non-traditional GPA systems

Any questions should be sent to waivers@dpi.wi.gov.

Act 20 / Act 100 Update

From Wispolitics.com:  A Dane County judge ruled Dem Gov. Tony Evers properly used his partial veto authority in nixing parts of a GOP-authored reading bill.

In his ruling, Judge Stephen Ehlke also rejected a request from the Department of Public Instruction to compel the Legislature to give the agency $50 million that had been set aside in separate legislation to fund the effort once the agency received approval from the Joint Finance Committee.

Evers in February partially vetoed Act 100, which created the mechanism allowing DPI to spend the $50 million with approval from the Joint Finance Committee. That came after the guv had signed separate legislation to create the new literacy programs and require a phonics-based approach to reading instruction. 

GOP lawmakers had argued the bill set the framework for the money to be spent and wasn’t an actual appropriation bill, which is the only type of legislation for which the governor can use a partial veto. Ehlke today rejected that argument. 

The State superintendent’s statement can be found here.

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