ACT 10 Ruling 12/3/24
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 3, 2024
Yesterday, Dane County Judge Jacob Frost ruled overturning portions of Wisconsin’s 2011 Act 10, ruling that aspects of the law are unconstitutional—act 10 restricted collective bargaining rights for most public-sector unions while exempting police and firefighter unions.
The legal challenge argued that the law unfairly treated different groups of public workers, violating the state constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Judge Frost opined there was no valid justification for the unequal treatment and ruled that certain provisions of the law were void.
GOP legislative leaders have vowed to appeal the ruling, and Frost gave the unions that challenged the provisions a week to draft a judgment consistent with his decision that he will then sign as a final order. Once that’s completed, lawmakers can then file their appeal. It is anticipated that GOP leaders will move the Court to stay enforcement of its decision pending appeal. A lengthy appeal process will likely lead to the case making its way to the state supreme court.
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Capitol Updates
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 14, 2024
Governor Evers & DWD Announce new Teacher Training and Recruitment Grants
Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), announced that $1 million in grants is available for the Teacher Training and Recruitment Grant program to train and recruit teachers where shortages are most prevalent in Wisconsin.
The grants, which cover two years of program costs, are available through DWD’s Expanded Wisconsin Fast Forward (WFF) program. Wisconsin nonprofit organizations can apply for up to $500,000 to recruit, train, and license teachers to meet the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s guidelines for serving qualifying school districts.
The WFF program has funded two rounds of awards in 2020 and 2022 that benefited 10 schools’ efforts to train, recruit, and mentor educators.
Under the WFF program, the funds are only available to tax-exempt 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations. Applications are due by 3 p.m. CST on Mon., Dec. 16, 2024. For additional information or to download an application, please consult the Grant Program Announcement and related grant program materials available here.
Office of School Safety Releases 2023-2024 Annual Speak Up, Speak Out Report
The Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of School Safety (OSS) today released the 2023-2024 annual report for Speak Up, Speak Out (SUSO). SUSO is a free statewide threat reporting tipline available to all Wisconsin schools. SUSO also serves as the hub that connects all OSS initiatives and the entry point where schools can access comprehensive services offered by OSS as well as local, state, and national partners.
SUSO received 5,270 tips during the 2023-2024 school year, a more than 40 percent increase from the previous school year. Since the inception of SUSO in 2020, bullying has consistently been the number one tip. It is also common nationally for bullying to be the most reported tip. Awareness of these incidents helps schools intervene early, before grievances and upsets can lead children down a pathway to violence.
The 2023-2024 annual report reflects OSS’ comprehensive approach to prioritizing preventing violence in our schools and when crisis events do arise, responding appropriately to mitigate trauma and get students back to learning more quickly.
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DPI Budget Announcements
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 12, 2024
Yesterday, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) submitted the remainder of their budget request to the Governor for his consideration. Details of the announcement can be found here. The DPI request differed from the SAA Budget priorities in a number of areas. Ultimately, the Governor will submit his biennial budget request to the Legislature early in 2025 and SAA will continue to communicate our priorities to him. The SAA’s approach was designed to foster ongoing, meaningful conversations with district leaders, lawmakers, and the Governor aiming to achieve impactful outcomes for all districts.
The SAA budget priorities were shaped over the course of more than a year of member analysis and feedback, along with countless conversations between district leaders, legislators and the Governor’s office.
SAA believes this approach fostered a shared understanding of the need for predictable, flexible and sustainable resources. Likewise, we believe there is evidence of a shared interest in taking a sustainable, well rounded approach that addresses the diverse needs of districts across the state while maintaining a reasonable and achievable result in the budget process.
Our work has resulted in a thoughtful, balanced approach, setting clear priorities designed to address current needs and provide a foundation for future progress. It is also influenced by the expressed interests of state leaders. It’s essential that we continue to emphasize the importance of flexible and predictable funding streams, enabling school districts to effectively meet both special education needs and general education costs.
Here are the key points that SAA outlined as main priorities:
- Increase in Special Education Funding: There is overwhelming support among members for significant increases in special education funding. Our goal was to reach 60% reimbursement of aidable costs. This would ease the financial burden on school districts, allowing them to better support students with special needs while reducing reliance on general funds. It was the recommendation of the bipartisan Blue-Ribbon commission and the prior budget request. SAA strongly supports transitioning to a “sum sufficient” funding model for special education. This change would provide more stability and predictability for districts, allowing them to respond more effectively to changing needs and costs.
- Flexibility and Predictability: The most flexible funding is general spending authority, and it is recommended that revenue increases for school districts be adjusted for inflation. This would ensure that the financial needs of all students, including those with disabilities, are adequately met.
- Balanced Funding Approach: A combination of revenue limit increases, general aid, and per-pupil categorical aid is favored. This balance would allow districts to manage resources more effectively, regardless of size or financial status, ensuring they can provide quality education. SAA members supported an increase of $100/per year in the per pupil aid, which currently is at $742 and was not increased in the last budget.
- Low Revenue Limit Issue: The low revenue limit is seen as a significant barrier for many school districts, especially those with limited resources. Increasing the low revenue limit statewide would reduce disparities and provide more stability for districts, decreasing the need for local referendums. If the low revenue limit ceiling was increased to $12,500 the vast majority of districts revenue limits would be with in 10% of one another.
SAA’s recommendations strategically aimed to provide school districts with the resources they need to meet the diverse needs of their students, with a particular focus on special education funding, flexible revenue streams, and addressing disparities between low-revenue districts. It also reflects consideration for the stated interests of SAA members as well as elected officials which is critical to a productive outcome to the budger process.
Additional information on the prior announcements regarding the 2025-27 budget by DPI can be found here.
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Initial Referenda Results
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 6, 2024
Please use the link below to review the Initial Referenda Results compiled by The Wheeler Report. Results will be updated when the official full report is available from DPI’s School Financial Services Team.
SCHOOL REFERENDUM FOR THE NOVEMBER 5, 2024 BALLOT
If you note needed correction or have information regarding any of the outstanding results please don’t hesitate to reach out.
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DPI Budget Update
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 4, 2024
Over the last two weeks, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released four proposals from their budget detailing their proposed solutions for items ranging from school nutrition funding to proposed workforce solutions. The full release on these proposals can be found here.
As members of SAA have been discussing for the past several months – SAA will be focusing on several large priorities as we move into the next budget cycle. Including a significant increase in Special Education Funding and increases to general, flexible, spendable revenue – including, increasing the revenue limit with a general aid investment to help control property taxes, per pupil categorical aid funding, and an increase to the low revenue limit ceiling. Additional talking points and details will be available to members following tomorrow’s election.
Referenda
In addition to highly watched state and national races, 137 questions are on the ballot, bringing the total number of questions asked this year to an all-time high. Referenda results will be reported as soon as they are available. Given the high voter turnout and number of early voters, there could be a delay in reporting over previous elections.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »