Capitol Update
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 29, 2023
Dr. Underly will be speaking at the Wisconsin Policy Forum Virtual Event today from 12:30-1:30 regarding the ongoing teacher shortage facing not only our state but the nation. Wisconsin Policy Forum | Forum Friday: Tackling Teacher Workforce Challenges in Wisconsin (wispolicyforum.org)
In addition to Tuesday’s Senate Education Hearing, the Assembly Education Committee held a public hearing on Thursday. The committee amended the committee notice and removed Assembly Bill 223 (The requirement to maintain a supply of usable opioid antagonists at a school. SAA is currently reviewing a substitute amendment that substantially changes most of the original bill’s provisions and will provide an updated summary.) The committee heard the following bills. Thank you to the dedicated leaders who appeared to testify.
- Assembly Bill 342: Allowing school boards to provide a district administrator who is not licensed by the Department of Public Instruction. SAA Opposed.
- Assembly Bill 403: removing the 3-year penalty on revenue ceilings for school districts with a failed referendum. SAA In Favor.
The Senate Education committee held an executive session via paper ballot to advance Senate Bill 395 out of the committee on September 28th. The proposal passed the committee 7-0.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications | No Comments »
Capitol Update
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 27, 2023
The Assembly Education Committee will hold a public hearing tomorrow:
- Assembly Bill 342: Allowing school boards to provide a district administrator who is not licensed by the department of public instruction. SAA Opposed.
- Assembly Bill 403: removing the 3-year penalty on revenue ceilings for school districts with a failed referendum. SAA In Favor.
- Assembly Bill 223: Maintaining a supply of usable opioid antagonist at a school. SAA is currently reviewing a substitute amendment which substantially changes most of the provisions of the original bill and will provide an updated summary.
As a reminder, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announced four (4) bipartisan taskforces which will hold hearings around the state. Each taskforce is chaired by a freshman Representative and will hear mostly invited testimony on four topic areas – all of which will touch on K-12 education – with the truancy taskforce being by far the most K-12 focused. The first of the hearings was yesterday at the Capitol on childhood obesity and several agencies including DPI provided briefings. The taskforce on Human Trafficking is also holding an informational hearing today which will also include a briefing from the DPI. Currently, the K-12 Truancy hearing is planning to meet on October 4th. Additional hearings and locations will be announced, and SAA will plan to engage with members across the state to provide information to the taskforces.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Senate Committee on Education Public Hearing Notice
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 21, 2023
The Senate Committee on Education has scheduled a public hearing for 9/26 at 10am. The items listed below are scheduled to be heard. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions.
Relating to: including with a referendum question for issuing bonds a statement of the estimated interest accruing on the amount of the bonds.
By Senators Cabral-Guevara, Jacque, Cowles, Nass and Stroebel; cosponsored by Representatives Gustafson, Macco, Allen, Behnke, Binsfeld, Bodden, Brooks, Dittrich, Goeben, Maxey, Murphy, O’Connor, Rettinger, Schmidt, Sortwell, Spiros, Steffen and Zimmerman.
Relating to: allowing school boards to employ a school district administrator who is not licensed by the department of public instruction.
By Senators Stroebel, Ballweg, Felzkowski, Jagler, Marklein and Nass; cosponsored by Representatives Wittke, Binsfeld, Bodden, Brandtjen, Brooks, Donovan, Gundrum, Gustafson, Magnafici, Maxey, Murphy, O’Connor, Rettinger and Schraa.
Relating to: restrictions on the revenue ceiling for school districts.
By Senators Testin, Wanggaard, Ballweg, Cowles, Felzkowski, Larson, Pfaff, Smith, Spreitzer and Quinn; cosponsored by Representatives Green, Armstrong, C. Anderson, Binsfeld, Dittrich, Doyle, Goeben, S. Johnson, Novak, Oldenburg, Ortiz-Velez, Sapik, Schmidt, Shankland, Steffen, Considine and Tittl.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Capitol Update
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 18, 2023
Last week Thursday, Senate Republicans voted to override Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ budget move to provide $325 per student in public school funding increases for the next four centuries, though the boost enacted through the governor’s veto pen stays in place for now.
The Joint Finance Committee also had the objection withdrawn regarding including voucher expenditures from the financial dashboard created under 2021 Act 89. Unless a new objection is filed by 5pm today the financial dashboard will continue to move forward as designed by the committee, including the deduction of funds to pay for voucher students.
ESSER II Reminder:
DPI will be sending a reminder this week that ESSER II funds must be spent by September 30, 2023. They are encouraging school district leaders to check on your district’s ESSER II balance. In addition, please remember that the federal government allows for late liquidation, but late liquidation only gives districts an extension to claim on ESSER II funds that were spent before the deadline of September 30, 2023. Any funds that are not spent by September 30, 2023 must be returned to the federal government and may allow elected officials to make the case that school districts are not in need of funding.
Resources for ESSER II, including details about DPI open office hours, can be found at https://dpi.wi.gov/crrsaa/esser-ii.
Wisconsin Policy and Research Forum Event:
The Wisconsin Policy Forum will be hosting a virtual event on September 29th on teacher workforce challenges in Wisconsin. The program will begin with a presentation on their new research on teacher turnover, State Superintendent Jill Underly will also take part in that discussion. Additional panelists will provide expertise commentary on the areas of teacher certification, recruitment, and professional development.
The event is virtual and free to register for at: Wisconsin Policy Forum | Events (wispolicyforum.org)
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Act 20 – Literacy Update
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 8, 2023
The Department of Public Instruction will be posting these resources to its new webpage with information and guidance on Act 20.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »