Fitzgerald: GOP Could Use “Hammer” on MPS
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 1, 2016
From WisPolitics.com ..
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is warning GOP lawmakers could use the “hammer” of cutting funding to Milwaukee Public Schools if its leadership continues to resist attempts to reform the district.
Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Republicans were shocked this week at the resignation of Demond Means as commissioner of the Opportunity Schools and Partnership Program. Fitzgerald said that then turned to anger over resistance to embrace the state law, which lets the county exec appoint someone to oversee a turnaround program for failing Milwaukee schools that pulls them away from MPS oversight.
Fitzgerald predicted some Republicans will “double down” on efforts to reform MPS, noting it is difficult for some lawmakers to continue sending money to the district if it will not cooperate on efforts to improve school performance.
“That’s hard for those individual legislators to say, ‘Yeah I’m going to send more and more money to MPS, even though they’re resisting some of the reforms,'” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, is slated to appear on “UpFront with Mike Gousha” this weekend and made the comments on the OSPP program as part of a web extra that was posted to WISN-TV’s website today.
An MPS spokesman did not immediately have a comment on Fitzgerald’s remarks.
See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Coverage here.
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Demond Means Resigns As Leader of Milwaukee Turnaround District
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 29, 2016
Check out Annysa Johnson’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article here.
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2017 Wisconsin Retirement System Contribution Rates
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 28, 2016
The Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF), has published the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) rates for 2017. The total rate for the “General/Teacher” employee category increases from a 13.2% in 2016 to 13.6% in 2016. In most instances this means that both the school district employee and employer contributions will change to 6.8% on January 1, 2017 (unfunded liabilities are not included and, if those exist, they will vary by employer).
The ETF notes that rates are increasing “due to increases in life expectancy and low investment returns”. The full ETF press release is available here.
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416 Students Expected To Tap Special Needs Vouchers
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 28, 2016
According to Molly Beck of the Wisconsin State Journal, more than 400 students with disabilities are expected to attend private schools using taxpayer-funded vouchers under a new program that begins this fall, resulting in a $5 million reduction in state funding for public school districts.
Check out the full news story here.
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28 Schools to Participate in Special Needs Voucher Program
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 28, 2016
Twenty-eight schools have registered to participate in the special needs scholarship program in the upcoming school year, DPI said Monday.
Fifteen of them are in Milwaukee.
The scholarship, in its first year, allows children with disabilities to attend private schools chosen by their parents or guardians. To qualify, the students must have been rejected through open enrollment to attend a public school district other than the one in which they reside. The private schools receive $12,000 per full-time equivalent student they accept.
Applications for the scholarship, in its first year, begin Friday.
See the DPI news release here.
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