Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance - Representing the Interests of Wisconsin Students

Committee to Vote Tomorrow on Voucher Revenue Cap Issue

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 9, 2016

The Assembly Education Committee has officially noticed an executive session (vote) on a new amendment to Assembly Bill 751 tomorrow afternoon at 1:30pm.

This new amendment from Speaker Vos is similar to Assembly Amendment 2 (AA 2) to Assembly Bill (AB) 751 in that it would change the revenue limit calculation for new voucher pupils, beginning in 2016-17, to no longer provide an adjustment that counts a new voucher pupil as a full 1.0 pupil for revenue limit purposes.

Under both AA 2 and the new amendment, new voucher pupils who reside within a district would be counted in a manner similar to the way open enrollment pupils are counted for revenue limit purposes (i.e., ramping the count up by 1/3 pupil each year to a full pupil over 3 years).

The new amendment differs from AA 2 in that it attempts to address negative consequences to declining enrollment districts that would occur as a result of the switch to a new calculation method. It tries to accomplish this by excluding new voucher pupils from membership (enrollment) for purposes of calculating declining enrollment adjustments for three years.

The SAA remains opposed to either amendment. Here is the bottom line: if your district has resident students in the statewide or Racine voucher programs, under either amendment, you will lose revenue limit authority and you will likely have to pay for your voucher students by reducing educational opportunities for the children that remain in your district. We strongly oppose these efforts and urge you to keep the pressure on state lawmakers.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) has been asked to prepare a memo detailing the fiscal impact of this new amendment on each of the affected districts. We hope this memo will be available soon. Of course, we will forward it to you as soon as it is available.

The SAA will keep you informed of any additional analysis or new developments on this important legislation.

Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »

Green Bay Responds To Assembly Amendment 2

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 9, 2016

Check out the letter that Green Bay Area Public Schools sent to legislators last week regarding Assembly Amendment 2 to AB 751.

The district does an excellent job of explaining that districts should be allowed to levy to the maximum revenue limit for each voucher student because districts are still responsible for busing eligible voucher students and for administering services for English Language Learners and special education.

Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »

Priority Legislative Alert: Your Response Needed

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 8, 2016

This Is A Priority Legislative Alert!

The Assembly Education Committee has scheduled a hearing and an executive (voting) session on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 1:00 PM. The committee is likely to take up Assembly Amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 751 again or a modified version of the amendment. We will update you tomorrow when an official meeting notice is expected.

We are also hearing that the committee will take up both Assembly Bill 481, relating to restricting when school district referendums may be held and Assembly Bill 469, relating to changing rooms (The SAA opposes both bills). Amendments are expected to both bills and we will update you when those are available.

Whether Assembly Amendment 2 to AB 751 is modified or not, here is the bottom line: if your district has resident students in the statewide or Racine voucher programs, under this amendment, you will lose revenue limit authority and you will likely have to pay for your voucher students by reducing educational opportunities for the children that remain in your district. We strongly oppose these efforts and urge you to keep the pressure on state lawmakers.

As we reported earlier, late on Friday the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) issued a memo detailing the fiscal impact of Assembly Amendment 2 to AB 751 on the 142 school districts impacted by the Racine and Wisconsin Parental Choice Programs. As we expected, the LFB estimates the loss under the amendment to be $22.7 million spread across the 142 districts.

And this penalty is being imposed at a time when school revenue limits have been frozen for both years of the current budget cycle and when 57% of the respondents to the Marquette University Law School Poll say local schools are receiving too little funding from the state!

Once again, I am providing you the names and phone numbers of the members of the Assembly Education Committee. Please contact the leadership of the Committee (Chairman Thiesfeldt, Vice-Chairman Kitchens and the ranking Democrat Representative Sondy Pope) in opposition to this amendment. Also, feel free to contact any of the other committee members as well. Finally, make sure you also contact your Assembly Representative and your State Senator. For your convenience in doing so, we have provided links to the Assembly Directory, the Senate Directory and to Who Are My Legislators.

Remember, the Committee’s Executive Session is scheduled for 1:00 Wednesday afternoon, so we have no time to waste. Let’s keep the pressure on.

I get the sense that some legislators are trying to mislead taxpayers into believing you can add thousands of private school students to a publicly-funded system (with vouchers) without having to pay for them. There are only three ways you can pay for the additional voucher students: 1) additional state resources; 2) local tax increases; or 3) cuts to educational opportunities for public school students. Clearly, the latter is the preferred option for some in the Legislature.

These Committee members need to feel very uncomfortable over this vote. Let’s get to it!

Here are the members of the Assembly Education Committee:

Representative Thiesfeldt (Chair) (R-Fond du Lac) (888) 529-0052

Representative Kitchens (Vice-Chair) (R-Sturgeon Bay) (888) 482-0001

Representative Jagler (R-Watertown) (888) 534-0037

Representative Knudson (R-Hudson) (888) 529-0030

Representative Rodriguez (R-Franklin) (888) 534-0021

Representative R. Brooks (R-Saukville) (888) 534-0060

Representative Horlacher (R-Mukwonago) (888) 529-0033

Representative Murphy (R-Greenville) (888) 534-0056

Representative Quinn (R-Rice Lake) (888) 534-0075

Representative Hutton (R-Brookfield) (888) 534-0013

Representative Duchow (R-Town of Delafield) (888) 534-0099

Representative Pope (D-Cross Plains) (888) 534-0080

Representative Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) (888) 534-0020

Representative Genrich (D-Green Bay) (888) 534-0090

Representative Barnes (D-Milwaukee) (888) 534-0011

Representative Considine (D-Baraboo) (888) 534-0081

Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »

LFB Memo: $22.7 Million Cut to 142 Districts

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 8, 2016

Late Friday the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) issued a memo detailing the fiscal impact of Assembly Amendment 2 to AB 751 on the 142 school districts impacted by the Racine and Wisconsin Parental Choice Programs. As we expected, the LFB estimates the loss under the amendment to be $22.7 million spread across the 142 districts.

As we mentioned in our last post, “It ain’t over til it’s over.” Respected sources inside the Capitol believe the Assembly Education Committee will be in on Wednesday to take up a modified AA 2. Yes, that’s right . . . yet another far-reaching revenue cap cut to school districts that will receive little to no public scrutiny before being voted on by the Committee.

Stay tuned.

Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »