DPI: Private School Vouchers Financial Impacts
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | October 30, 2015
A major change to school finance in 2015-16 is the funding for private school vouchers. During 2015-16, one-hundred forty-two school districts are impacted by these changes. Beginning in 2016-17, state law directs DPI to increase each of the 142 districts’ 2015-16 membership used for state aid purposes. The addition of an estimated 2,181 FTE private school voucher students to state aid membership will result in a redistribution of the 2016-17 state aids that could impact all school districts.
In 2015-16, state law requires private schools to receive voucher payments ($7,214 for students in grades K-8 and $7,860 for students in grades (9-12) based on current year information. For 2015-16 payments, the 3rd Friday in September 2015 and the 2nd Friday in January 2016 are the student count dates used to calculate the payments. The voucher schools are paid 1/2 the annual payment based on the 3rd Friday in September student count and 1/2 the annual payment based on the 2nd Friday in January student count. Private schools have annual student membership audits and DPI will adjust the payments based on audited information.
The updated summary of these changes to assist in your understanding of these financial impacts is available here.
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WI Government Revenues, Spending Rank Near the Middle
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | October 30, 2015
Wisconsin is close to the middle in many measures of government revenue and spending, according to new figures for 2013 that were released this week and analyzed by the Wisconsin Budget Project.
Wisconsin residents paid an average of $6,711 in taxes, fees, and other charges to state and local governments in 2013 – less than 1% above the national average. Measured as a share of income, Wisconsin residents pay 15.9% of their income in taxes, fees, and other charges, compared to the national average of 15.1%.
In spending, Wisconsin ranked right in the middle of the states – 25th – when total state and local government spending was measured either on a per person basis or as a share of income.
Unfortunately, Wisconsin continues to be among the states that get the least in federal aid to state and local governments. Only 13 states received less federal revenue per person in 2013. The result is that state taxpayers pick up a bigger share of the cost of programs than in other states.
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Evers Criticizes School Vouchers Following Report
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | October 30, 2015
Following the Department of Public Instruction’s announcement that more than 2,500 students are now enrolled in the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, State Superintendent Tony Evers said in a Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) interview that the state’s expanding voucher program is siphoning money from public education to subsidize education for students already enrolled in private schools.
In our estimation, the State Superintendent could not be more on target.
See the WPR Coverage here.
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New Policy Mandate for School Districts
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | October 27, 2015
From the Legal Side…
In its most recent New Laws Bulletin, the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) addresses a new law (2015 Wisconsin Act 63) signed last Friday that creates a mandatory school board policy requirement related to the filling of school board vacancies that remain open longer than 60 days. All school districts will need to adopt a policy by no later than July 1, 2016. We are distributing this information to SAA members with the permission of WASB.
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Wisconsin Budget Project Analyzes Referendum Proposal
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | October 27, 2015
State lawmakers have proposed making it more difficult for school districts to go to referendum, a change that would have reduced or delayed new resources for schoolchildren by nearly $200 million in recent years, according to a new analysis by the Wisconsin Budget Project.
For more information, please see the Wisconsin Budget Project press release or the new analysis.
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