Surprise School Sports Measure Stirs Up Critics
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | May 26, 2015
According to an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this past Sunday, critics are blasting legislators after the state’s budget committee passed a surprise motion last week that would allow private, home-schooled and online charter students to participate in public school district athletics and activities.
Note the strong opposition from the Wisconsin Parents Association, the state’s home school lobby.
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Whitewater Communication on JFC Action
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | May 21, 2015
Like many of you, Eric Runez, Superintendent of the Whitewater Unified School District (WUSD), wrote his elected state representatives regarding his concerns over many of the education-related budget items rolled into the 30-page omnibus motion and adopted by the Joint Finance Committee early Wednesday morning. In sharing his communication with his board, administrative team, entire staff and the leadership of the local parent advocacy group, this is what Eric said to them:
WUSD,
I thought it appropriate to share with all of you my communication today with the legislators who represent our school district. As I hope you are aware, our legislators are wrestling with a number of significant state budget decisions impacting public education. The most pressing is obviously school funding. The Joint Finance Committee adopted a budget motion late last night on a 12-4 party line vote that will move forward to to the assembly and senate. Although it appears they are restoring funding, the motion is packed with a number of educational policies that are either not directly related to school funding or polices that will indirectly draw from public school funding. District administrators have been aware of some of the policy issues proposed, but a number of policy proposals seem to have come from “thin air”.
I want to share with you some of the questions I am asking and information I am requesting as I work to engage our legislators and advocate for the district. If you are inclined to, you can also contact your representatives to ask similar questions about these legislative policies, or you might find other questions as you review the budget motion. You can find the entire document at the link in my communication below. I am still studying the motion and am certain I will have more questions in the next few days.
I know much of this seems so far removed from your work with students, but I believe it is important for you to be at least aware of these issues. You all do wonderful things for children everyday, and your work and profession are worth advocating for.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss any of the items in the budget motion.
Thank you,
Eric
See Eric’s communication to legislators here.
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Olsen: K-12 Funding Lost Out to Property Tax Relief
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | May 21, 2015
While other Republican legislators tried to convince the public that the under-funding of public schools adopted Wednesday morning by the Joint Finance Committee was either just or the result of state revenues being drained by problems in the Medicaid budget, Sen. Luther Olsen, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, was spot on when he said it came down to funding public schools or providing the property tax relief that Governor Walker promised. School funding lost.
An Erin Richard’s news article on the topic in this morning’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel included the following:
Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon), the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, acknowledged the budget “doesn’t make it easier to run a school district.”
Olsen said there wasn’t enough money to fund property tax cuts that Walker promised and also fund the public education system.
“Something has to give and that’s what gave,” Olsen said Wednesday.
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WIAA: JFC Provision Could Negatively Impact Districts, Students
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | May 21, 2015
From WisPolitics . . .
Dave Anderson, executive director of the WIAA, said allowing students who live in a district but don’t attend a public school there to participate in sports could affect some of his members that already are struggling financially.
JFC’s education motion includes a provision requiring school boards permit those who are home-schooled or in a private, charter or virtual school to play sports and participate in extracurricular activities if they live in the district.
Anderson said the WIAA was formed 120 years ago over concerns some schools were using non-students on their athletic teams. He hadn’t had a chance to poll his members yet but expected many to lobby against inclusion of the change in the final budget.
He said small schools traditionally have been concerned that opening the door to non-students playing sports would accelerate loss of enrollment and, consequently, state aid. Playing sports for some students is what keeps them in public schools vs. turning to virtual schools or being home schooled, he said.
His members have also generally expressed concern that students who attend public schools would be displaced on teams by those who are not part of the school’s daily life.
“We view sports activities as truly an extension of the classroom and extension of the school day,” he said. “It’s not just something that we throw out in sound bites. It’s the basis of our reason to exist.”
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Accountability Holiday Bill Signed Into Law
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | May 20, 2015
Governor Walker signed Senate Bill 67, the so-called School Accountability Holiday Bill, into law today as 2015 Wisconsin Act 20. You might recall that SB 67 creates a “report card holiday” in which district and school report cards would not be published in 2014-15. Also, new law will delay integrating the state assessment into the educator effectiveness (EE) system for one year. The holistic EE system will still be implemented, but will not include results from the Badger Exam.
The SAA supported passage of SB 67.
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