Walker: Any Uptick in Revenue Should Go to K-12
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 23, 2015
Governor Scott Walker signaled Wednesday that state tax projections due next month would modestly beat expectations, saying large windfalls were unlikely and any extra money should be channeled to public schools.
See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel news article here.
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More Letters, Resolutions
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 20, 2015
Here are some more letters to legislators and board resolutions from the Adams-Friendship, Marathon, Nekoosa and Oconto Falls school districts.
Oconto Falls Letter to Legislators
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JFC Acts on Local Government Property Insurance Fund
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 18, 2015
?The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) on Friday modified the Governor’s recommendation to cease operations of the local government property insurance fund. The motion, authored by Senator Howard Marklein and ultimately passing 16-0, delays the termination of the local government property insurance fund policies by two years and would require the Insurance Commissioner to adopt the policy rates and structure recommended by the Advisory Committee at its April 2015 meeting. The final date for the issuance of new policies remains at July 1, 2015. The last date for renewal of existing policies moves to January 1, 2018. The last date for filing claims moves to July 1, 2019.
The modification is certainly better than the Governor’s original recommendation. The extended delay gives policyholders time to thoroughly consider available options. It also provides time for other lower-cost providers (the League of Municipalities and the Counties Association have expressed interest) to enter the market, make coverage available to school districts and provide competition.
A lengthy debate on the issue took place among committee members prior to passage of Senator Marklein’s motion. Committee Democrats made motions to simply eliminate the Governor’s recommendation from the budget bill and to provide a revenue cap exemption for any increase in premium costs due to the elimination of the local government property insurance fund. Both of these motions failed on 4-12 party line votes.
The SAA would like to thank those committee members that supported the interests of public school districts in this debate. We also thank Senator Howard Marklein for his thoughtfulness and leadership in authoring the compromise motion that modified the Governor’s recommendation.
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Poll: 78% Oppose School Aid Cuts
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 17, 2015
As Governor Scott Walker moves closer to a formal announcement that he will run for president, the latest Marquette University Law School poll shows Walker’s job approval rating among Wisconsin voters has slipped since last fall.
Voters also strongly oppose — at 78% — Walker’s plan to cut aid to schools by $127 million. Nearly as many, 70%, oppose Walker’s plan to cut $300 million to the University of Wisconsin System.
See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel news article here.
Also see Marquette Law School Blog Post on the poll here.
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Assembly, Senate Still at Odds Over School Accountability
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 16, 2015
From WisPolitics:
The Assembly and Senate authors of school accountability bills continue to be at odds.
Sen. Paul Farrow, lead author of his chamber’s version and chair of the Education Reform and Government Operations Committee, introduced a substitute amendment yesterday to his version of the bill. Farrow, R-Pewaukee, said it includes no sanctions and would give DPI six months to come up with a new formula for the report cards that would be used to determine which schools are underperforming.
Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, whose version of the bill includes sanctions for failing schools, said the latest Senate version has no chance of passing the Assembly Education Committee he chairs.
“Not only does this bill do little to help failing or struggling schools but it actually removes requirements to help them improve,” said Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac. “Furthermore, this bill does not address standardized testing, educational standards, waivers for small schools and provides no prescription of the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s job duties. We ultimately have a status quo bill with accountability in name only.”
Farrow has said he does not support the Assembly version of the bill, and the guv has called on lawmakers to approve an accountability package that provides parents information on school performance but no sanctions.
See the substitute amendment here.
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