Schools to Receive $30.2 Million in Library Aid
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 10, 2014
The DPI announced today that public schools throughout Wisconsin will share $30.2 million in library aid which will be paid April 28 from the Common School Fund. Aid is based on the number of children between the ages of 4 and 20 living in each public school district. Funding is up from last year. This year’s aid payment will be $24.95 (rounded) per child.
For more information including estimated district aid payments see DPI News Release.
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Walker Signs SB 271 Into Law
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 9, 2014
Governor Walker signed Senate Bill 271, relating to privately-contracted special education substitute teachers and para-educators, into law yesterday as Wisconsin Act 255.
In recent years, increasing numbers of Wisconsin school districts have turned to contracting for substitute teacher and para-educator placements with private staffing services. However, until now school districts could not receive state special education aid for the costs of contracting with a staffing service for special education substitutes. Senate Bill 271, authored by Senator Olsen and Representative Kestell with the SAA’s strong support, solves this problem by explicitly authorizing school districts to contract with staffing services and makes the costs eligible for special education aid. The provisions of this law become effective with aid paid in 2014-15 for expenditures made in the current school year.
Special thanks go to Senator Olsen and Representative Kestell for bringing the legislation forward and for allowing the SAA to participate in the bill development process.
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Walker Signs 180-day Bill Into Law
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 9, 2014
Governor Scott Walker signed Senate Bill 589, relating to the number of school days and hours of instruction held in a school year, into law yesterday as Wisconsin Act 257.
Act 257 eliminates the 180-day requirement and retains the minimum instructional time requirement. The new law also ensures that a school district employing a flexible year-round instructional calendar can receive state aid for pupils during both summer school and interim session classes. In this fashion, Act 257 removes a current law impediment (loss of summer school aid) to school districts exploring innovative year-round schooling.
The removal of the 180-day requirement became effective with the Governor’s signature, therefore the 180-day requirement ceases to exist. Districts can use this new calendar flexibility for this school year.
The SAA strongly supported this legislation from its inception. Special thanks to Senator Luther Olsen and Representative Steve Kestell for bringing this legislation forward and for allowing the SAA to participate in the bill development process.
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Newsweek: Telecom Giants Drag Their Feet on Broadband
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 3, 2014
After making a big, bold promise to wire every corner of America, the telecom giants are running away from their vow to provide nationwide broadband service by 2020. For almost 20 years, AT&T, Verizon and the other big players have collected hundreds of billions of dollars through rate increases and surcharges to finance that ambitious plan, but after wiring the high-density big cities, they now say it’s too expensive to connect the rest of the country. But they’d like to keep all that money they banked for the project.
See the full article here.
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Really? You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me! (Part Two)
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 3, 2014
The head-scratching situation coming from the 6th Congressional District Republican Caucus continues. Danny Krueger, of the Columbia County Republican Party, has issued an “Open Letter to Senator Scott Fitzgerald” in which he urges Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald to remove Senator Olsen from his position as Chairman of the Senate Education Committee and appoint Olsen to a different committee.
What a brilliant suggestion! Clearly, the Legislature’s foremost authority on education policy has no business chairing the Senate Education Committee. What?
Even Mr. Krueger acknowledged that this situation “is no longer rational”, albeit for different reasons than I hold. Nonetheless, I find it easy to take him at his word, literally.
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