Expanded School Vouchers Expected to be Part of Budget
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 17, 2013
Comments made by Governor Walker and Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald (as reported by the Green Bay news media) confirm what we have been hearing recently in the Capitol: Governor Walker intends to make expanded school vouchers part of the state budget bill he introduces in mid-February.
The SAA encourages all members to give their Republican legislators one message on this issue at this time:
Don’t put private school voucher expansion in the budget.
We urge lawmakers to ensure that a voucher expansion provision will not be advanced in the biennial budget bill with limited public scrutiny. This proposal represents such a significant education policy change that it must stand as separate legislation and face the scrutiny of a full public hearing before a standing legislative committee. Legislation like this, affecting all Wisconsin school children in such a fundamental way, must be considered in the light of day. Citizens and taxpayers must have their day in court, so to speak.
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Walker on Performance Funding, Failing Schools
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 17, 2013
In conversation with news reporters yesterday, Governor Walker talked more about how schools should be rewarded financially for good performance, much like a company might reward employees who meet production or marketing goals.
In an apparent reference to the Department of Public Instruction’s school “report cards,” Walker said,“We finally now have a comprehensive, objective, transparent system of evaluating schools. Why not use it? Why not put money behind that?”
On the other hand, Walker said, “If you’ve got a school that’s failing, we’ll give you a one-time grant that you could apply for, but only if you can show us how you’re going to use that money to fundamentally turn around your school and change the structure of what you’re doing. I don’t want to give you any more money to fail.”
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State of the State Address
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 16, 2013
In his State of the State Address last night, Governor Walker again spoke of transforming education in Wisconsin but was predictably light on specifics. Several of his comments were worth noting however.
The Governor did say he will provide “a financial incentive for high-performing and rapidly improving schools” in his budget. He also shared that he will “outline a plan to help failing schools fundamentally change their structure and dramatically improve their results”. And finally, Governor Walker again promised to expand the number of educational choices for families in Wisconsin – code for his intention to expand private school vouchers and independent charter schools in Wisconsin.
The SAA will keep the membership informed of developments in these areas as the budget process proceeds. Thanks for listening and thanks for all your efforts on behalf of Wisconsin school children.
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Court of Appeals Requests Additional Briefs Regarding Act 10 Decision
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 11, 2013
The Boardman & Clark law firm recently posted a legal update regarding the request by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals for additional briefs regarding the Dane County Act 10 decision.
The SAA believes this is valuable information for SAA members. We regularly receive these updates and have chosen to distribute this information to the SAA membership with the permission of the Boardman & Clark law firm.
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Fiscal Cliff Fix Means $219 Million Less in Next Biennium
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 3, 2013
Congress’ fix for the fiscal cliff is likely to cost the state $219 million in the next biennium.
The DOA revenue projection released late last year included $219 million in anticipated money from the return of the state’s estate tax. But the fiscal cliff deal extends the federal tax, making estates up to $5 million tax free while raising the top rate to 40 percent for those valued above that mark.
Legislative Fiscal Bureau Director Bob Lang said everything he’d seen so far today on the federal bill indicates the extension of the federal estate tax will prevent the state tax from kicking back in.
DOA estimated in November the state would have $1.5 billion in new general purpose revenue over the upcoming biennium, including the $219 million.
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