Erpenbach Won’t Seek Re-election
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 8, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …Longtime Dem state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, a member of the Finance Committee and a former Senate minority leader, announced today he won’t seek re-election in 2022.Erpenbach, 60, is the first Dem lawmaker to announce plans to retire ahead of the 2022 elections.He was first elected to the Senate in 1998 and was unopposed for reelection four years later. It has been a solidly Dem seat since.Erpenbach thanked those who have supported him as well as the public employees “that work hard day in and day out to help legislators like me and the constituents we represent.”“I will miss spending time with all of the wonderful people across the state of Wisconsin that I have met along the way. I will also miss my Capitol parking space!” said Erpenbach, who often cracks jokes during debate on the Senate floor and in Finance.See the release here.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports | No Comments »
Assembly Committee to Take Up Post-Secondary Ban on Teaching CRT
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 8, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …The Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee today will exec legislation that backers say would ban teaching critical race theory on UW and tech college system campuses.AB 413 would also prohibit race and sex stereotyping in training provided to employees in both systems.The bill that would impose a similar ban on K-12 schools — AB 411 — cleared the Assembly 60-38 in September.See the hearing notice here.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
WPF: Property Taxes Set for Lowest Increase in Two Years
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 7, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …Property taxpayers are in line for smaller increases this month than they saw in the last two years, thanks to a bump in school levies, a drop for tech colleges and a rise in a state tax credit, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.With information on municipality property tax levies not available until next year, the group looked at the other major components of taxpayers’ bills in drawing its conclusion.The Wisconsin Policy Forum, which does a look at statewide property tax levies each December, found gross property tax levies for K-12 school districts are going up 0.3 percent to $5.4 billion. Property taxes for K-12 education make up the largest portion of a homeowners’ bill, and the coming increase is the smallest since the 0.1 percent hike in 2016.The Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s preliminary look at property taxes under the 2021-23 budget suggested K-12 levies would drop slightly on the 2022 bills going out this month. But the Wisconsin Policy Forum found a slight increase due to several factors, including local referendums approved by voters.The group noted that in the 115 districts that have passed a referendum since January 2020, property taxes for the 2021-22 school year will increase about 1.9 percent. In the 306 that haven’t, levies will decrease by about 0.5 percent.Meanwhile, the rise in voucher school enrollment is also impacting school levies. Districts that lose state aid because students leave for the choice program can increase property taxes to help make up for the lost state aid. Voucher enrollment rose 6.6 percent to 48,919 students in 2021-22.On other portions of the property tax bill:*county levies will rise by 2.3 percent, similar to the increase from the previous year.*levies for the state’s 16 tech college districts will fall by 3.4 percent — just the second drop in the last two decades — due to additional state aid.*levies for more than 500 special districts will grow by 2.5 percent to $122.7 million. More than 86 percent of that will be from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Its levy grew by 3 percent, while all other special districts combined by a 0.5 percent decrease.The group also noted its analysis looked at gross property tax levies before state credits are applied. That includes the state lottery credit, which is expected to rise by $85 million this year and should help hold down overall increases.See the report here.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
JFC Co-chairs Take Issue with USDE Action on State ESSER Plan
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 7, 2021
From WisPolitics.com . . .
The GOP Joint Finance Committee co-chairs are calling politically motivated the U.S. Department of Education’s issue with how the committee approved using some COVID-19 relief money for schools.Meanwhile, the state Department of Public Instruction says it will work with the Biden administration and lawmakers to resolve the issue.DPI announced yesterday the feds had signed off on most of the state’s plan for $1.5 billion in COVID-19 funds under ARPA. But it placed a hold on 5 percent of the money that the Joint Finance Committee directed to small, rural schools that had provided in-person instruction during the pandemic.The feds had required states to use the disputed money to support students most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That included a requirement that the money be used for learning loss, after school programs and summer schools address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student groups such as those who are homeless or are in foster care.In May, the committee reworked DPI’s plan for $154 million in federal money to create a pot of grants that were earmarked for districts that had provided in-person instruction for at least 50 percent of the 2020-21 school year. The committee also voted along party lines to give a priority to small, rural districts.The feds’ concern impacts $77 million of that money.At the time, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau said it was unclear whether the feds would sign off on the JFC plan. Still, the agency noted federal guidance on COVID funds had been constantly evolving and if the Biden administration decided the state plan was inadequate, it would be up to DPI to try amending it until a proposal was approved.“We at the DPI are committed to working with legislative leaders and the USDE to address this issue,” said state Superintendent Jill Underly. “We all share a mutual interest in doing what is best for Wisconsin’s students, and that means supporting our learners as thoroughly and expediently as possible.”JFC Co-chairs Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, accused DPI of working “behind the scenes with their political counterparts in Washington D.C. to find ways to deny our efforts to reward schools that did the hard work of educating our kids in person during a pandemic.”“Our local school leaders, teachers, school boards, legislators and parents have been working very hard to do what is best for our kids, while government bureaucrats have been playing games with the funds that should be available to educate our kids. It’s time to do what is right,” they said.See the DPI release here.
See the Born and Marklein statement here.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
State Superintendent Statement on ESSER III Plan Approval by USDE
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 6, 2021
State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly issued the following statement today in response to the U.S. Department of Education approving Wisconsin’s American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief plan.
“Today, we received notification that the United States Department of Education has approved 95 percent of our ESSER III application. That means school districts will begin receiving much-needed federal relief in the coming weeks. This support will allow them to pursue innovative approaches to address the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic, and to begin the process of addressing the new normal for learners, their families, our educators, and our communities.
“We at the DPI are committed to working with legislative leaders and the USDE to address this issue. We all share a mutual interest in doing what is best for Wisconsin’s students, and that means supporting our learners as thoroughly and expediently as possible.”
For the full statement and additional information on approval of the plan, visit https://dpi.wi.gov/news/releases/2021/jill-underly-esser-iii-arpa-statement.
See USDE Approval Letter here.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »