Assembly, Senate Floor Action on Education Bills
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 29, 2021
In floor action yesterday, the GOP-controlled Senate and Assembly acted on a host of education-related bills in their respective houses. The Senate action included passage of a bill imposing a far-reaching requirement for school boards to make available to the public information on instructional materials and educational activities used in instruction.
On the Assembly side, members passed several education-related bills that would impose new instructional and information-posting requirements, as well as new restrictions on what can and cannot be taught in public schools.
A recap of Assembly and Senate floor action on these bills appears below, utilizing the informational resources of The Wheeler Report. It remains to be seen how many of these bills will clear both houses and land on Governor Evers’ desk for his consideration. Please contact the SAA with any questions you may have on these bills.
Senate
SB-358 CESA Employees (Felzkowski, Mary) Exempting cooperative educational service agency employees from wage payment frequency requirements. Passed, (Voice Vote). Messaged. SAA no position.
SB-373 School Finance (Felzkowski, Mary) Making school district and school financial information available to the public. Am. 1 adopted, (Voice Vote). Am.2 adopted, (Voice Vote). Am.4 rejected, 19-12. Passed, 20-11. Messaged. SAA support.
SB-449 School Grants (Wanggaard, Van) Grants to schools to provide critical incident mapping data to law enforcement agencies. Passed, 31-0. Messaged. SAA support.
SB-463 School Boards (Stroebel, Duey) Requiring school boards to make information about learning materials and educational activities used for pupil instruction available to the public. Am. 2 adopted, 18-12. Passed, 19-11. Messaged. SAA oppose.
Assembly
AB-411 Employee Training (Wichgers, Chuck) Anti-racism and anti-sexism pupil instruction and anti-racism and anti-sexism training for employees of school districts and independent charter schools. Am. 1 adopted, (Voice Vote). Passed, 60-38. Messaged. SAA oppose.
AB-435 Cursive Writing (Thiesfeldt, Jeremy) Incorporating cursive writing into the state model English language arts standards and requiring cursive writing in elementary grades. Passed, 59-39. Messaged. SAA oppose.
AB-561 School Board Reporting (Duchow, Cindi) Requiring school boards to report information regarding credit recovery courses. Am. 1 adopted, (Voice Vote). Am. 1 to Am. 2 adopted, (Voice Vote). Am. 2 adopted, (Voice Vote). Am. 3 adopted, (Voice Vote). Passed, 60-38. Messaged. SAA oppose.
AB-563 Civic Education (Vos, Robin) Required instruction in civic education in the elementary and high school grades; high school graduation requirements; and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. Am. 3 adopted, (Voice Vote). Am. 5 adopted, (Voice Vote). Am. 6 tabled, 60-38. Passed, 61-37. Messaged. SAA oppose.
AB-564 Covid Funds (Plumer, Jon) Reports concerning state agency expenditure of federal coronavirus relief funds and allocating federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 funding for grants to school districts, independent charter schools, and private schools for mental health programs. Sub. 2 tabled, 60-38. Passed, 60-38. Messaged. SAA no position.
SB-373 School Finance (Felzkowski, Mary) Making school district and school financial information available to the public. Passed, (Voice Vote). Messaged. SAA support.
SB-463 School Boards (Stroebel, Duey) Requiring school boards to make information about learning materials and educational activities used for pupil instruction available to the public. Passed, 60-38. Messaged. SAA oppose.
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Senate, Assembly to Take Up Education Bills Today
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 28, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …
— The Assembly and Senate, hitting the floor today for the first time during the fall floor period, will take up legislation to require school districts to post more information about what they teach.
AB 488/SB 463 would require school districts to post on their websites learning materials organized by subject area, grade level and teacher. Districts wouldn’t have to post teachers’ lesson plans under an amendment to the bill, though the materials covered would include syllabi, outlines and handouts.
Meanwhile, AB 378/SB 373 would require the Department of Public Instruction to create an online portal that displays financial information from all school districts starting in the 2023-24 school year. Under the bill, an 11-member committee would advise DPI in developing the portal.
— The Assembly has several other education bills on its calendar, including one that GOP backers say would ban teaching critical race theory in K-12 classrooms.
Along with AB 411, the chamber plans to take up AB 414, which would bar anti-racism and sexism training for state and local government employees.
Other education bills on the calendar include:
*AB 435, which would require the state superintendent to incorporate cursive writing into model academic standards for English language arts;
*AB 563, which would require DPI to develop model civics curriculum that includes topics such as an understanding of the founding principles of the U.S., “a sense of civic pride,” and understanding of effectively advocating before governmental bodies and officials.
*AB 564, which would direct Gov. Tony Evers to direct $100 million in ARPA funds to school mental health programs.
See the calendar:
https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/210923Final.pdf
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LFB Releases Estimated School Aids
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 27, 2021
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau released the 2020-21 Estimated State Support for School Districts.
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Underly Delivers State of Education Address
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 23, 2021
Today, State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly delivered her 2021 State of Education Address in Madison.
For a copy of Dr. Underly’s full speech see here.
State of Education Address Excerpts
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An Op-Ed From Our State Superintendent
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 20, 2021
“Don’t let legislative leadership undermine public education in our state”.
That is the title of the message that State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly published to the people of Wisconsin this morning on recent developments in the Wisconsin State Legislature related to K-12 education. In the editorial for publication, Dr. Underly stresses the importance of Wisconsin legislators aiding in resolving the challenges students and educators currently face as they return to school, instead of creating new challenges.
Excerpt: “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: these legislators are using our children as playthings in a political game, and they will not win, but they will hurt our students, our educators, and our democratic principles in the process. Because by attempting to undermine public education by ramming through controversial, misguided, and unexamined bills through the legislative process without providing ample opportunity for public input, they are ultimately undermining democracy and robbing Wisconsinites of their right to civic participation.”
For the full op-ed, visit here.
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