Today (3/17) the U.S. Department of Education announced funding allocations from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) for all 50 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.
The announcement includes a table outlining the individual funding amounts that will be distributed to each state.
These allocations are from the $122 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding
The state Senate approved the following K-12-related bills in floor session on March 16:
Senate Bill 39 (Sen. Stroebel) The bill allows a pupil who attends a virtual charter school to participate in interscholastic athletics and extracurricular activities in the pupil’s resident school district. Such pupils must be allowed to participate on the same basis and to the same extent that the district permits pupils enrolled in the school district to participate. (more…)
Recently, I conducted an interview with Rep. Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek), member of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, to get her thoughts on the governor’s budget proposal for schools. This is the latest in a series of interviews I will be conducting with key state lawmakers to provide legislative insight on the state budget. We thank Rep. Rodriguez for taking the time to join us!
Rep. Rodriguez told me that she is concerned that the level of spending in the governor’s proposal may not be sustainable moving forward. She did feel optimistic, however, that there would ultimately be bipartisan agreement and mentioned special education aid and broadband expansion as shared priorities.
You can watch the full interview below: (more…)
President Joe Biden today signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) into law.
The nearly $1.9 trillion pandemic recovery legislation includes approximately $122.8 billion for K-12 public schools, about $7.17 billion for technology resources for schools to help close the homework gap, and $3 billion for IDEA, among other provisions. The bill also allocates $2.75 billion in dedicated funding for nonpublic schools. (more…)
The Wisconsin Policy Forum has released their state budget brief which “provides an overview of Evers’ proposal while scrutinizing key areas of the budget that require attention regardless of what state lawmakers ultimately approve and send to the governor’s desk.” See the Full Report. (more…)