On Feb. 26, the Wisconsin Association of School Boards held its first “Capitol Chat” webinar.
The event — hosted by Dan Rossmiller and Chris Kulow — updated members on the latest legislative topics, including:
Watch below: (more…)
Earlier this week I conducted a brief interview with Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac), Chair of the Assembly Committee on Education, to get his thoughts on the governor’s budget proposal for schools and a couple other K-12 bills he has authored this session. Key takeaways include the impact that federal COVID relief funding will have on the willingness of legislators to agree to state funding increases for schools and the high level of interest in providing funding based on in-person instruction.
You can watch the full conversation below: (more…)
The state Senate Committee on Education, chaired by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, February 23 at 10:30 am in room 411 South of the State Capitol. The committee will consider several appointments and receive public testimony on the following bills:
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. (more…)
Governor Tony Evers’ state budget was introduced last evening (2/16) in a budget address to lawmakers and contains a strong public school funding component, including significant investments in top WASB funding priorities. Find more budget details in the following documents, beginning at the page noted in parentheses: Budget in Brief (p. 13); Full Document (p. 485), Legislative Reference Bureau Analysis (p. 32).
Below we look at our budget priorities, as laid out in our WASB Legislative Agenda, and how the governor’s proposal addresses each priority. (more…)
Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) Executive Director John Ashley issued the following statement in reaction to Gov. Evers’ 2021-23 state budget proposal:
The WASB commends Gov. Tony Evers for proposing a state budget that includes a significant boost in state funding for our preK-12 public schools.
These state dollars are critical to ensuring that our state’s 421 school districts can serve our students as schools navigate the challenges of returning to in-person instruction with COVID-19 mitigation procedures and protocols.
These resources are also critical as we continue to strive for educational equity and closing our state’s significant achievement gaps and addressing the disruption in learning caused by the pandemic.
We thank Gov. Evers for the school funding increases in his state budget proposal and pledge to work with him and the state Legislature to secure support for a state budget that provides the crucial state investments our school districts need.