by Chris Kulow | Sep 20, 2019 | State Issue
The co-chairs of the Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding, Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) and Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon), have introduced legislation that would count full-day 4K students as 1.0 pupil for funding purposes (see more info below). This is based on a recommendation from the commission and is supported by the WASB.
We encourage you to contact your state legislators to urge support of companion bills Senate Bill 408 and Assembly Bill 465. Neither bill has been scheduled for a public hearing yet in the respective education committees. We will keep you up to date here and if this would be a benefit to your district, please consider coming to testify at a hearing. (more…)
by Dan Rossmiller | Sep 6, 2019 | State Budget, State Issue
Split party control of Wisconsin state government appears to have greatly slowed the flow of legislation being enacted into law in the current 2019-20 legislative session and it appears unlikely the pace will pick up anytime soon.
According to the Wheeler Report, neither the state Senate nor the state Assembly are expected to meet in floor session during the month of September. Lawmakers had set aside the period from Sept. 17 to 26 for a floor period when they organized the session schedule back in January. The next scheduled floor period is October 8-10. (more…)
by Chris Kulow | Aug 26, 2019 | State Budget, State Issue
WisconsinEye recently sat down with key state legislative leaders on K-12 education to discuss a variety of issues as we begin the new school year. State Senators Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) & Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) and State Reps. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac) & Sondy Pope (D-Mt. Horeb) sat down with Steve Walters to discuss a variety of topics including the state budget, school funding challenges, school vouchers, charter schools and more.
Access the full video here.
by Chris Kulow | Aug 15, 2019 | Federal Budget, National Issue, State Budget
New research continues to show that funding does matter in education. From Chalkbeat:
“A 2018 overview of the research on education spending found that more money consistently meant better outcomes for students — higher test scores, higher graduation rates, and sometimes even higher wages as adults. It was enough for Northwestern economist Kirabo Jackson to say the question was ‘essentially settled.’
“Since then, the research hits have just kept on coming.”
Included in the story are four new studies from around the country, including one in Wisconsin: (more…)
by Dan Rossmiller | Aug 7, 2019 | State Issue
A report released recently by Forward Analytics entitled, “An Economic Evolution: Job Growth, Pay and Education Since 2012,” shows Wisconsin’s economy is growing but is evolving into one in which jobs require more education and skills.
While Wisconsin job growth has been strong over the past six years and has helped to drive down the unemployment rate to record lows, the report suggests occupational data from 2012 to 2018 contradict the notion that most of the jobs are at the lower end of the pay scale. Instead, the report documents an economy in which job growth is generally not occurring in low paying occupations, but rather in those occupations further up the pay scale–occupations that disproportionately require post-secondary education.
(more…)
