The Assembly Committee on Education will hold a public hearing on Thursday, May 30 at 11:00 a.m. in Room 417 North (GAR Hall) of the State Capitol.
The committee is chaired by state Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac) and is scheduled to take public testimony on three bills: (more…)
On Thursday, May 23 the GOP members of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee (JFC) passed an omnibus motion on K-12 education on a party-line vote. The motion covers two fiscal years (2019-20/1st year & 2020-21/2nd year). The total amount by which state funding for K-12 education is increased over those two years under the motion is approximately $500 million.
Below are highlights of that plan (numbers are rounded): (more…)
While there are relatively few things about public education funding that governors, state legislators and school board members from across the political spectrum agree on, one of them is likely that the federal government is under-funding special education in this country.
A renewed push is now underway for Congress to fully fund the federal commitment under the federal special education law known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). You can join in that effort. (more…)
The latest version of the Marquette Law School Poll was released today. The poll included a question related to increasing special education funding in the 2019-21 state budget.
74% of respondents said they support “a major increase” in state aid for special education:
Should there be “a major increase” in state aid for special education? 74% say yes, 19% say no. #mulawpoll
— MULawPoll (@MULawPoll) April 10, 2019
Governor Tony Evers’ proposed budget calls for significant increases in state special education categorical (SPED) aid that would enable 30% of special education costs to be reimbursed in 2019-20 and 60% in 2020-21.
The current SPED aid amount is estimated to reimburse about 25.3% of special education costs eligible for reimbursement in 2018-19. Without an increase, the reimbursement rate is projected to drop below 25% in the future. (more…)