Assembly Bill 624129March 24, 2006
Sincerely,
Douglas La Follette
Secretary of State
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Joint Legislative Council
Madison
March 8, 2006
Mr. Patrick Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 401
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Patrick:
I am pleased to transmit to you the following report to the 2005 Legislature on legislation introduced by the Joint Legislative Council:
RL 2005-15 Special Committee on Election Law Review
I would appreciate your including this letter in the Journal for the information of the membership. Additional copies of this report are available in the Legislative Council Staff offices, One East Main, Suite 401, or from our web page at
www.legis.state.wi.us/lc
Sincerely,
Terry C. Anderson
Director
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Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
March 2, 2006
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
As required by
2001 Wisconsin Act 57, we have completed an evaluation of the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which is a statewide educational resource for students and their parents and teachers. The program is administered by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). As part of the program, Act 57 directed DPI to continue operating the residential Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan, to offer youth summer programs, and to provide outreach services to school districts statewide. In fiscal year 2004-05, the program spent $11.0 million and was authorized 135.6 full-time equivalent positions. Outreach activities accounted for $1.1 million, or 10.0 percent, of all expenditures in that year.
Enrollment in the residential school decreased from 165 students in the 2000-01 school year to 142 students in the 2004-05 school year. If enrollment continues to decline, staffing changes may need to be considered. We include a recommendation for DPI to report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on its efforts to monitor classroom staffing ratios.
Outreach services have grown significantly, corresponding with additional statutory authority. Outreach staff now provide consultation services for local school districts. In addition, training sessions have increased, and distance learning courses in American Sign Language are provided. We include a recommendation for DPI to update the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on the results of its efforts to increase the technological resources needed to provide additional distance learning courses statewide.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DPI. Its response follows the report.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
