Ayes: 13 - Representatives Albers, Lorge, F. Lasee, Underheim, Kreibich, Lazich, Hoven, Green, Baldus, Notestein, Robson, Cullen and Ziegelbauer.
Noes: 0.
Referred to committee on Rules.
Sheryl Albers
Chairperson
Committee on Insurance, Securities and Corporate Policy
__________________
The committee on Veterans and Military Affairs reports and recommends:
Assembly Bill 73
Relating to: the national guard tuition grant program and making an appropriation.
Passage:
Ayes: 9 - Representatives Musser, Zukowski, Dobyns, Skindrud, Lorge, Ryba, Boyle, Baldus and Vander Loop.
Noes: 0.
Referred to Joint Committee on Finance.
Assembly Bill 92
Relating to: increasing the minimum pay provided to national guard members and making an appropriation.
Assembly amendment 1 adoption:
Ayes: 8 - Representatives Musser, Zukowski, Dobyns, Skindrud, Lorge, Ryba, Baldus and Vander Loop.
Noes: 1 - Representative Boyle.
Passage:
Ayes: 9 - Representatives Musser, Zukowski, Dobyns, Skindrud, Lorge, Ryba, Boyle, Baldus and Vander Loop.
Noes: 0.
Referred to Joint Committee on Finance.
Terry Musser
Chairperson
Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
January 23, 1995
To the Honorable the Legislature:
A154
We have completed an evaluation of the Children At Risk program as directed by s.
118.153(6), Wis. Stats. The program, created by the Legislature in 1985, is intended to increase the number of students attaining high school diplomas by improving services to those at risk of failing in, or dropping out of, school. The program was appropriated $3.5 million in general purpose revenue for each year of the 1993-95 biennium and is administered by the Department of Public Instruction.
Changes made to the Children At Risk program by
1993 Wisconsin Act 16 have had a significant effect on the distribution of funds to local school districts. As a result of stricter eligibility requirements, substantially fewer school districts and students within those districts are eligible to receive funding.
This narrowing of eligibility has increased the amount of funding distributed to 4 of the 12 school districts eligible to apply for program aid. However, eight other districts, including Kenosha, Milwaukee, and Racine, which were required to apply for program funding because of high numbers of school dropouts, experienced a significant decrease in funding. As a result, we estimate that only 53.4 percent of the program's $3.5 million appropriation, or $1.87 million, will be distributed in the fiscal year 1994-95.
It is unclear whether this shift in funding will address concerns about the program's lack of effect on graduation rates, which we identified in a previous evaluation, particularly since department and district staff have little confidence in the modified program. Therefore, the Legislature needs to consider whether funds currently appropriated for the program should be used for different purposes.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by department staff and staff from the school districts we contacted. The Department of Public Instruction's response is Appendix II.
Sincerely,
dale Cattanach
State Auditor
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
February 7, 1995
To the Honorable the Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program as directed by
1989 Wisconsin Act 336. The choice program provides public funding for low-income students from Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) to attend private schools. In the 1994-95 school year, 830 program participants are attending 12 private schools that will receive $3,209 for each student enrolled. In the first five years of the program, 1,636 students have attended choice schools at a cost of approximately $8.4 million.
Although scores on academic achievement tests have been collected for choice students and two comparison groups of MPS students each year, too few students have taken the tests or have participated in the program for enough years to draw meaningful conclusions about the program's effect on academic achievement. In the 1993-94 school year, only 145 of 733 participants had participated since the program's second year or earlier, participants had been in the program an average of 1.8 years, and the average annual rate of attrition (participants not returning) was 30.3 percent. However, surveys show that parents of participants are more satisfied with choice schools than they were with MPS schools.
The Legislature will need to consider how the various proposals to modify or expand the choice program will address numerous questions, including whether additional children will be permitted to participate; how MPS program offerings and finances will be affected; to what extent more seats in existing or potentially new private schools, including sectarian schools, will be available to choice students; and whether adequate accountability for the use of public funds can be provided without creating unnecessary administrative burdens.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by officials of all the participating schools; other private schools in the Milwaukee area; the Department of Public Instruction; Milwaukee Public Schools; and University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor John Witte and his staff.
Sincerely,
dale cattanach
Sate Auditor
