To committee on Education.
Assembly Bill 238
Relating to: pupils who are excused from public school health education.
By
Representatives Grobschmidt, Ziegelbauer, Nass, Brandemuehl, Duff, Otte, Ward, Lehman, Olsen, Baldus, Albers, Hanson, Goetsch, L. Young, Grothman, Hahn, Handrick, Lazich, Owens, Schneiders, Seratti, Silbaugh, Vrakas, Walker and Springer; cosponsored by Senators Schultz, Rude, Buettner, Drzewiecki, Farrow and Weeden
.
To committee on Education.
Assembly Bill 239
Relating to: interest on escrow accounts.
By
Representatives R. Young, Musser, Huber, Johnsrud, Baldwin, Bell, Notestein, Gronemus, Bock, L. Young and Boyle; cosponsored by Senators Wineke and Chvala
.
To committee on Financial Institutions.
Assembly Bill 240
Relating to: exempting certain land from tax-exempt property reporting requirements.
By
Representatives Ward, Musser, Seratti, Porter, Gard, Huber, Ladwig and La Fave; cosponsored by Senators Drzewiecki, Petak and Huelsman
.
To committee on Mandates.
Assembly Bill 241
Relating to: permitting exchange of certain confidential client information among subunits of the same county departments of social services and developmental disabilities services and expanding the exchange of certain confidential client information among subunits of county departments of human services and community programs.
By
Representatives Ward, Olsen, Ziegelbauer, Lehman, Ainsworth, Freese, Prosser, Zukowski, Owens, Hahn, F. Lasee, Musser, Silbaugh, Seratti, Goetsch, Porter, Gard, Ladwig, Handrick and Grothman; cosponsored by Senators Rude, Buettner, Panzer, Weeden and Schultz
.
To committee on Mandates.
Assembly Bill 242
Relating to: requirements for admission to high school.
By
Representatives Handrick, Goetsch, Grothman, Musser, Otte, Owens, Silbaugh, Skindrud and Jensen
.
To committee on Education.
Assembly Bill 243
Relating to: standards of need and benefits under the general relief program.
By
Representatives Prosser, Krusick, Wasserman, Gunderson and Walker
.
To committee on Mandates.
__________________
Communications
March 15, 1995
Charles R. Sanders
Assistant Chief Clerk
Wisconsin State Assembly
Suite 402, 1 East Main Street
Madison, WI 53708
Dear Mr. Sanders:
On March 13, 1995, Assembly Bill 196, relating to the operation of all-terrain vehicles by minors, was initially referred to the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources. Under the authority provided by Assembly Rule
42(3)(c), I hereby withdraw Assembly Bill 196 from the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources and rerefer it to the Assembly Committee on Tourism and Recreation.
Representative DuWayne Johnsrud, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, has consented to this rereferral.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very truly yours,
David Prosser, Jr.
Assembly Speaker
__________________
Referral of agency reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Social Services
Madison
January 1, 1995
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To the Honorable the Assembly:
Attached, pursuant to
1993 Wisconsin Act 98, is the final report of the Task Force on Improving Services to Children and Families. This report was developed by the Task Force in consultation with a local advisory group. The report:
1. describes barriers to collaboration between schools and social services agencies;
2. provides an analysis of state law revisions and federal waivers of law revisions needed to enhance collaboration; and
3. provides an inventory of state and federal programs and funding sources that serve children and families.
Although this report, along with the recommendations submitted to Governor Thompson on October 1, 1994, fulfill the mandate to the Task Force, the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Public Instruction will continue to work together to improve collaboration and to enhance the delivery of services to children and families in Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
richard w. lorang
Acting Secretary, DHSS
Referred to committee on Children and Families.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Social Services
Madison
January 3, 1995
To the Honorable the Assembly:
1993 Wisconsin Act 251, Section
19(2)(a)(1), requires the Department of Health and Social Services to submit to the chief clerk of each house of the Legislature a report that describes how emergency medical services can be organized on a regional basis. Attached is the Department's report.
Departmental staff are available if you have any questions or desire any additional information.
Sincerely,
Richard W. Lorang
Acting Secretary, DHSS
Referred to committee on Health.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Social Services
Madison
January 5, 1995
To the Honorable the Assembly:
Section
46.03(26) of the statutes requires the Department of Health and Social Services to report annually on information system projects under development. The attached report is a summary of the departmental systems currently under development.
Sincerely,
Richard w. lorang
Acting Secretary, DHSS
Referred to Joint Committee on Information Policy.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction
Madison
January 6, 1995
To the Honorable the Assembly:
As required by s.119.23, Wis. Stats. enclosed for distribution to the appropriate standing committees is the fourth-year report on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Authored by John Witte, professor with The Robert M. LaFollette Institute of Public Affairs and the Department of Political Science of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the report is comprehensive and balanced in its independent review of the program.
Among the findings of the report are the following:
* The vast majority of evidence presented in the report is consistent with and confirms the evidence contained in the three previous reports.
* The program accomplishes its intent of making alternative school choices available to low-income families in Milwaukee.
* The number of students participating has increased each year, from 341 in fall 1990, to 521 in fall 1991, to 608 in fall 1992, to 742 in fall 1993, to 830 in fall 1994. Eligible number of students is 1,450 in 1994-95, or 1.5 percent of the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) enrollment.
* The number of participating schools was seven in 1990-91, six in 1991-92, 11 in 1992-93, and 12 in 1993-94 and in the current school year. Approximately 11 other nonsectarian schools in Milwaukee could participate in the choice program.
* The attrition rate, which was very high, is declining. Excluding graduates and non-alternative schools, the attrition rate from school choice schools was 44 percent between the first and second years, The second-year attrition rate was 32 percent; third year, 28 percent; and fourth year, 23 percent. Attrition rates are higher with alternative schools included: 46 percent in the first year, 35 percent in the second, 31 percent in the third, and 27 percent in the fourth year.
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* Pupil attendance in the choice schools is high but only slightly higher than MPS. Attendance by choice students in the non-alternative schools (thus excluding Exito and Learning Enterprises for 1993-94) averaged 94 percent in 1990-91, 92 percent in 1991-92, 92.5 percent in 1992-93 and 93 percent in 1993-94. Average attendance in MPS elementary schools in the last three years has been 92 percent each year.
* The researchers found no systematic evidence that choice students do either better or worse than MPS students on achievement tests, once test scores are controlled for gender, race, income, grade, and prior achievement. Choice students' reading scores increased the first year, fell substantially in the second year, and have remained approximately the same in the third and fourth years. In math, choice students were essentially the same in the first two years but recorded a significant increase in the third, followed by a significant decline this last year.
* Parental attitudes toward choice schools and the education of their children were much more positive than their evaluations of their prior public schools. Similarly, parental involvement, more frequent than for the average MPS parent in prior schools, was even greater for most activities in the choice schools.
* The choice students come from poor, often single-parent households. Similar to MPS parents, approximately 60 percent are receiving AFDC or public assistance. The parents also expressed considerable dissatisfaction with prior public schools, and based on prior test scores, there is clear evidence that their children were not doing well in those schools (both in relative and absolute terms).
* Parents reported high satisfaction with information and assistance received from choice schools and the Department of Public Instruction.
