Currently, DPI annually must identify those school districts that are low in
performance and those schools in which there are pupils who do not meet the state
minimum performance standards. This bill requires DPI to publish and report a list
of the school districts and schools to the governor and the legislature. The bill also
requires the identified school districts to develop improvement plans.
Under current law, a school board may enter into a five-year, achievement
guarantee (SAGE) contract with DPI. In exchange for reducing class size and
meeting certain performance criteria designed to improve academic achievement in
grades kindergarten to three, a school board receives $2,000 for each low-income
pupil enrolled in a school participating in the SAGE program.
This bill allows DPI to renew a SAGE contract for one or more terms of five
years. The bill also provides that a school board that entered into a SAGE contract
in the 2000-01 school year on behalf of a school with a low-income enrollment of less
than 50% is required to maintain the reduced class size in kindergarten and first
grade, as opposed to reducing class size in grades kindergarten to three.
Under current law, DPI must arrange for an annual evaluation of the SAGE
program. This bill requires DPI to select the evaluator of the SAGE program by using
a competitive process that ensures impartiality.
This bill creates a five-member board on education evaluation and
accountability (BEEA) attached to DOA and headed by an executive director. On
July 1, 2002, the bill transfers the pupil assessment program, the school performance
report program, and the responsibility for arranging an evaluation of the SAGE
program from DPI to BEEA. The bill also authorizes BEEA to conduct a study of the
MPCP if BEEA receives sufficient funds from private sources.
Currently, a private school must notify DPI of the school's intent to participate
in the MPCP by May 1 of the previous school year. This bill changes the date to
February 1. The bill also directs DPI to notify the private school by March 1 whether
the private school is eligible to participate in the MPCP. If DPI determines that the
school is ineligible, the notice must include an explanation. The bill allows a private
school 14 days to appeal a negative determination to DPI and requires DPI to decide
the appeal within seven days.
Under current law, a pupil is eligible to participate in the MPCP if he or she is
a member of a family that has a total family income that does not exceed 175% of the
federal poverty level. This bill raises that threshold to 185% and provides that a
pupil who participates in the MPCP may continue to participate in subsequent years
even if the pupil's family income rises above the threshold.
Under current law, only private schools located in the city of Milwaukee may
participate in the MPCP. This bill provides that a private school located outside the
city that is situated on property any portion of which is located in the city may also
participate in the MPCP.
Under current law, a person must hold a license to teach granted by DPI in order
to teach in a public school in this state. In general, licensure requires completion of
a professional education program approved by DPI, including completion of a certain
number of credits in specified subjects, student teaching, a criminal background
investigation, and payment of a fee.
This bill directs DPI, upon the request of a school board, to grant a temporary
initial teaching license to any person who satisfies all of the requirements for an
initial license other than the educational requirements if the school board making
the request intends to employ the person as a teacher and the school board
determines that the person has a bachelor's degree, or at least five years of practical
experience, in a field that is related to the subject that he or she will be teaching, or
served at least five years in the U.S. armed forces and has practical or teaching
experience in a field related to the subject he or she will be teaching. The temporary
license is valid for two years and may not be renewed unless the licensee completes
an alternative teacher training program during the two-year period, in which case
DPI must grant a five-year, renewable, initial teaching license to the person that is
considered retroactively effective to the date that the temporary license was granted.
Recent administrative rules promulgated by DPI establish three levels of
teacher licensure: initial educator, professional educator, and master educator. This
bill directs DPI to grant an initial license to teach to any person who holds a valid
license as a teacher issued by another state and also directs DPI to grant the highest
level of license (currently, the master educator license) to any person who holds a
valid license as a teacher issued by another state and is certified by the National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Under current law, DPI awards grants to Wisconsin residents who are licensed
by DPI and employed as teachers in Wisconsin and who are certified by the National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards. This bill eliminates the grant program's
residency requirement.
With certain exceptions, current law requires that bilingual-bicultural
education programs be taught by bilingual teachers. This bill eliminates this
requirement for programs in grades kindergarten to eight.
Current law requires DPI to revoke, without a hearing, a license granted by DPI
if the licensee is convicted of any of a number of specified crimes. In addition, DPI
may revoke a license, with a hearing, if the licensee is incompetent or behaves
immorally. This bill requires DPI to revoke a license, without a hearing, if the
licensee is convicted of a crime in another state or another country that is
substantially similar to one of the specified crimes and allows DPI to impose
conditions or restrictions on a license or suspend a license, with a hearing, if the
licensee is incompetent or behaves immorally.
Current law prohibits DPI from granting a license to a person convicted of a
number of specified crimes or of crime in another country or state that is equivalent
to one of the specified crimes. This bill prohibits DPI from granting a license to a
person convicted of a number of specified crimes or of a crime in another state or
country that is substantially similar to one of the specified crimes.
Under the common law, a court may deny public inspection of a record created
or maintained by a public entity if the custodian of the record demonstrates that the
public interest in nondisclosure of the information contained in the record outweighs
the strong public interest in disclosure. This bill requires an educational agency (in
general, a school district or a CESA) to release to DPI all records relating to an
employee or former employee of the educational agency who is licensed by DPI if DPI
has commenced an investigation to determine whether to initiate license limitation,
suspension, or revocation proceedings. The bill also requires DPI to keep this
released information confidential.
Current law generally prohibits the disclosure of the results of criminal
background investigations conducted by DOJ or the federal bureau of investigation
for DPI. This bill requires DPI to disclose the results of criminal background
investigations to an educational agency if the subject of the criminal background
investigation is employed by or applying for employment with the educational
agency and if the educational agency requests the information and the employee or
applicant consents. The bill also requires the educational agency to keep this
released information confidential.
Under current law, school districts, CESAs, counties, and operators of
Milwaukee charter schools are eligible to receive aid to reimburse them for certain
costs of providing special education, such as the cost of salaries of special education
teachers and the cost of transporting special education pupils to school. When
distributing special education aid, DPI must first distribute aid for the full cost of
special education for children in hospitals and convalescent homes for orthopedically
disabled children. If the remaining sum of money appropriated to reimburse other
special education costs is insufficient, DPI must prorate the remaining aid, leaving
some eligible entities with unreimbursed special education costs.
This bill provides that a portion of the aid paid to school districts and the
Milwaukee charter schools for special education is based on the number of pupils
enrolled in the school district or charter school, and a portion is based upon the
number of pupils enrolled in the school district or charter school who are eligible for
a free or reduced-price lunch under federal law.
The bill also provides supplemental special education aid to school districts,
CESAs, counties, and Milwaukee charter school operators if their special education
costs per pupil equals or exceeds $50,000. The amount of this supplemental aid for
a "high-cost" special education pupil equals 50% of the difference between $50,000
and the unreimbursed special education costs. In addition, DPI must first distribute
the supplemental aid, along with the aid for children in hospitals and convalescent
homes, before distributing aid for other special education services.
This bill provides that the individualized education program team, appointed
by a local educational agency or LEA (a school district, CESA, county, or Milwaukee
charter school operator) to evaluate a child to determine whether the child is disabled
and to develop an individualized education program for a child with a disability, is
not responsible for determining the appropriate special education placement for the
child. Under the bill, the LEA is responsible for determining the child's placement.
The bill directs DPI to ensure, to the extent practicable, that all rules
promulgated by DPI that relate to special education are identical to federal
regulations that relate to special education.
Current law generally limits the increase in the total amount of revenue per
pupil that a school district may receive from general school aids and property taxes
in a school year to the amount of revenue increase allowed per pupil in the previous
school year increased by the percentage change in the consumer price index. Several
exceptions to this revenue limit exist, including an exception for a school district with
a per pupil base revenue for the previous school year that is less than the statutorily
prescribed revenue ceiling of $6,500 per pupil. Such a school district is allowed to
increase its per pupil revenue up to this ceiling without holding a referendum.
This bill eliminates the inflation adjustment beginning in the 2001-02 school
year and sets the amount at $220.29 per pupil for the 2001-02 school year and for
each subsequent school year. The bill also changes the revenue ceiling to $6,700 per
pupil for the 2001-02 school year and to $6,900 per pupil in subsequent school years.
Under current law, if a school district exceeds its revenue limit, DPI must
deduct from the district's state aid payments an amount equal to the excess revenue.
If the amount is insufficient to cover the excess revenue, the statutes direct DPI to
order the school board to reduce the property tax obligations of its taxpayers by an
amount that represents the remainder of the excess revenue.
This bill provides that DPI's order to reduce the property tax obligations of a
school district's taxpayers does not apply to property taxes levied for the purpose of
paying the principal and interest on debt validly issued by the school board. Under
article XI, section 3 (3), of the Wisconsin Constitution, when a school district borrows
money it must levy an irrepealable tax sufficient to pay the principal of and interest
on the debt.
Under current law, if a school district's revenue is less than its revenue limit,
it may carry over 75% of its unused revenue-limit authority to the next school year.
In addition, each fall DPI calculates the total amount of state aid that each school
district will receive in the current school year and makes any necessary adjustments
to that calculation by increasing or decreasing state aid paid in the following
September.
This bill provides that a school district whose aid is increased by DPI in
September of the following school year and whose aid increase is less than its unused
revenue-limit authority may carry over as unused revenue-limit authority an
amount equal to the amount of the additional September aid plus an amount
calculated by determining its unused revenue-limit authority and multiplying the
difference between the remainder and the amount of additional September aid by
0.75. If the school district's increase in aid is equal to or greater than its unused
revenue-limit authority, the bill provides that the school district may carry over
100% of its unused revenue-limit authority.
Under current law, 40% of a school district's summer enrollment is included in
its enrollment count when the school district's revenue limit is calculated. This bill
reduces this percentage to 25% by the 2003-04 school year.
Currently, the general school aid formula provides three tiers of state support
for the public schools. The second tier of support is for costs per student between
$1,000 and the secondary cost ceiling. Currently, the secondary cost ceiling per pupil
is the prior year's secondary cost ceiling per pupil adjusted by the rate of inflation.
This bill sets the secondary cost ceiling per pupil at $6,900 in the 2001-02 school year
and $7,300 in the 2002-03 school year. Thereafter, the secondary cost ceiling per
pupil is the prior year's cost ceiling adjusted for inflation.
Current law guarantees that a school district will receive in "special
adjustment aid" sufficient funds to ensure that it receives at least 85% of its prior
year's payment of general school aid. In addition, each fall DPI calculates the total
amount of state aid that each school district will receive in the current school year
and makes any necessary adjustments to that calculation by increasing or
decreasing state aid paid in the following September. This bill provides that DPI may
not consider the amount of this adjustment of state aid in calculating special
adjustment aid.
Under current law, referenda are required or authorized to be held by school
districts to incur debt or exceed state revenue limits, or to exceed the levy rate limit
for a school construction fund that is applicable only to the Milwaukee Public Schools
(MPS). These referenda are required or authorized to be held at special elections
when no offices appear on the ballot. This bill provides that the referenda must be
held concurrently with the spring election (held in each year) or the general election
(held in each even-numbered year), or on the Tuesday after the first Monday in
November in an odd-numbered year.
Under current law, a public school may not begin the school term until
September 1 unless it holds a public hearing on the issue and adopts a resolution.
The hearing must be held no earlier than the preceding July 1. Beginning in the
2002-03 school year, this bill allows the hearing to be held as early as the preceding
May 1. The bill also prohibits classes from being held on August 30, 2001, and August
31, 2002.
Under current law, a school district is required to bargain collectively in good
faith with the majority representative of its employees in a collective bargaining unit
concerning the wages, hours, and conditions of employment of the employees.
Among the subjects that are mandatory subjects of collective bargaining is any
school calendaring proposal that is primarily related to wages, hours, and conditions
of employment. This bill provides that a school district may not bargain collectively
with respect to the establishment of the school calendar, but expressly requires that
a school district must bargain collectively with respect to the impact of any school
calendar decision on wages, hours, and conditions of employment.
Current law authorizes the MPS board to contract with any nonsectarian
private school located in the city to provide educational programs for pupils enrolled
in the school district (educational services statute). The MPS board may also close
any school that it determines is low in performance (school closing statute). If the
MPS board closes a school or reopens a school that has been closed, the
superintendent of schools may reassign the school's staff without regard to seniority
in service. In addition, the MPS board is prohibited from bargaining collectively with
respect to: 1) the board's decision to contract with a private nonsectarian school or
private nonsectarian agency in the city to provide educational programs to pupils,
or the impact of any such decision on the wages, hours, or conditions of employment
of the employees who perform those services; or 2) the reassignment of employees
who perform services for the board, with or without regard to seniority, as the result
of a decision of the board to close or reopen a school or to contract with an individual
to operate a charter school or to convert a school to a charter school, or the impact
of any such reassignment on the wages, hours, or conditions of employment of the
employees who perform those services (collective bargaining statute). This bill
extends the educational services, school closing, and collective bargaining statutes
to cover all school boards.
Current law allows two or more school districts to consolidate. On the effective
date of the consolidation, employees of the consolidating school districts become
employees of the new consolidated school district. This bill authorizes the school
district administrator of the new consolidated school district, for 60 days after the
effective date of the consolidation, to lay off or reassign school district employees
without regard to seniority in service. In addition, the bill provides that any such
layoff or reassignment of school district employees is a prohibited subject of collective
bargaining.
This bill directs DPI to award grants to up to six school boards on behalf of
schools that demonstrate improved academic performance and to promulgate rules
to implement the grant program that include, as performance criteria, dropout rates,
improvement in pupils' performance and in teachers' knowledge and skills,
graduation rates, and the number of teachers who have received national board
certification. DPI must ensure that the grants do not exceed $2,000 multiplied by
the number of employees in all schools in the school district that meet the
performance criteria contained in DPI's rules.
Under current law, a school district may not provide to its professional
employees who are not in collective bargaining units an average increase in
compensation and fringe benefits that has an average cost per employee exceeding
3.8% of the average total cost per employee of compensation and fringe benefits
provided by the school district to such employees for the preceding 12-month period
ending on June 30 or the average total percentage increased cost per employee of
compensation and fringe benefits provided to its professional employees who are in
collective bargaining units during the 12-month period ending on June 30 preceding
the date that the increase becomes effective, whichever is greater. This bill provides
that any compensation received by professional employees who are not in collective
bargaining units from school performance grants is not subject to this limitation on
compensation and fringe benefit costs.
Current law exempts computers from property taxation. This bill provides that
the amounts received by school districts to compensate them for the reduction in
their tax base due to the property tax exemption for computers is included in their
shared cost for the purpose of computing general aid.
This bill directs DPI to award grants to CESAs to fund the development, for
school districts, of education services that are unrelated to instruction. The bill also
directs DPI to award grants to two or more school districts that are considering
consolidating or coordinating the provision of educational services for the purpose of
studying the feasibility of the consolidation or coordination.
Currently, under the Open Enrollment Program, a pupil may attend any public
school located outside his or her school district of residence if the pupil's parent
complies with certain application procedures. A school board may, however, deny an
open enrollment application if the school district does not have enough space for the
pupil. In determining the availability of space, a school board may consider class size
limits, pupil-teacher ratios, nonresident pupils whose school district of residence
pays tuition to the nonresident school district, and enrollment projections. If the
school board receives more open enrollment applications than it has spaces, the
school board must select pupils randomly. A school board must also give preference
in accepting open enrollment applications to pupils already attending school
(continuing pupils) and their siblings.
In McMorrow v. State Superintendent of Public Instruction, John T. Benson, No.
99-1288 (July 25, 2000), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that the requirement
that a school board give preference in accepting open enrollment applications to
continuing pupils and their siblings applies only when there are spaces available in
the first place; when there are more applicants than available spaces, the pupils
accepted must be determined randomly. The court also held that a school board may
not include continuing pupils in its space determination. This bill permits a school
board to adopt policies that include continuing pupils and their siblings in space
determinations and allows a school board to give preference in accepting the open
enrollment applications of continuing pupils and their siblings, even if the school
board determines that it does not have space for the pupils.
In administering the open enrollment program, DPI annually adjusts each
school district's share of state aid depending upon whether the district has more or
fewer nonresidents attending the district than it has residents attending other
districts. The per pupil adjustment is based upon the statewide average per pupil
cost for regular instruction, cocurricular activities, instructional support services,
and pupil support services. This bill bases the adjustment on two-thirds of the total
statewide average per pupil cost.
Currently, with certain exceptions, if a pupil attends a public school outside the
school district in which the pupil resides, the pupil's parent or guardian pays tuition.
Tuition is currently the statewide average per pupil cost for regular instruction,
cocurricular activities, instructional support services, and pupil support services.
Under this bill, beginning in the 2002-03 school year, tuition is two-thirds of the
total statewide average per pupil cost.
This bill creates an 11-member committee, appointed by the governor, to
review and make recommendations for modifying DPI's administrative rules. The
committee must identify those rules that are outmoded, impede innovation, cause
inefficiencies, or fail to promote academic achievement, and those rules that should
not apply to school districts that are granted extended flexibility status. DPI must
review the committee's recommendations and propose modifications to its rules
based on those recommendations.
This bill directs DPI to submit to the governor and to DOA a plan for the
reorganization of the division for learning support and instructional services in DPI.
The plan must provide for the creation of a bureau for school improvement to provide
on-site, technical assistance to schools and school districts, especially schools and
school districts that are low in performance. If the plan is approved by the governor,
the bureau must consist of school performance teams, each of which must include one
licensed teacher employed by a school district and assigned to DPI under an
interagency exchange agreement.
This bill prohibits DPI from promulgating a rule that relates to distance
education without the approval of the secretary of administration, the technical
college system board, and the technology for educational achievement in Wisconsin
board.
This bill directs DPI to distribute to school districts the maximum amount of
federal aid that is allowed under federal law, except for those funds provided for
administrative purposes.
This bill directs DPI to ensure that the vocational education consultants
employed by DPI coordinate their activities with the staff of the governor's
work-based learning board.
Currently, the state pays public school tuition for any pupil in a foster home,
treatment foster home, or group home if the home is located outside the school
district in which the pupil's parent or guardian resides and the home is exempt from
property taxation. Under this bill, the state also pays public school tuition for any
pupil who resides in a foster home, treatment foster home, or group home if the home
is located outside the school district in which the pupil's parent or guardian resides
and the pupil receives special education, even if the home is subject to property
taxation, if at least 4% of the school district's enrollment resides in such homes that
are subject to property taxation.
Under current law, towns, villages, cities, counties, public inland protection
and rehabilitation districts, town sanitary districts, metropolitan sewerage districts,
joint sewerage systems, school districts, technical college districts, cooperative
educational service agencies, and consortia of two or more school districts, technical
college districts, counties, cities, villages, or towns may obtain state trust fund loans
from the board of commissioners of public lands. Currently, a federated public
library system whose territory lies within one county is considered to be an agency
of that county and, therefore, may obtain a state trust fund loan through the county.
This bill permits a federated public library system whose territory lies within two or
more counties, which is a separate legal entity from the counties participating in that
system, to obtain a state trust fund loan.
This bill requires DPI to charge school districts a fee for the use of BadgerLink,
which provides statewide access, through the Internet, to periodical and reference
information databases.
Higher education
Current law prohibits the UW board of regents (board) from increasing
resident, undergraduate tuition beyond an amount that is sufficient to fund certain
costs, such as compensation and fringe benefits for UW employees and the costs of
nontraditional courses, but permits the board to spend the entire amount of tuition
received. Beginning in the 2002-03 academic year, this bill eliminates the
restrictions on increasing resident undergraduate tuition.
