WEAC Legislative Update, October 14, 2011
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Charter school legislation is currently pending (Senate Bill 22/Assembly Bill 51) that would create a state authorizing board that could establish charter schools with or without the consent of local school districts. The bill also would facilitate the expansion of virtual charter schools, run by private companies.
WEAC opposes this legislation and encourages you to contact your legislators.
This legislation would expand for-profit and non-profit forms of private schooling, advancing corporate interests over democratically controlled public education.
Actions speak louder than words
It’s one thing to talk about high standards and a world class education system – which we’ve heard a lot about from Governor Walker and other state leaders, but a number of the bills under discussion in Madison don’t match the rhetoric. Here’s an overview:
High school credit for hunter safety (AB 311)
For example, recently proposed legislation would require schools to grant high school credit for students completing a bow-hunting or trapper education program. These are not academic programs and should not count toward graduation. What will future generations say about today’s politicians? As the nation faces unprecedented economic recession, unemployment, and global climate change, some Republicans are responding to these crises by suggesting we enact fur trapping as part of the high school curriculum.
Hunting and trapping may be worthy skills for recreation, but one hopes they will not become part of 21st Century academic standards.
Alternative graduation diplomas (LRB 3108/LRB 3093)
As part of his special session, Governor Walker is advancing legislation that would allow school boards to grant an alternative vocational high school diploma to students even though they have not earned the basic 13 credits required for graduation.
Wisconsin already lags behind other states across the nation in the number of credits required for graduation. Neighboring states like Minnesota, for example, require 21.5 credits, Iowa requires 21, and Illinois and Michigan require 16. It is essential that Wisconsin maintains at least the 13 credit minimum for high school graduation.
Moreover, with this proposal, school boards across the state could adopt different standards for the proposed vocational diploma. This would create uncertainty for future employers who won’t know what skills and competencies students have. Students themselves also could be misled, falsely believing that the alternative diploma satisfies admission requirements to institutes of higher learning.
Everyone supports vocational and technical education and we need more investments to ensure that all children have the opportunity to acquire the skills they need. Current paths already exist within the high school curriculum for students to obtain credits through the youth options program and they also can earn credits at vocational and technical colleges. There is no need to water down academic standards to improve vocational/technical education. If we want to provide more vocational opportunities for children, we should build on the programs we already have.
Human growth and development (LRB 2088)
Some Republicans also want to grant communities the power to block sex education. This legislation “recognizes that appropriate sex education instruction varies between communities,” allowing communities to decide what aspects of human health they want their children to learn.
The proposed legislation also would force school districts to emphasize that abstinence is the only reliable method for avoiding pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
The bill would put an end to the practice of outside volunteer health care providers giving instruction in sexual education. Under current law, members of groups such as Planned Parenthood are able to instruct children in contraception services.
This legislation is a classic example of conservative attempts to replace science with ideology.
In the final analysis, the bill amounts to nothing more than political posturing. Parents already have the right under Wisconsin law to withhold their children from such classes.
Actions speak louder than words
All told, these pieces of legislation represent the hypocrisy of the conservative agenda. Conservatives attack public education in every manner possible –including for supposed low standards—but then go ahead and introduce measures that weaken the quality of education received by our children. Passing off hobbies as academic subjects, lowering graduation standards, and outlawing the teaching of science are actions that harm Wisconsin’s high quality system of public education.
Did You Know?
Under recent legislative changes, Governor Walker has the power to approve rules and regulations issued by a vast array of departments and agencies, including the Government Accountability Board (GAB), which oversees elections. Historically, each state agency had the power to promulgate its own rules and regulations.
Governor Walker was granted the power to set agency rules, even though he has no background or experience in a wide range of issues that confront the state, including environmental regulations, federal programs, and education.
Along with this change comes a conflict of interest as the governor has the authority—through his Department of Administration—to direct rule-making at the GAB, which will oversee the upcoming recall election. Recently, the GAB yielded to pressure from Republicans on a couple of important issues related to the recall election, including the use of student IDs and procedures to secure recall petitions.
Wisconsin has a long and proud tradition of clean and open government, but this power grab turns that tradition on its head. The governor should not be granted authority over an agency that is supposed to be an independent watchdog for the people, ensuring fair and open elections. This is especially true when the election involves the governor himself.
Drafted legislation (LRB 3102/1) would amend current law and once again establish the GAB as an independent agency able to establish its own administrative rules without governor approval. State Senator Fred Risser and Representative Gary Hebl should be thanked for their efforts to re-establish clean government in Wisconsin. We’ll keep you posted about how this story progresses.
For more on this issue, click here.
Untitled Document WEAC Legislative Update, October 7, 2011
More included in this Update:
What about Jobs?
Governor Walker’s Approach:
Governor Walker is calling another special session to focus on jobs. The Legislature, however, already is in session, making a special session unnecessary. The two sessions will run side by side. Special sessions allow for certain legislative actions (not allowed in regular session) that can be used to block and prevent debate. Once again the governor is unnecessarily thwarting the democratic process to force through changes he desires.
Many of the proposals do nothing to help working families but instead advance corporate power. In the upcoming special session the governor will introduce bills for:
- Increasing the weight and size of trucks for transportation
- Reforming tort law to protect companies from liability
- Changing wetland and water quality oversight for DNR, and
- Allowing temporary increases in electric rates to promote development.
With these proposals, corporate power is expanded while the health, protection and safety of our families are eroded.
In the first special session on jobs, when the governor essentially eliminated the right of working men and women to organize, the Legislature enacted $2.1 billion in tax cuts, the bulk of which will go to major corporations during the next 10 years. These cuts were enacted with NO provisions that companies create jobs for the benefits they received, and the revenue shortfalls will further harm the state’s treasury for years to come.
Everyone wants jobs, but don’t be fooled by the rhetoric. Taxes today are the lowest they have been in 50 years, but yet the nation is still reeling from an ongoing recession with more unemployed people than any time since the Great Depression. More tax cuts will not help put people back to work. Instead, we need proposals that invest in our future, along with explicit plans to create jobs. Corporate giveaways have done nothing to help families get ahead and elected officials now need to focus on how best to help families.
President Obama’s Approach:
President Obama is offering a very different approach to job creation. The president has proposed “The American Jobs Act” and is traveling the country calling on Congress to pass the bill. The bill includes a major education jobs component – $30 billion to save jobs, including educators – and a large investment in the nation’s infrastructure, including $30 billion to help modernize America’s school buildings and community colleges. The American Jobs Act would put 280,000 educators back to work, invest in community colleges, and create jobs modernizing 35,000 schools from coast to coast.
The NEA and WEAC encourage members to tell Congress to put Americans back to work and ensure our children the education they deserve by supporting the president’s American Jobs Act. Members can send a message to their congressperson through WEAC’s cyberlobby page.
WEAC members are also encouraged to share your story on the NEA’s “Education Votes” webpage at educationvotes.nea.org. We all know that budget cuts are happening in schools across the Wisconsin, but we need your help to gauge the impact these cuts are having on your schools and students. Has your school moved to a four-day school week, cut after-school programs, or dropped foreign languages? Is your school in need of maintenance or supplies? Let us know how budget woes are affecting your school. The NEA will use your stories to help put pressure on members of Congress to do the right thing and focus on creating a great public school for every student.
What’s happening to our schools?
Voucher program
The Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) Board adopted a proposal to separate the voucher school levy from the tax levy used by MPS. The Milwaukee Legislative Caucus sent a letter of support to the Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett backing the change.
Under current law, MPS is required to levy the full amount of local funding needed to support the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). Last year, the district was forced to levy $50 million for private schools – about 17 percent of its total levy. In the past, local outrage about high property taxes forced MPS to reduce its levy, while by law it was compelled to levy the full amount for voucher schools. By separating the two levies, taxpayers will be able to identify the cost of the voucher program, which to date has been hidden within the MPS levy.
This proposal is especially important given recent legislative changes that expanded the voucher program to include higher income families. As the cost increases, MPS will be under more and more political pressure as it is forced to increase its property taxes to fund a private program. This biennium, school aid was cut by almost $1 billion, forcing MPS and other districts to make significant cuts. At the same time, the Legislature increased spending for private schools by about $17 million. While the Legislature has the prerogative to decrease funding for public schools while expanding private forms of schooling, the current practice of forcing MPS to pay for voucher schools from its own levy is wrong-headed. Costs for voucher schools should be fully transparent and held up for taxpayer accountability just like costs for public schooling.
Senate Bill 174
The state budget recently expanded the voucher program to Racine and opened up the possibility of additional voucher cities in the future. Trailer legislation (SB 174) is pending that would prevent the spread of vouchers to more school districts without specific legislative authorization. WEAC supports this legislation and encourages you to contact your legislators. SB 174 passed out of the Senate education committee this week and is expected to pass the State Senate. The future of the bill is more uncertain in the Assembly, so WEAC is encouraging members to step up their communications to Assembly Representatives. Tell your representative to stop the expansion of voucher schools and support SB 174.
Charter schools
Charter school legislation is currently pending (Senate Bill 22/Assembly Bill 51) that would create a state authorizing board that could establish charter schools with or without the consent of local school districts. The bill modifies teaching licensure requirements, and allows more funding for independent – so called 2r charters – which are non-instrumentality schools, especially by expanding virtual education. Instrumentality charter schools are run by a local school district, while independent charters are authorized by other agencies, can be run by private or for-profit companies, and can hire non-union staff.
The bill would create a new agency to authorize schools in the state, which would compete with the Department of Public Instruction. The state authorizing board would have members appointed predominately by the governor. Because the state’s constitution provides explicit authority to the Department of Public Instruction to oversee and regulate education in Wisconsin, passage of the legislation raises potential constitutional issues.
WEAC opposes this legislation and encourages you to contact your legislators.
The current Legislature continues to promote corporate forms of education, such as tax-supported voucher schools and privately run charters, which also use tax dollars. Wisconsin already is a national leader in charter schools. It serves as a model in how it creates charters, with the majority being overseen by existing school districts, and it is ranked in the top 10 nationally on the total number of charter schools offered. Current legislative proposals, which would take away local control from school districts, appear more intent on expanding tax-supported, corporate and for-profit schooling than on providing quality options for children.
Did you know?
When the state budget was passed, the Legislature forfeited its responsibility to make specific policy decisions regarding Medicaid. It instead empowered the head of the Department of Health Services (DHS) – a political appointee – to make changes to the program. Whether or not an unelected official should have the power to unilaterally enact policy is an open question confronting the state.
The DHS recently announced plans to cut $554 million from Medicaid, which could affect some 215,000 participants by changing health care eligibility requirements and increasing copayments for premiums. Medicaid – which is used in part to fund BaderCare Plus – serves low-income residents.
Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith warned that some 53,000 adults could be dropped from coverage if the federal government does not agree to waivers sought by the state. Those waivers would weaken health care protections just enacted by the federal health care law of 2010.
This update is compiled by the WEAC Quality & Education Advocacy Department