State Revenue Estimates Increase By $350 Million

Supporters of great schools got some good news this week when the Legislative Fiscal Bureau reported that state revenues will be $350 million higher than previously anticipated.

Governor Jim Doyle welcomed the news, saying it is a sign that “we can meet our obligations to critical health care for our seniors and working families while still funding the two-thirds commitment to education I outlined in my budget.”

“Funding two-thirds of the cost of every child’s education is a key part of the responsible property tax freeze I have proposed,” Doyle said. “With $350 million in unexpected revenue, there is no reason why the Legislature should not be able to fund education at the level I proposed – making a major commitment to our schools and delivering historic relief to property taxpayers.”

Doyle's budget, which is being reworked by the Republican-controlled Legislature, would meet the state’s commitment to pay two-thirds of the cost of a child’s education – an investment of $850 million in education and property tax relief.

WEAC members are urged to attend Great Schools Lobby Day on June 16 and to use the OnWEAC Cyberlobby to e-mail legislators and ask them to support the governor's budget plan and to make Great Schools a top proirity during the final stages of budget debate.

The governor's budget, as presented to the Legislature, also:

Provides $3 million in fiscal year 2006-07 to assist school districts with the initial cost of starting up 4-year-old kindergarten programs.
Encourages more school districts to implement school breakfast programs by providing a 50-cent increase in the state’s reimbursement rate for school breakfasts.
Provides additional funding for the state to maintain its current share of funding for bilingual-bicultural education aid.
Provides funding to expand the number of advanced placement courses offered in the state and to enhance gifted and talented student programs in middle schools.
Increases funding for special education aid and creates a new program to provide higher levels of aid to school districts with high-cost, low-incidence special education students.
Addresses the concerns of declining-enrollment districts by modifying the revenue limit calculation to provide these districts greater revenue limit authority by using either a three- or five-year rolling enrollment average.
Provides a $16 million increase in pupil transportation aid over the biennium while directing greater increases to school districts with larger geographic service areas and longer travel distances.
Increases the per-student low revenue ceiling, below which school districts are exempt from revenue limits, from $7,800 per student to $8,100 in fiscal year 2005-06 and to $8,400 in 2006-07. Fully funds shared revenue for local governments to protect vital services like police and firefighters.
Provides funding for competitive grants to school districts where school boards and educators are interested in designing compensation systems that reward teachers for acquiring skills and knowledge that have been demonstrated to improve student learning or for accepting hard-to-staff or challenging teacher assignments.
Expands the grant program for teachers who receive certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to include teachers who receive master teacher licenses under the state’s new licensure rules.
Provides $2.6 million to help experienced teacher mentors for beginning educators.
Repeals the Qualified Economic Offer law, although this provision has already been stripped from the budget by Republican legislative leaders.