Assembly Budget Fails to Support Great Schools

The State Assembly Saturday (June 30, 2001) adopted a biennial budget that conflicts sharply with one passed earlier by the Senate. The Assembly budget fails to support great schools.

The Assembly version of the budget stops short of providing children with classrooms that work, does little to maintain great staff in our public schools, and expands programs that will not benefit everyone in the community.

The Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled Assembly immediately began a process for resolving differences between their budget proposals, but observers speculated it could be weeks to months before a final budget is passed on to the governor.

The Legislature was scheduled to complete the budget by June 30, but two years ago, the process was not completed until October. In the interim, current laws and funding policies prevail.

WEAC has joined parents, administrators, local school board members and other supporters of public education to make sure the Legislature makes education a top priority in the budget.

Thousands have lobbied their legislators asking for continued K-3 class size reduction, added flexibility under revenue caps, a fair level of reimbursement for special education costs and support for early childhood learning opportunities.

The Senate version is much more supportive of public education than the Assembly version.

On the postive side, the Assembly maintained inflationary adjustments under revenue caps and provided 40% funding of summer school program costs. It also adopted full funding for the SAGE, K-3 class size reduction program.

These items were included in the Joint Finance Committee version of the budget and are supported by WEAC. However, the Assembly version of the budget failed to achieve many of the other priorities needed to provide every kid with a great school.

The Assembly proposal caps state spending on school building projects at $306 million annually over the next two years, expands the Milwaukee private school voucher program, and cuts funding for 4-year-old kindergarten programs.

It does little to ease the impact of state-imposed revenue caps, which limit the amount of money school districts are entitled to receive in state aids and property taxes, and are keeping many school districts from providing classrooms that work.

Districts are being forced to delay spending on necessities such as building maintenance and the purchase of computers and other technology. They have also cut or eliminated important programs and services for kids.

The State Senate acted on its version of the budget earlier in June.

Highlights of Senate budget package:

Exclude from the Qualified Economic Offer all health insurance premium increases in excess of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
Provide $49 million for revenue cap flexibility by allowing school districts to exceed revenue caps by 1% aided under 2/3.
Provide $26 million in a new categorical aid program for what is know as "low-incidence/high cost" pupils in special education.
Increase special education categorical aids by $15 million.
Provide $2.2 million to require that 4-year-old kindergarten students be treated the same as 5-year-old students for revenue cap and general school aid purposes.
Adopt a recurring $700,000 revenue cap adjustment for school districts with less than 450 students and at least 275 square miles in area.
Delay all current law requirements related to the High School Graduation Test by two years.
Maintain current law regarding school district referenda scheduling thereby allowing districts to choose the dates.
Provide $2.5 million to restore the DPI budget to base level funding and reverse the 5% cut in the agency budget.
Reverse a Joint Finance provision that would require the DPI to submit a plan for distribution of federal aids.
Provide $163,300 annually for the school breakfast program above base level funding of $892,100.
Provide additional funding for BadgerLink, minority precollege scholarships, vocational education consultants, County Children with Disabilities Education Boards and after-school care programs

Private school vouchers:

One of the more controversial components of the Senate budget is a plan to make major changes in the Milwaukee Voucher program. These changes include:

Specifying that schools in the Milwaukee voucher program must comply with the same pupil nondiscrimination statutory requirements as public schools. Require these schools to administer 3rd grade reading comprehension test and require that voucher high schools develop a high school graduation test.
Reducing the per pupil aid payment to voucher students by half.
Eliminating voucher reduction and levy offset provisions, resulting in full state funding of the voucher program from the general fund.
Limiting participation in the voucher program to 10,580 pupils beginning in school year 2002-2003.
Applying the same 40% summer school funding calculation to voucher schools that applies to public school programs.
Providing full state funding of Milwaukee charter schools and reduce the per-pupil payment amount.

The Assembly, on the other hand, voted to expand the Milwaukee private school voucher program.

Assembly Republican budget proposal

Posted June 29, 2001; Updated July 3, 2001