2017 Wisconsin Act 59, the 2017 biennial budget, created a process that allows
the per pupil payment under the SNSP and the transfer amount for a child with a
disability in the full-time open enrollment program to be determined based on the
actual costs to educate the pupil in the previous school year, as reported by the
private school or the nonresident school district. The first SNSP payments and
full-time open enrollment transfer amounts based on the actual costs were paid in
the 2019-2020 school year.
The bill repeals the process for determining SNSP per pupil payments and
full-time open enrollment transfer amounts based on actual costs and reinstates the
per pupil payment amount under the SNSP and the full-time open enrollment
transfer amount for a child with a disability that existed prior to the 2017 biennial
budget. Under the bill, the SNSP per pupil amount and the full-time open
enrollment transfer amount for children with disabilities is the same for all pupils
and is determined by law. In the 2020-21 school year, the amount is $12,977.
Statewide and Racine parental choice programs; previous school year
attendance requirement
Under current law, a pupil must satisfy at least one of the following to be eligible
to participate in the statewide parental choice program or the RPCP: 1) the pupil was
enrolled in a public school in the previous school year; 2) the pupil was not enrolled
in school in the previous school year; 3) the pupil attended a private school in the
statewide parental choice program, RPCP, or MPCP in the previous school year; 4)
the pupil was on a waiting list to attend a private school in the statewide parental
choice program, RPCP, or MPCP in the previous school year; 5) the pupil attended
school in another state in the previous school year; or 6) the pupil is enrolling in
kindergarten, first grade, or ninth grade in the current school year.
For purposes of this requirement, the bill specifies that a pupil is “enrolled in
a public school in the previous school year” if 1) the pupil was counted in a school
district's membership count, which means the pupil was counted as being enrolled
in a school district on at least one of the count dates during the previous year, or
attended an independent charter school in the previous school year; and 2) the pupil
did not attend a private school during the previous school year.
Milwaukee Parental Choice Program; first class city school levy aid
Under current law, the estimated cost of the payments made to private schools
participating in the MPCP is partially offset by two reductions in the general school
aid otherwise paid to the Milwaukee Public Schools. For the 2010-11 school year and
in each school year thereafter, one of the reductions to MPS is an amount equal to
6.6 percent of the cost of payments made to private schools participating in the
MPCP. Current law requires DPI to pay an amount equal to that reduction amount
to the City of Milwaukee and requires the City of Milwaukee to pay that amount to
the board of school directors of MPS. The bill eliminates the 6.6 percent aid reduction
and the requirements that the reduction amount be paid by DPI to the city and by
the city to the board. The bill does not make any changes to the other state aid
reduction.
Teacher licensure in parental choice programs and in the Special Needs
Scholarship Program
With certain exceptions, the bill requires that, beginning on July 1, 2024,
teachers at private schools participating in a parental choice program or in the SNSP
must hold a license or permit issued by DPI. Under current law, teachers at choice
schools must have at least a bachelor's degree from a nationally or regionally
accredited institution of higher education, but they are not required to be licensed
by DPI. There are no current law requirements regarding who may teach at SNSP
schools.
The bill provides an exception for a teacher who teaches only courses in
rabbinical studies. In addition, the bill provides a grace period for a teacher who has
been teaching for at least the five consecutive years immediately preceding July 1,
2024, which allows the teacher to apply for a temporary, nonrenewable waiver of the
licensure requirement. An applicant for a waiver must submit a plan for becoming
licensed as required under the bill.
Special Needs Scholarship Program; religious activity opt-out
The bill provides that a private school participating in the SNSP must allow a
child attending the private school under the SNSP to refrain from participating in
any religious activity if the child's parent submits to the child's teacher or the private
school's principal a written request that the child be exempt from such activities.
Special Needs Scholarship Program; requirement for schools to participate
in parental choice program
The bill provides that a private school that begins participating in the SNSP in
the 2022-23 school year or any school year thereafter may participate only if the
private school also participates in a parental choice program.
Transportation aid; full-time open enrollment and early college credit
programs
Under current law, a parent or guardian of a pupil attending a public school in
a nonresident school district under the full-time open enrollment program or of a
public or private high school pupil attending an institution of higher education under
the early college credit program may apply to DPI for reimbursement for the costs
of transporting the pupil to the nonresident school district or the institution of higher
education. Under current law, the reimbursements for transportation costs for both
the full-time open enrollment program and the early college credit program are
funded from a single sum certain, annual appropriation. Under the bill,
reimbursements for transportation costs related to each program are funded from
separate sum certain appropriations.
Annual charter school authorizer report
Under current law, a school board, the OEO, the City of Milwaukee, the
chancellor of an institution in the UW System, a technical college district board, the
county executive of Waukesha County, the college of Menominee Nation, and the Lac
Courte Oreilles Ojibwa community college may contract with a person to operate a
charter school. These entities are commonly referred to as charter school
authorizers.
Current law requires each charter school authorizer to annually submit to DPI
and the chief clerk of each house of the legislature a report that includes specific
information about each charter school authorized by the charter school authorizer,
services provided by the charter school authorizer, and the charter school
authorizer's operating costs. The bill eliminates this requirement.
Per pupil payment to independent charter schools authorized by a tribal
college
A charter school authorized by a charter school authorizer other than a school
board is commonly known as an independent charter school. Under current law, DPI
pays a different per pupil amount to an independent charter school authorized by a
tribal college than it pays to other independent charter schools.
Under current law, the per pupil payment to an independent charter school
authorized by a tribal college is based on the per pupil academic base funding the
federal Bureau of Indian Education provides to tribal schools under federal law. In
the 2020-21 school year, the per pupil amount paid to an independent charter school
authorized by a tribal college is $8,719. The per pupil amount paid to an independent
charter school authorized by an authorizer other than a tribal college is set by law.
In the 2020-21 school year, the per pupil payment amount to an independent charter
school authorized by an authorizer other than a tribal college is $9,165.
The bill eliminates the different per pupil amount paid to independent charter
schools authorized by a tribal college. Under the bill, beginning in the 2021-22
school year, DPI pays the same per pupil amount to all independent charter schools.
Early College Credit Program; pupils attending an independent charter
school
Under current law, public and private high school pupils may enroll in an
institution of higher education for the purpose of taking one or more courses to earn
high school credit or postsecondary credit or both. This program is known as the
Early College Credit Program. The bill makes various technical changes to the
ECCP to ensure that the program is accessible to public high school pupils who
attend independent charter schools. Under current law, the only secondary
educational entity referenced in the ECCP for a public high school pupil is the school
board of the school district in which the pupil is enrolled. A public high school pupil
who attends an independent charter school is not enrolled in a school district. The
bill adds throughout the ECCP the governing board of the independent charter
school the pupil attends as the relevant secondary educational entity for a public
high school pupil who attends an independent charter school.
County children with disabilities education boards; pupils attending a
school district under the full-time open enrollment program
Under current law, a county children with disabilities education board may
provide a special education program to pupils enrolled in or attending a school
district if the school board has agreed to be included in the CCDEB's special
education program. If a CCDEB is fiscally independent from the school districts that
participate in its program, the state provides state aid to the CCDEB. In the 2019-20
school year, there were three fiscally independent CCDEBs.
Under current law, one of the factors used to calculate state aid paid to a
CCDEB is determined by recalculating a participating school district's equalization
aid by adding resident pupils solely enrolled in the CCDEB program to the district's
membership and by adding the costs of the services provided by the CCDEB to all
resident pupils to the school district's shared costs. Under the bill, nonresident
pupils attending the school district under the full-time open enrollment program are
included in this calculation.
Current law provides a minimum per pupil revenue limit for school districts,
known as the revenue ceiling. Under current law, a school district qualifies for the
revenue ceiling if its base revenue per pupil is less than the revenue ceiling. Under
current law, the per pupil revenue ceiling is $10,000 in the 2020-21 school year and
each school year thereafter.
Under current law, the costs of services provided to resident pupils who were
solely enrolled in a CCDEB program in the previous school year are included in a
school district's base revenue per pupil amount. Under the bill, the costs of services
provided to nonresident pupils attending a school district under the full-time open
enrollment program who are solely enrolled in a CCDEB program are also included
in the school district's base revenue per pupil.
Opportunity Schools and Partnership Programs
The bill repeals the Opportunity Schools and Partnership Programs. Under
current law, there are three OSPPs: a first class city OSPP applicable only to
Milwaukee Public Schools; the MPS superintendent of schools OSPP; and the OSPP
for certain eligible school districts. Current law provides that the first class city
OSPP and each eligible school district OSPP are under the supervision of a
commissioner appointed by the county executive of the county in which the school
district is located. Currently, under each OSPP, the commissioner, or MPS
superintendent of schools, grants supervision over the operation and general
management of each eligible school in the school district to an entity other than the
school board. Those entities include a person that operates a charter school and the
governing body of a nonsectarian private school participating in a parental choice
program. Under current law, an eligible school is a school that was assigned to the
lowest performance category on the most recent accountability report published for
the school.
Primary and secondary education: administrative and other funding
GED test fee payments
The bill requires DPI to pay the $30 testing service fee for an individual who
takes a content area test given under the general educational development test
(commonly called the GED test). The GED test consists of four separate content area
tests that cover mathematical reasoning, reasoning through language arts, social
studies, and science. Under the bill, an individual who takes a GED content area test
to earn a High School Equivalency Diploma (commonly called an HSED) is also
eligible for the payment. Under the bill, DPI will pay for an individual to take all four
content area tests in each calendar year.
In order to be eligible for the payment, an individual must satisfy DPI's
requirements for the individual to receive a Certificate of General Educational
Development or an HSED from DPI. Among other things, DPI requires that the
individual meet certain residency and minimum age requirements and attend a
counseling session. The individual also must obtain a passing score on a GED
practice test for the content area (commonly called a GED Ready practice test).
Grants to replace race-based nicknames, logos, mascots, or team names
associated with American Indians
The bill authorizes DPI to award a grant to a school board that terminates the
use of a race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name that is associated with a
federally recognized American Indian tribe or American Indians, in general. Under
the bill, a school board is eligible for a grant whether or not the school board decides
to terminate the use of a race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name
voluntarily or in response to an objection to its use or in compliance with an order
issued by the Division of Hearings and Appeals to terminate the use of the
race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name. The bill specifies that the amount
of the grant may not exceed the greater of $50,000 or the actual cost incurred by the
school board to replace the race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name. Under
the bill, these grants are funded from Indian gaming receipts.
American Indian studies; curriculum and instruction
Current law provides a list of standards, including standards relating to
curriculum and instruction, by which school boards must abide. The list of standards
includes a requirement that each school board provide, as part of its social studies
curriculum, instruction in the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of the federally
recognized American Indian tribes and bands in Wisconsin at least twice in the
elementary grades and at least once in the high school grades.
Under the bill, beginning on September 1, 2022, each school board must
provide, as part of its social studies curriculum, instruction in the culture, tribal
sovereignty, and contemporary and historical significant events of the federally
recognized American Indian tribes and bands in Wisconsin at least four times in the
elementary grades. The bill specifically requires that the instruction be provided at
least once in grades kindergarten to two, at least once in grades three to five, and at
least twice in grades six to eight. The bill also requires that the instruction be
provided as part of the high school curriculum at least once in each of the high school
grades, including at least once as part of the high school social studies curriculum.
Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the bill also requires that each private
school participating in a parental choice program and each independent charter
school include instruction in the culture, tribal sovereignty, and contemporary and
historical significant events of the federally recognized American Indian tribes and
bands in Wisconsin in its curriculum at least twice in the elementary grades and at
least once in the high school grades.
American Indian studies; teaching license requirement
Current law generally prohibits DPI from issuing a teaching license to an
individual unless the individual has received instruction in minority group relations,
including instruction in the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of the federally
recognized American Indian tribes and bands in Wisconsin. Under the bill, the
minority group relationship instruction required for a teaching license must include
instruction in the culture, tribal sovereignty, and contemporary and historical
significant events of the federally recognized American Indian tribes and bands in
Wisconsin.
Climate change in model academic standards
The bill requires DPI to incorporate an understanding of climate, the
interconnected nature of climate change, the potential local and global impacts of
climate change, and individual and societal actions that may mitigate the harmful
effects of climate change into DPI's model academic standards for science;
agriculture, food and natural resources; english language arts; environmental
literacy and sustainability; social studies; nutrition education; and mathematics.
While not required by current law, DPI has adopted model academic standards in
each of these subjects. Under current law, DPI must incorporate the history of
organized labor and the collective bargaining process into its model academic
standards for social studies.
Prohibiting vaping on school property
The bill prohibits individuals from vaping on school premises. Under the bill,
“school premises” is defined as any real property owned by, rented by, or under the
control of a school board, operator or governing board of an independent charter
school, or governing body of a private school. “School premises” includes outdoor
spaces such as playgrounds and athletic fields. The bill defines vaping as inhaling
or exhaling vapor from a vapor product, regardless of whether the liquid or other
substance being heated to produce the vapor contains nicotine. Under current law,
a school board, operator or governing board of an independent charter school, and
governing body of a private school may prohibit vaping on school premises under its
respective control.
Grants to support City Year Milwaukee
The bill requires DPI to annually distribute to City Year, Inc., to support City
Year Milwaukee all amounts appropriated to DPI for that purpose. City Year, Inc.,
is a nonprofit organization that partners with systemically under-resourced public
schools in communities across the United States and abroad to help pupils graduate
from high school with the skills necessary for success in college, career, and life.
Bullying prevention grants
Under current law, DPI must award grants to a nonprofit organization to
provide training and an online bullying prevention curriculum for pupils in grades
kindergarten to eight. Beginning in the 2021-22 fiscal year, the bill requires DPI to
award a bullying prevention grant to the nonprofit organization that received a
bullying prevention grant in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years. In the 2019-20
and 2020-21 fiscal years, DPI awarded a bullying prevention grant to the Children's
Hospital of Wisconsin.
Mental health training program for school districts and independent
charter schools
Under current law, DPI must provide trainings to school districts and
independent charter schools on three specific evidence-based strategies to address
student mental health: Screening, Brief Interventions, and Referral to Treatment;
Trauma Sensitive Schools; and Youth Mental Health First Aid. The bill adds social
and emotional learning to the list of evidence-based strategies on which DPI must
provide trainings to school districts and independent charter schools.
Recollection Wisconsin
The bill creates a sum certain appropriation to provide GPR funding to
Wisconsin Library Services, Inc., commonly known as WiLS, to support the
digitization of historic materials in public libraries throughout the state. The bill
also requires DPI to distribute annually the amount appropriated for this purpose
to WiLS. The collaborative administered by WiLS to digitize and make available
historic materials throughout the state is known as Recollection Wisconsin.
Truancy abatement and burglary suppression; Milwaukee public schools
Under current law, all school boards are authorized to establish one or more
youth service centers for the counseling of children who are taken into custody for
truancy. Current law also provides specific requirements that apply only to the
school board of MPS related to these youth service centers and truancy abatement.
Under current law, the MPS school board is required to establish two youth
service centers to provide counseling to children who are taken into custody for
truancy and must contract with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee to
operate these youth service centers. Additionally, current law requires the MPS
school board to pay to the City of Milwaukee the amount of funding necessary to
employ four law enforcement officers to work on truancy abatement and burglary
suppression on a full-time basis. The bill eliminates these requirements.
Fees for licensing school and public library personnel; appropriation
changes
Under current law, 90 percent of the fees collected by DPI for licensing school
and public library personnel and for school districts to participate in DPI's teacher
improvement program are credited to an annual sum certain appropriation. The
remaining 10 percent of these fees are deposited into the general fund under current
law. The bill changes this annual sum certain appropriation to a continuing
appropriation and requires that 100 percent of the total fees collected by DPI be
credited to the appropriation. Under current law and the bill, the purposes of the
appropriation are for 1) DPI's administrative costs related to licensing school and
public library personnel; 2) if DPI exercises its authority to provide information and
analysis of the professional school personnel supply in this state, the costs of
providing that information and analysis; and 3) DPI's teacher improvement
program.
Report on homeless children and youths
The bill requires DPI to annually submit a report to the legislature on the
number of homeless children and youths in the public schools of this state. Under
the bill, “homeless children and youths” is defined by reference to federal law
providing homeless assistance.
Higher education
Resident undergraduate tuition freeze
The bill prohibits the Board of Regents of the UW System from charging
resident undergraduate academic fees in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years
that are more than the fees charged in the 2020-21 academic year.
Tuition promise grant program
The bill creates a new grant program administered by the Board of Regents.
This program provides grants in the form of “last-dollar awards” to supplement the
gap between any scholarships or grants that an eligible student receives outside of
this program and the full cost of tuition and segregated fees during either eight
consecutive semesters for incoming freshmen or four consecutive semesters for
incoming transfer students. Summer terms are not counted in the consecutive
semester count, and students may not receive the grants for summer terms.
Students eligible for the grants must be new incoming students enrolled in their first
bachelor's degree whose household federal adjusted gross income is equal to or less
than $60,000 a year, and must be enrolled in an on-campus program at a UW System
institution other than UW-Madison. The bill requires the Board of Regents to
promulgate rules to implement and administer the grant program.
Student loan servicers; Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman
The bill creates an Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman (office) in DFI and
requires student loan servicers to be licensed by this office. The bill contains a
variety of provisions governing student education loans, student loan borrowers, and
student loan servicers. Under the bill, a “student education loan" means a loan that
is extended to a student loan borrower expressly for postsecondary education
expenses or related expenses. A “student loan borrower" means a resident of this
state who has received or agreed to pay a student education loan or a person who
shares legal responsibility for repaying the loan. A “student loan servicer" means a
person responsible for the servicing of a student education loan, but excludes certain
state-regulated financial service providers. “Servicing” means receiving scheduled
periodic payments from a student loan borrower; applying payments received from
a student loan borrower; and performing other administrative services with respect
to a student education loan.
The bill requires a student loan servicer, wherever located, to be licensed by the
office before directly or indirectly engaging in servicing student education loans in
this state. A student loan servicer must hold a separate license for each of its places
of business and the student loan servicer may not act under any name or at any place
of business that is not identified in the license.
The bill imposes numerous requirements on student loan servicers, including
requirements relating to all of the following:
1. Responding to written inquiries from student loan borrowers.
2. Handling and applying “nonconforming payments," defined as payments on
student education loans that are different from the required payments.
3. Responsibilities if there is a sale, assignment, or other transfer of the
servicing of a student education loan.
4. Maintaining and making available to the office records related to student
education loan transactions.
The bill also prohibits a student loan servicer from engaging in certain conduct
or activity, including the following:
1. Defrauding or misleading a student loan borrower.
2. Engaging in an unfair or deceptive practice or misrepresenting or omitting
material information in connection with the servicing of a student education loan.
3. Misapplying student education loan payments.
4. Providing inaccurate information to a credit bureau related to a student loan
borrower's creditworthiness.
5. Refusing to communicate with an authorized representative of a student
loan borrower.
6. Failing to evaluate a student loan borrower for an income-based repayment
program prior to placing the student loan borrower in default.
The bill also specifies the authority of the office to conduct investigations and
examinations and take administrative action and also provides a private right of
action for violations of the requirements or prohibitions under the bill.
The bill requires the office to perform certain functions, including 1) assisting
student loan borrowers; 2) receiving and attempting to resolve complaints from
student loan borrowers and others; 3) compiling and analyzing data about these
complaints; 4) assisting student loan borrowers in various ways; 5) providing
information to the public and others regarding the problems and concerns of student
loan borrowers; and 6) analyzing and monitoring the development and
implementation of laws and policies relating to student loan borrowers.
Although the bill exempts certain state-regulated financial service providers,
primarily state-chartered financial institutions, from licensing and most other
requirements applicable to student loan servicers, the bill requires these exempt
organizations to cooperate with the office and provide information requested by the
office necessary to investigate and resolve student loan borrower complaints.
Technical college district revenue limits
The bill increases the limit on certain revenue, primarily derived from the
property tax levy, that technical college districts may generate.
Under current law, with certain exceptions, a technical college district board
may not increase its revenue each school year by more than the greater of 1) 0
percent, or 2) the percentage change in the district's equalized value due to new
construction, less improvements removed, between the previous year and the
current year. The amount of this limit is called the “valuation factor.” A district
board's revenue is the sum of its tax levy for operations and the amount of aid it
receives for property tax relief and tax-exempt personal property.
