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LRB-5877/1
KRP/ARG/JK:all
2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE
February 9, 2022 - Introduced by Senators Bewley, Agard, Carpenter, Erpenbach,
Johnson, Larson, Pfaff, Ringhand, Roys, Smith, L. Taylor and Wirch,
cosponsored by Representatives Neubauer, Andraca, Baldeh, Billings,
Bowen, Brostoff, Conley, Considine, Doyle, Drake, Emerson, Goyke, Hebl,
Hesselbein, Hintz, Hong, McGuire, B. Meyers, Milroy, Moore Omokunde,
L. Myers, Ohnstad, Pope, Riemer, S. Rodriguez, Shankland, Shelton,
Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spreitzer, Stubbs, Subeck, Vining and Haywood.
Referred to Committee on Education.
SB956,2,11 1An Act to repeal 115.364 (1) (a), (am), and (b), 115.364 (2) (a) 2. and 3. and
2115.364 (2) (b) 2.; to renumber and amend 115.364 (1) (intro.), 115.364 (2) (b)
31., 115.993, 115.995 (intro.), 115.995 (1) and (2) and 115.996; to consolidate,
4renumber and amend
115.364 (2) (a) (intro.) and 1.; to amend 20.255 (2) (cc),
520.255 (2) (da), 20.255 (2) (dj), 71.07 (9g) (b), 115.341, 115.364 (title), 115.437
6(2) (a), 115.447 (title), 115.447 (1), 115.447 (2) (intro.), 115.95 (2), 115.95 (3),
7115.96 (title), 115.96 (1), 115.97 (1), 115.977 (2), 115.993 (title), 118.40 (2r) (e)
82p. a., 119.04 (1), 121.41, 121.905 (3) (c) 6., 121.91 (2m) (i) (intro.), 121.91 (2m)
9(im) (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (j) (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (r) 1. (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (r)
101. b., 121.91 (2m) (r) 2. (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (r) 2. a., 121.91 (2m) (r) 2. b., 121.91
11(2m) (s) 1. (intro.), 121.91 (2m) (s) 1. b., 121.91 (2m) (s) 2. (intro.), 121.91 (2m)
12(s) 2. a., 121.91 (2m) (s) 2. b. and 121.91 (2m) (t) 1. (intro.); and to create 20.255
13(2) (cd), 20.255 (2) (ch), 20.255 (2) (co), 20.255 (2) (cv), 20.255 (2) (de), 20.255 (2)
14(dh), 20.255 (2) (di), 20.255 (2) (dk), 20.255 (2) (dm), 20.255 (2) (dn), 20.255 (2)

1(dv), 20.835 (2) (cd), 71.07 (8p), 71.10 (4) (hd), 115.28 (66), 115.335, 115.341 (3),
2115.342, 115.3635, 115.442, 115.447 (2m), 115.449, 115.453, 115.456, 115.457,
3115.958, 115.97 (6), 115.993 (2), 115.993 (3), 115.995 (1m) (a) (intro.), 115.995
4(1m) (b), 115.995 (2m), 115.995 (3), 115.996 (3), 121.42, 121.905 (3) (c) 9. and
5121.91 (2m) (k) and (L) of the statutes; relating to: the additional child and
6dependent care tax credit, a rebate for individual residents, and a family
7caregiver tax credit; various changes to statutes related to elementary and
8secondary education in this state; increasing funding for the University of
9Wisconsin System, technical college system, special education, general
10equalization aids, and per pupil aid; granting rule-making authority; and
11making an appropriation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill makes various changes to laws related to general school aids and
various categorical aid programs; provides additional funding for general school aids
and various categorical aid programs and for higher education; and makes changes
to, and creates additional, programs administered by the Department of Public
Instruction. The bill also creates a family caregiver individual income tax credit,
increases the amount of the additional child and dependent care tax credit, and
provides a tax rebate to all residents of this state.
Revenue limit adjustment
Current law generally limits 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 allowed per pupil in the previous school year plus a per pupil
adjustment, if any, as provided by law. In the 2020-21 school year, the per pupil
adjustment was a $179 increase. Under current law, there is no per pupil adjustment
in the 2021-22 school year and thereafter.
For purposes of calculating school district revenue limits, the bill provides a per
pupil increase of $200 for the 2022-23 school year. Under the bill, there is no per
pupil adjustment in the 2023-24 school year and thereafter.
Additional funding for education
The bill provides additional funding in the amount of $111,000,000 for the
University of Wisconsin System in fiscal year 2022-23 under its general program
operations appropriation; additional funding in the amount of $28,000,000 for state
aid to technical colleges in fiscal year 2022-23; additional funding in the amount of

$172,643,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 for special education aid DPI pays to school
districts, independent charter schools, cooperative educational service agencies, and
county children with disabilities education boards; and additional funding in the
amount of $188,000,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 for general equalization aids for
school districts.
The bill also increases the per pupil amount for per pupil aid paid to school
districts to $870 beginning in the 2022-23 school year. Under current law, the per
pupil amount for per pupil aid is $742. Per pupil aid is funded from a sum sufficient
appropriation. The amount of per pupil aid paid to a school district is calculated
using a three-year average of the number of pupils enrolled in the school district and
a per pupil amount set by law.
Summer school grants to urban school districts
Under current law, DPI must award a grant to a first class city school district
(currently, only Milwaukee Public Schools) for the purpose of developing,
redesigning, or implementing a summer school program. The bill expands the
summer school grant program to include additional urban school districts. Under
the bill, an urban school district is a school district that, in the previous school year,
had a membership of at least 18,000 pupils. The bill also requires DPI to annually
allocate $2,000,000 to MPS and to allocate the remaining amount appropriated
equally to the other urban school districts.
Grants to support principals in urban school districts
Under the bill, DPI must annually award a grant to a nonprofit organization
or an urban school district for the purpose of providing training, coaching, and
professional support to principals who work in urban school districts. The bill defines
an urban school district as a school district that, in the previous school year, had a
membership of at least 18,000 pupils.
Community engagement grants to urban school districts
The bill creates a community engagement grant program for urban school
districts. Under the bill, DPI must award grants to urban school districts for the
purpose of supporting projects that include collaboration with a nonprofit
corporation, a cooperative educational service agency, a University of Wisconsin
System institution, a technical college district board, or a local unit of government
and that are intended to improve academic achievement, the well-being of pupils
and their families, or relationships between pupils, school staff, and the community.
Under the bill, an “urban school district” is a school district that, in the previous
school year, had a membership of at least 18,000 pupils.
Grants for early childhood education programs in urban school districts
The bill creates an annual grant program under which DPI must award grants
to urban school districts to develop, implement, and administer new or expanded
early childhood education programs to enhance learning opportunities for young
children residing in the urban school district and to prepare those children for entry
into the elementary grades. Under the grant program, DPI must, with certain
exceptions, award grants in the amount of $1,000 per eligible child who attends an
urban school district's early childhood education program in the current school year.

An “eligible child” is a child who resides in the urban school district and who is 1)
three years old on or before September 1 in the relevant school year, or 2) less than
three years old but eligible to attend the early childhood education program under
the urban school district's early admission standards. An “urban school district” is
a school district that, in the previous school year, had a membership of at least 18,000
pupils.
Water bottle filling stations.
The bill requires DPI to award grants to school districts to purchase water
bottle filling stations that provide filtered drinking water.
Driver education aid
The bill creates a new aid program for school boards, independent charter
schools, and cooperative educational service agencies that offer a driver education
program to pupils who meet the income eligibility standard for a free or
reduced-price lunch in the federal school lunch program. To be eligible for this aid,
a school board, independent charter school, or CESA must demonstrate to DPI that
it reduced program participation fees for eligible pupils. Under the bill, DPI pays the
school board, operator of the independent charter school, or CESA an amount equal
to the number of eligible pupils who completed the driver education program in the
previous school year multiplied by the lesser of $200 or the amount by which it
reduced its program participation fees.
School breakfast program
The bill expands eligibility for reimbursement under the school breakfast
program to include operators of independent charter schools, the director of the
Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the
director of the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and operators
of residential care centers for children and youth. The bill also prohibits DPI from
making reimbursements under the school breakfast program for breakfasts served
in the prior school year if the school ceased operations during the prior school year.
This prohibition does not apply to reimbursements to a school district.
Supplemental nutrition aid
The bill creates a categorical aid to reimburse educational agencies for the
difference between the federal reimbursement rate for a free school meal and a
reduced-price school meal provided that the educational agency does not charge
pupils for a reduced-price meal. The bill defines a “school meal” as a school lunch
or snack under the federal school lunch program and a breakfast under the federal
school breakfast program and an “educational agency” as a school board, an operator
of an independent charter school, the director of the Wisconsin Educational Services
Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the director of the Wisconsin Center for
the Blind and Visually Impaired, an operator of residential care centers for children
and youth, a tribal school, or a private school.
Limited-English proficient pupils; categorical aid
The bill changes the way that state categorical aid for educating
limited-English proficient pupils (LEP) is allocated.

Under current law, a school board is required to provide a bilingual-bicultural
education program to LEP pupils who attend a school in the school district if the
school meets any of the following thresholds:
1. Within a language group, 10 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in kindergarten
to grade three.
2. Within a language group, 20 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in grades four
to eight.
3. Within a language group, 20 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in grades nine
to twelve.
All school boards are required to educate all LEP pupils, but only school boards
that are required to provide bilingual-bicultural education programs are eligible
under current law for categorical aid targeted toward educating LEP pupils.
Under current law, in each school year, DPI distributes $250,000 among eligible
school districts whose enrollments in the previous school year were at least 15
percent LEP pupils, and DPI distributes the amount remaining in the appropriation
account to eligible school districts on the basis of the school districts' expenditures
on the required bilingual-bicultural education programs during the prior school
year.
The bill expands eligibility for categorical aid to independent charter schools
and eliminates the limitation that only school boards that are required to provide
bilingual-bicultural education programs are eligible for categorical aid. Under the
bill, beginning in the 2022-23 school year, a school board that had at least one LEP
pupil enrolled in the school district in the prior school year, and the operator of an
independent charter school that had at least one LEP pupil attending the charter
school in the prior school year, receives $10,000. In addition, if the school board or
operator had more than 20 LEP pupils, the school board or operator receives an
additional $500 per LEP pupil above 20.
The bill also provides a temporary hold harmless provision for a school board
that would receive less categorical aid under the new funding scheme:
1. In the 2022-23 school year, a school board receives the greater of: a) the
amount to which the school board is entitled under the new funding scheme; or b) an
amount equal to the amount of categorical aid the school board received in the
2021-22 school year.
2. In the 2023-24 school year, a school board receives the amount to which the
school board is entitled under the new funding scheme. In addition, if that amount
is less than the amount the school board received in the 2021-22 school year, the
school board also receives an amount equal to 50 percent of the difference between
the amount to which the school board is entitled under the new funding scheme and
the amount the school board received in the 2021-22 school year.
If, in any fiscal year, there are insufficient funds to provide the total categorical
aid amount, DPI must prorate the payments.
Computer science licensure grant program
Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the bill requires DPI to award grants to
school districts to assist licensed school district employees in obtaining additional
licensure that authorizes the employee to teach computer science in public schools.

For purposes of awarding these grants, the bill requires DPI to prioritize school
districts if 50 percent of the school district's membership is low income or 40 percent
of the school district's membership identify as a minority.
Capacity-building grants to increase licensure of bilingual teachers and
English as a second language teachers
The bill creates a grant program under which DPI may award grants, in
amounts determined by DPI, to school districts and independent charter schools to
provide support and financial assistance to their staff and teachers in obtaining
licensure or certification as bilingual teachers and teachers of English as a second
language.
School mental health and pupil wellness; categorical aid
The bill changes the types of expenditures that are eligible for reimbursement
under the state categorical aid program related to pupil mental health.
Under current law, DPI must make payments to school districts, independent
charter schools, and private schools participating in parental choice programs (local
education agency) that increased the amount they spent to employ, hire, or retain
social workers. Under current law, DPI first pays each eligible local education
agency 50 percent of the amount by which the eligible local education agency
increased its expenditures for social workers in the preceding school year over the
amount it expended in the school year immediately preceding the preceding school
year. If, after making those payments, there is money remaining in the
appropriation account for that aid program, DPI makes additional payments to
eligible local education agencies. The amount of those additional payments is
determined based on the amount remaining in the appropriation account and the
amount spent by eligible local education agencies to employ, hire, and retain social
workers during the previous school year.
The bill expands eligibility for the payments under the aid program to include
spending on school counselors, school social workers, school psychologists, and
school nurses (pupil services professionals). The bill also eliminates the two tier
reimbursement structure of the aid program and eliminates the requirement that a
local education agency is eligible for the aid only if the local education agency
increased its spending. Under the bill, any local education agency that made
expenditures to employ, hire, or retain pupil services professionals during the
previous school year is eligible for reimbursement under the aid program.
Out-of-school time program grants
The bill creates a grant program under which DPI must award grants to school
boards and organizations to support high-quality after-school programs and other
out-of-school time programs that provide services to school-age children. DPI must
award grants in amounts of not less than $80,000 and not more than $145,000 per
school year, and each grant may continue up to five school years. In each school year,
DPI must award not less than 30 percent of all grant moneys to out-of-school time
programs that serve pupils in the elementary grades.

Grants for lead testing and remediation in schools
The bill creates a grant program under which DPI must award grants on a
competitive basis to school boards and independent charter schools for lead testing
and remediation in school buildings and on school grounds. Grant recipients must
use grant moneys for costs associated with testing drinking water for the presence
of lead, providing safe drinking water to affected school buildings during
remediation, and, if necessary, replacing lead pipe water service lines to affected
school buildings.
Aid for reading services professionals
The bill requires DPI to make payments to school districts, independent charter
schools, and private schools participating in parental choice programs to reimburse
the expenditures made in the preceding school year to employ, hire, or retain reading
teachers and reading specialists. If, in any fiscal year, there are insufficient funds
to provide the total categorical aid amount, DPI must prorate the payments.
Tax rebate
This bill provides a onetime rebate to full-year residents and part-year
residents of this state. The rebate is equal to $150, multiplied by the number of
personal exemptions claimed on the resident's Wisconsin individual income tax
return. If a resident files a Wisconsin tax return for 2021, the Department of
Revenue will issue a rebate to that resident without the resident having to take any
further action. If a resident does not file a Wisconsin tax return for 2021 on or before
the due date, because he or she is filing for an extension or because he or she is not
required to file a return, he or she may file a claim for the rebate with DOR by using
a portal on DOR's Internet site. For a resident who does not file a tax return for 2021,
the rebate is equal to $150, multiplied by the number of personal exemptions that
the resident could have claimed on his or her Wisconsin individual income tax return.
Under the bill, DOR certifies to the Department of Administration the amount of the
rebate for each eligible resident and DOA makes the payments beginning on July 15,
2022.
Family caregiver tax credit
The bill creates an income tax credit for individuals who pay for items that
directly relate to the care or support of a family member who requires assistance with
one or more daily living activities and is over the age of 18. The credit equals 50
percent of the expenses, limited to a maximum annual credit per family member of
$500, or $250 for married spouses filing separately. If more than one individual may
claim the credit based on the same family member, the maximum annual credit
amount is apportioned among the individuals based on expenses paid. For married
couples filing jointly, the credit phases out between federal adjusted gross income
(AGI) of $150,000 and $170,000, and no credit may be claimed if federal AGI exceeds
$170,000. For all other taxpayers, the phase out range is between federal AGI of
$75,000 and $85,000, and no credit may be claimed if federal AGI exceeds $85,000.
Under the bill, expenses that qualify for the credit include amounts spent on
improving the claimant's primary residence to assist the family member, purchasing
equipment to help the family member with daily living activities, and obtaining

other goods or services to help care for the family member. Expenses that do not
qualify for the credit include general food, clothing, transportation, and household
repair costs, as well as amounts that are reimbursed by insurance or other means.
The credit is nonrefundable, which means it may be claimed only up to the amount
of the claimant's tax liability.
Additional child and dependent care tax credit
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