Low revenue ceiling; per pupil amount and restrictions
Current law provides a minimum per pupil revenue limit for school districts, known as 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. The bill increases the per pupil revenue ceiling to $10,450 for the 2023-24 school year and to $11,200 for the 2024-25 school year and, beginning in the 2025-26 school year, annually adjusts the revenue ceiling for any increase in the consumer price index.
Current law also provides that during the three school years following a school year in which an operating referendum fails in a school district, the school district’s revenue ceiling is the revenue ceiling that applied in the school year during which the referendum was held. The bill eliminates the provision under which a school district’s revenue ceiling is the revenue ceiling from a previous school year because an operating referendum failed in the school district.
Counting pupils enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten
The bill changes how a pupil enrolled in a four-year-old kindergarten is counted by a school district for purposes of state aid and revenue limits. Under current law, beginning with state aid paid in the 2024-25 school year and revenue limits calculated for the 2024-25 school year, a pupil enrolled in a four-year-old kindergarten program is counted as 0.5 pupil unless the program provides at least 87.5 additional hours of outreach activities, in which case the pupil is counted as 0.6 pupil. Under the bill, if the four-year-old kindergarten program requires full-day attendance by pupils for five days a week, a pupil enrolled in the program is counted as one pupil.
High poverty aid
Under current law, if at least 50 percent of a school district’s enrollment is eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch under the federal school lunch program, the school district is eligible for a prorated share of the amount appropriated as high poverty aid. For school districts other than a first class city school district (currently only Milwaukee Public Schools), high poverty aid is considered state aid for purposes of revenue limits. For MPS, high poverty aid must be used to reduce the school property tax levied for the purpose of offsetting the aid reduction attributable to the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. The bill eliminates high poverty aid beginning in the 2023-24 school year.
Primary and secondary education: categorical aids
Per pupil aid
Under current law, per pupil aid is a categorical aid paid to school districts. Per pupil aid is funded from a sum sufficient appropriation and is not considered for purposes of revenue limits. Under current law, 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. Under current law, in the 2022-23 school year and each school year thereafter, the per pupil amount is $742. Under the bill, the per pupil amount is $766 in the 2023-24 school year and $811 in the 2024-25 school year and each year thereafter.
Funding for special education and school age parents programs
The bill changes the rate at which the state reimburses school boards, operators of independent charter schools, cooperative educational service agencies (CESAs), and county children with disabilities education boards (CCDEBs) for costs incurred to provide special education and related services to children with disabilities and for school age parents programs (eligible costs). Under current law, the state reimburses the full cost of special education for children in hospitals and convalescent homes for orthopedically disabled children. After those costs are paid, the state reimburses remaining eligible costs from the amount remaining in the appropriation account at a rate that distributes the full amount appropriated. DPI estimates that, in the 2022-23 school year, the reimbursement rate is 31.7 percent.
The bill changes the appropriation to a sum sufficient and provides that, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, after full payment of hospital and convalescent home costs, the remaining costs are reimbursed at 60 percent of eligible costs.
Currently, DPI provides 1) special education aid to school districts, independent charter schools, CESAs, and CCDEBs; 2) aid to school districts, CESAs, and CCDEBs for providing physical or mental health treatment services to private school and tribal school pupils; and 3) aid for school age parents programs to school districts only.
High-cost special education aid
The bill changes the rate at which the state reimburses school boards, operators of independent charter schools, CESAs, and CCDEBs for nonadministrative costs in excess of $30,000 incurred for providing special education and related costs to a child (aidable costs). Under current law, 90 percent of aidable costs are paid from a sum certain appropriation. If the amount of the appropriation is insufficient to pay the full 90 percent of aidable costs, DPI prorates payments among eligible applicants. For the 2022-23 school year, DPI estimates that the reimbursement rate is 39.5 percent of aidable costs under this aid program.
The bill changes the appropriation to a sum sufficient appropriation and provides that aidable costs are reimbursed at the following rates:
1. In the 2023-24 school year, 45 percent of aidable costs.
2. In the 2024-25 school year and in each school year thereafter, 60 percent of aidable costs.
Bilingual-bicultural education aids
The bill increases the reimbursement rate for a bilingual-bicultural education program to 15 percent of qualifying costs in the 2023-24 school year and 20 percent of qualifying costs in the 2024-25 school year and each school year thereafter.
Under current law, a bilingual-bicultural education program is a program designed to improve the comprehension and the speaking, reading, and writing ability of a limited-English proficient (LEP) pupil in the English language. A school district is required to establish a bilingual-bicultural education program if it has a certain amount of LEP pupils from the same language group within an individual school in the district, described below. If DPI determines that a school district’s bilingual-bicultural education program meets all statutory requirements, DPI reimburses the school district a percentage of qualifying costs of the bilingual-bicultural education program. Under current law, the percentage that is reimbursed is calculated by dividing the amount allocated in the biennial budget act among all qualifying school districts. DPI estimates that qualifying school districts received reimbursement for bilingual-bicultural education programs in the amount of 7.7 percent of qualifying costs for the 2021-22 school year.
Aid for English language acquisition
The bill creates a new categorical aid for school districts and independent charter schools to offset the costs of educating LEP pupils.
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 3.
2. Within a language group, 20 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in grades 4 to 8.
3. Within a language group, 20 or more LEP pupils are enrolled in grades 9 to 12.
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.
Under the bill, beginning in the 2024-25 school year, DPI must annually pay each school district and each operator of an independent charter school an amount equal to $500 times the number of LEP pupils enrolled in the school district or at the charter school in the previous school year. Under the bill, DPI must pay a school district or independent charter school that had at least one but no more than 20 LEP pupils in the previous school year $10,000. This new categorical aid is in addition to aid already paid under current law and is not conditioned on whether the school board or independent charter school is required to provide a bilingual-bicultural education program.
Pupil transportation aid
Under current law, a school district or an operator of a charter school that provides transportation to and from a school receives a state aid payment for transportation. The amount of the aid payment depends on the number of pupils transported and the distance of each pupil’s residence from the school. The bill increases aid payments for pupils who reside more than 12 miles from the school from $375 per pupil to $400 per pupil, beginning in the 2023-24 school year.
High cost transportation aid; stop-gap payments
Under current law, a school district is eligible for high cost transportation aid if 1) the school district has a pupil population density of 50 or fewer pupils per square mile and 2) the school district’s per pupil transportation cost exceeds 140 percent of the statewide average per pupil transportation cost. Current law also provides aid, known as a “stop-gap payment,” to any school district that qualified for high cost transportation aid in the immediately preceding school year but is ineligible to receive aid in the current school year. The stop-gap payment is equal to 50 percent of the amount the school district received in the preceding school year. Current law specifies that no more than a total of $200,000 may be paid in stop-gap payments in any fiscal year. The bill removes the $200,000 limitation on high cost transportation aid stop-gap payments. The bill also specifies that, if the amount appropriated for all high cost transportation aid payments, including stop-gap payments, in any fiscal year is insufficient, all high cost transportation aid payments must be prorated.
Sparsity aid; stop-gap payments
Under current law, a school district is eligible for sparsity aid if the number of pupils per square mile in the school district is less than 10 and the school district’s membership in the previous school year did not exceed 1,000 pupils. The amount of aid is $400 per pupil if the school district’s membership in the previous school year did not exceed 745 pupils and $100 per pupil if the if the school district’s membership in the previous school year was between 745 and 1,000 pupils. Current law also provides a reduced payment, known as a stop-gap payment, to a school district that was eligible to receive sparsity aid in the previous school year but is not eligible to receive sparsity aid in the current school year because it no longer satisfies the pupils-per-square-mile requirement. The amount of the stop-gap payment is 50 percent of the amount of sparsity aid the school district received in the previous school year.
Under the bill, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, a school district is eligible for a sparsity aid stop-gap payment if the school district is ineligible for sparsity aid in the current school year because it no longer satisfies the pupils-per-square-mile requirement or the membership requirement.
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.
Aid for comprehensive school mental health services
Under current law, DPI administers a $10,000,000 annual competitive grant program to school districts and independent charter schools for the purpose of collaborating with community mental health agencies to provide mental health services to pupils. The bill eliminates this grant program and replaces it with new categorical aid for comprehensive school mental health services to school districts and independent charter schools.
Under the bill, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, DPI must annually reimburse a school board or the operator of an independent charter school for costs incurred for mental health services during in-school or out-of-school time, up to $100,000 plus $100 per pupil who was enrolled in the school district or independent charter school in the prior year. If the amount appropriated for this purpose is insufficient, DPI must prorate the reimbursements.
Supplemental nutrition aid
The bill creates supplemental nutrition aid, a categorical aid to reimburse educational agencies for school meals provided to pupils who satisfy the income criteria for a reduced-price lunch under the federal school lunch program and pupils who do not satisfy the income criteria for a free or reduced-price lunch under the federal school lunch program. An educational agency is eligible for supplemental nutrition aid if the educational agency does not charge pupils for school meals for which the educational agency receives reimbursement from the federal government. Under the bill, the amount of aid is equal to the sum of 1) the number of school meals provided in the previous school year to pupils who satisfy the income criteria for a reduced-price lunch multiplied by the difference between the free-meal reimbursement amount and the reduced-price-meal reimbursement amount and 2) the number of school meals provided in the previous year to pupils who do not satisfy the income criteria for a free or reduced-price lunch multiplied by the difference between the free-meal reimbursement amount and the reimbursement amount for a paid school meal. Supplemental nutrition aid is first paid to educational agencies in the 2024-25 school year for school meals provided during the 2023-24 school year. Under the bill, supplemental nutrition aid is funded by a sum sufficient appropriation, which ensures that educational agencies receive the full amount of aid to which they are entitled.
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 a residential care center for children and youth, a tribal school, or a private school.
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 a reimbursement for a breakfast served at a school in the previous school year if that school ceased operations during the prior school year. This prohibition does not apply to reimbursements to a school district.
Locally sourced food incentive payments
The bill requires DPI to reimburse a school food authority 10 cents for each school meal it provided in the previous school year that contained locally sourced food. Under the bill, a “school food authority” is an educational entity that participates in the federal school lunch program and a “school meal” is a lunch or snack provided under the federal school lunch program or a breakfast provided under the federal school breakfast program. Finally, the bill defines “locally sourced food” as food that is raised, produced, aggregated, sorted, processed, and distributed within this state.
Driver education; state aid
The bill creates a new aid program for driver schools and for school boards, independent charter schools, and CESAs 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 driver school, school board, independent charter school, or CESA must demonstrate to DPI that it waived its program participation fees for eligible pupils. Under the bill, DPI pays the driver school, school board, operator of the independent charter school, or CESA an amount equal to its program participation fee multiplied by the number of eligible pupils who completed the driver education program in the previous school year.
Computer science course requirement and grants
The bill requires school boards, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program to make available to pupils in grades 9 to 12 at least one computer science course, which must include concepts in computer programming or coding.
The bill also requires DPI to annually award grants to school districts for the purpose of expanding computer science educational opportunities in all grade levels in the school district.
Financial literacy curriculum grants
The bill requires DPI to awards grants to school boards and independent charter schools for the purpose of developing, implementing, or improving financial literacy curricula. The bill further requires DPI to prioritize grants that support innovative financial literacy curricula. Current law requires school boards to adopt academic standards for financial literacy and incorporate financial literacy instruction into the curriculum in grades kindergarten to 12.
Primary and secondary education: choice, charter, and open enrollment
Parental choice program caps
The bill caps the total number of pupils who may participate in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, or the statewide parental choice program (parental choice program) at the number of pupils who attended a private school under the parental choice program in the 2023-24 school year. Under the bill, beginning in the 2024-25 school year, if the number of applications to participate in a parental choice program exceeds the program cap, DPI must determine which applications to accept on a random basis, subject to certain admission preferences that exist under current law.
Under current law, pupils may submit applications to attend a private school under the statewide parental choice program for the following school year from the first weekday in February to the third Thursday in April, and a private school that receives applications must, no later than the first weekday in May immediately following the application period, report the number of applicants to DPI so that DPI may determine whether a pupil participation limitation has been exceeded. The bill provides that, beginning with applications for the 2024-25 school year, DPI must establish one or more application periods during which pupils may submit applications to attend a private school under the MPCP or RPCP. The bill provides that a private school that receives applications during an application period must, no later than 10 days after the application period ends, report the number of applicants to DPI so that DPI may determine whether a program cap has been exceeded. The bill does not change the application period for the statewide parental choice program and requires DPI to use the information required to be reported under current law to determine whether the program cap for the statewide parental choice program has been exceeded.
The bill also requires DPI to establish a waiting list for a parental choice program if the program cap for the parental choice program has been exceeded.
Special Needs Scholarship Program cap
Under current law, a child with a disability who meets certain eligibility criteria may receive a scholarship to attend a private school participating in the Special Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP). The bill caps the total number of children who may receive an SNSP scholarship at the number of children who received an SNSP scholarship in the 2023-24 school year. Under the bill, beginning in the 2024-25 school year, if the number of applications for SNSP scholarships exceeds the program cap, DPI must determine which applications to accept on a random basis, subject to certain admission preferences set forth in the bill.
Under current law, a child may apply for an SNSP scholarship at any time during a school year and may begin attending the school at any time during the school year. The bill provides that, beginning with applications for the 2024-25 school year, children may submit applications for SNSP scholarships for the school year from the first weekday in April to the third Thursday in June of the prior school year, and a private school that receives applications for SNSP scholarships must, no later than the first weekday in May immediately following the application period, report the number of applicants to DPI so that DPI may determine whether the program cap has been exceeded.
The bill also requires DPI to establish a waiting list if the program cap for the SNSP has been exceeded.
Per pupil payment and transfer amount based on actual costs; SNSP and full-time open enrollment program
Under current law, the per pupil payment amount for a child participating in the SNSP and the transfer amount for a child with a disability in the full-time open enrollment program (OEP) is one of the following:
1. A per pupil amount set by law. The SNSP per pupil payment amount and transfer amount for a child with a disability in the OEP for the 2022-23 school year is $13,076.
2. An alternative amount based on the actual costs to educate the pupil in the previous school year, as reported by the private school or nonresident school district, whichever is applicable. For example, under this option, the amount paid to a private school in the SNSP or nonresident school district in the 2022-23 school year is based on the actual costs to educate the pupil in the 2021-22 school year, as reported by the private school or nonresident school district.
The bill repeals the alternative SNSP per pupil payment amount and OEP transfer amount based on the actual costs to educate the pupil and the processes for setting these alternative amounts. Under the bill, the SNSP per pupil payment amount and the OEP transfer amount for children with disabilities is the same for all pupils and is set by law. In the 2022-23 school year, the amount set by law is $13,076.
Payment indexing: parental choice programs, the SNSP, independent charter schools, full-time open enrollment program, and whole grade sharing agreements
Under current law, the per pupil payment amounts under parental choice programs and the SNSP, the per pupil payment amount to independent charter schools, the transfer amounts under the full-time OEP, and the required transfer amount for a child with a disability in a whole grade sharing agreement (collectively, per pupil payments) are adjusted annually. The annual adjustment for per pupil payments is an amount equal to the sum of any per member revenue limit increase that applies to school districts in that school year and any per member increase in categorical aids between the current school year and the previous school year. Under the bill, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, the annual adjustment for per pupil payments is the sum of the per member revenue limit increase that applies to school districts in that school year, if any, and the increase in the per member amount of per pupil aid paid to school districts between the previous school year and the current school year, if any.
Teacher licensure in parental choice programs and in the SNSP
With certain exceptions, the bill requires that, beginning on July 1, 2026, 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, 2026, 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.
SNSP; accreditation or participation in another choice program
The bill provides that, with certain exceptions explained below, a private school may participate in the SNSP only if 1) the private school is accredited by August 1 of the school year in which the private school participates or 2) the private school participates in a parental choice program. Under current law, a private school may participate in the SNSP if the private school is accredited or if the private school’s educational program meets certain criteria.
The bill provides that, if a private school is participating in the SNSP in the 2023-24 school year and is not accredited by August 1, 2023, the private school must 1) obtain preaccreditation by August 1, 2024; 2) apply for accreditation by December 31, 2024; and 3) obtain accreditation by December 31, 2027.
SNSP; religious 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.
Primary and secondary education: administrative and other funding
Early literacy and reading improvement
The bill requires DPI to establish a literacy coaching program to improve literacy outcomes statewide. The literacy coaching program must include two types of literacy coaches. The first type of literacy coach supports the implementation of evidence-based literacy instructional practices in grades kindergarten to 12 in school districts and independent charter schools (literacy instructional practices coach). Specifically, a literacy instructional practices coach collaborates with a participating school district or independent charter school to establish goals for literacy outcomes for specific grade levels and literacy areas and provide ongoing support to meet the identified goals. The second type of literacy coach focuses on early literacy instructional transitions by providing in-person trainings for four-year-old kindergarten to first grade teachers (early literacy transition coach). The purpose of these trainings is to evaluate existing early literacy curricula and goals and to assist school districts and independent charter schools to create local, standards-aligned, and developmentally appropriate curricula and instruction for four-year-old kindergarten to first grade pupils.
The bill requires each urban school district, which is defined as a school district in which at least 16,000 pupils were enrolled in the previous school year, to participate in both types of coaching provided under the literacy coaching program. Other school districts and independent charter schools may choose to participate in one or both types of coaching provided under the literacy coaching program. Under the bill, DPI must make a payment to a school district or independent charter school that participates in the literacy coaching program. For coaching provided by a literacy instructional practices coach, the bill requires a payment of $7,000, and for participating in training provided by an early literacy transition coach, the bill requires a payment of $6,000.
The bill requires DPI to contract with a certain number of individuals to serve as literacy coaches and to assign those individuals to geographic regions of this state. Specifically, the bill requires DPI to assign one literacy instructional practices coach and one early literacy transition coach to each urban school district and one literacy instructional practices coach and one early literacy transition coach for each 40,000 pupils enrolled in school districts and independent charter schools located in a CESA region. Based on this formula, DPI estimates that it will be required to contract for 28 literacy instructional practices coaches and 28 early literacy transition coaches.
Grow Your Own programs
The bill creates a new grant program that is administered by DPI and available to school districts and operators of independent charter schools to reimburse the cost of Grow Your Own programs. Under the bill, Grow Your Own programs include high school clubs that encourage careers in teaching, payment of costs associated with current staff acquiring education needed for licensure, support for career pathways using dual enrollment, support for partnerships focused on attracting or developing new teachers, or incentives for paraprofessionals to gain licensure. The bill appropriates funding for this purpose in fiscal year 2024-25.
