5/29/15

-By Jessie Opoien | The Capital Times

Changes proposed for public education in Wisconsin are drawing national attention.

While the Legislature’s budget committee prepares to take up proposals to cut $300 million from the University of Wisconsin System and to make expansive changes to the Department of Natural Resources, the rest of the state — and country — is still taking note of sweeping changes to Wisconsin’s education system approved last week.

The Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss published a rundown on Thursday under the headline, “What the heck is going on with Wisconsin public education?” And earlier this week, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers called one provision in the 29-page proposal passed by the Joint Finance Committee “breathtaking in its stupidity.”

While Strauss focused largely on funding for public and private schools, Evers was referring to a provision that would allow DPI to grant teaching licenses to people with a certain amount of work experience and teacher training who wish to teach technical courses. They would not be required to hold a bachelor’s degree.

Also under the bill, teaching licenses for those who wish to teach English, social studies, math or science could be granted to anyone with a bachelor’s degree who demonstrates proficiency and has relevant experience in the subject.

Evers said those changes would give Wisconsin the most relaxed licensing standards for teachers in the nation.

“It essentially says whoever you hire will be licensed, and for me that’s a huge step in the wrong direction,” he told the Wisconsin Radio Network.

Another ‘first’ prompting objections within DPI: “for the first time ever, there is no increase in state imposed revenue limits over the next two school years, while voucher and independent charter school payments are increased in each year.”

The provision also would grant a gradual expansion of the statewide voucher program. Initially, participation would be capped at 1 percent of the students in each district, but in 11 years the limit would be lifted.

The expansion would be modeled after the state’s open enrollment system, with tax money following the student. It would increase the amount of per-pupil aid for taxpayer-funded voucher schools to $7,200 per K-8 student and $7,800 per high school student.

Democratic lawmakers on Thursday decried that provision, citing a legislative memo that says the expansion could send up to $800 million in taxpayer money to private voucher schools over the next decade.

According to the memo, prepared for Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, “Although a long-term estimate of payments for incoming statewide choice program pupils is speculative at this time, total payments from 2015-16 to 2024-25 could range from an estimated $600 million to an estimated $800 million.”

Jim Bender, president of School Choice Wisconsin, called the memo “speculative,” while Democrats accused Republicans of diverting money from public education to benefit private schools.

Republican lawmakers have said throughout the budgeting process that funding K-12 education is a priority for them.

Under their budget motion, public schools would retain a $127 million cut proposed in the governor’s budget for the 2015-16 school year. The following year, they would receive about $70 million more than Walker proposed. But Democrats say the voucher expansion negates any good done by that measure.