|
|
|
Meeting Date:
|
|
|
Category:
|
|
Reports and Communications from the Board Clerk/Chief Officer, Office of Board Governance |
|
|
|
Type:
|
|
|
Subject:
|
|
1. Monthly Report, with Possible Action, on Legislative Activities Affecting MPS |
|
|
|
Strategic Plan Compatibility Statement:
|
Goal 1 Academic Achievement Goal 2 Student, Family and Community Engagement Goal 3 Effective and Efficient Operations
|
|
|
|
Attachments:
|
|
Special Education Funding in Wisconsin - Wisconsin Policy Forum |
|
|
|
File Attachment:
|
|
|
Background:
|
Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a private, independent non-profit research organization whose mission is to enhance the quality of public-policy decision making in southeast Wisconsin, issued a significant report detailing how the State of Wisconsin does and does not provide funding to support students with disabilities in its public schools.
The report noted, "Recent state funding trends illustrate the dimensions of this financial challenge. Between the 2007-08 and 2017-18 school years, special education costs eligible for state aid increased by 18.3% to about $1.4 billion. At the same time, the state’s primary funding source has remained flat at far below aidable costs (i.e., those eligible for state reimbursement)—$369 million—for a decade. As a result, state funding of special education has fallen from 28.9% in 2007-08 to an estimated 24.5% in 2018-19 (and is down from a peak of 70% in 1973).
"In the 2015-16 academic year, to pay for special education costs, school districts used more than $1.0 billion in resources that otherwise would have served all students. For two-thirds of Wisconsin school districts (283), this equates to 10% or more of resources available under their state-imposed per pupil revenue limits. These diversions appear to be especially prevalent in school districts serving high-poverty, high-minority schools, which raises equity concerns."
For months, school districts across Wisconsin have called on state leaders to increase state funding to support students with disabilities. The most recent Marquette Law School Poll found that 73% of respondents support increasing funds in this area. In addition, Governor Evers is proposing a budget that will move the state’s reimbursement rate to 60% in year two of the biennium.
Under federal law, an effort to maintain funding is required from a source made up of a mix of state and local funds. Over the past decades, the state has increasingly placed that responsibility on local school districts as it has walked away from its past promises, made in statute, to support students with disabilities.
While a recent news article noted that the state would have to sustain its support for any increase made at the state level, the time for the state to recommit to sharing this important responsibility with local public schools districts has long passed.
With the introduction of the Governor's budget on February 28, several other important funding measures will make their way to the Joint Committee on Finance. Funding-policy matters, such as the rehiring of retirees, will be the subject of early discussions. |
|
|
|
Fiscal Impact Statement:
|
|
This item does not authorize expenditures. |
|
|
|
Implementation and Assessment Plan: |
|
The district will continue to pursue appropriate support for students as part of the MPS Legislative Agenda. |
|
|
|
Recommendation
|
|
|
Approvals:
|
|
Recommended By: |
|
Signed By: |
 |
|
Chris Thiel - Legislative Policy Specialist |
|
|
Signed By: |
|
|
Jacqueline M. Mann, Ph.D. - Board Clerk/Chief Officer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|