Gov. Tony Evers signed 2023 Wisconsin Act 20, known as the Right to Read Act, yesterday after weeks of tireless revisions from the Legislature. It overhauls how teachers teach and students learn reading in grades K-3 in public, charter and choice schools. It promotes phonics; prohibits a teaching strategy called “3-cueing;” changes student assessments; requires more [...]
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Your source for timely and relevant K-12 school updates
Voucher Schools Face New Reading Regs
June 29, 2023
UPDATE: Gov. Tony Evers signed this bill into law on July 19, 2023. The DPI can now begin its rule-making process. Stay tuned to Current Events for updates. Despite WCRIS’ warnings about government overreach and the regulation of voucher schools in the state’s reading bill, it now awaits the governor’s signature. He hasn’t indicated whether [...]
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Key Takeaways: DPI on SNSP Eligibility
June 29, 2023
The DPI’ Special Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP) staff held a virtual training session last week for about 100 participants. For those who couldn’t attend, here’s what you missed: Interestingly, the presenters pointed a few questioning principals to this little-known public school FAQ, especially in the instance of a public school district refusing to develop an [...]
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Grand Compromise: Trading Voucher Gap for Shared Revenue
June 22, 2023
The dollar amount per student participating in all Parental Choice Programs is increasing because Gov. Evers (quietly) signed 2023 Wisconsin Act 11 on Tuesday. The vouchers will raise to following amounts beginning in the 2023-24 school year, according to WisPolitics: $9,500 per K-8 student; $12,000 per high school student; $14,677 for any student in the [...]
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Reading Wars
June 22, 2023
The Assembly passed Bill 321, nicknamed the “Right to Read Act”, yesterday, which attempts to overhaul how reading is taught, learned and tested in Wisconsin. Because of potential government overreach into choice schools, WCRIS testified in opposition to the Assembly’s reading bill and the Senate’s companion bill last week. After conferring with other leading organizations on literacy [...]
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Get Prepared: School Safety
June 22, 2023
School safety is always a priority, even when school is out for the summer. At press time, the Republican-led budget negotiations were leaving the level of funding for the Democrat-run Department of Justice Office of School Safety (OSS) uncertain. However, school safety is still a top priority, regardless of how vigorously state government is funding [...]
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Lawmakers Address Why Johnny Can’t Read; WCRIS Supports Voucher Increase
June 13, 2023
It’s been a busy week for WCRIS’ lobbyists! In case you missed it, Democrat Gov. Tony Evers and Republicans Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announced last week that they reached a major deal that, among other things, mainly addressed shared revenue and education funding. Part of that deal allocates a [...]
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Contract Discounts
June 13, 2023
If you’re looking to upgrade services at your school, CESA Purchasing negotiates cooperative purchasing contracts with over 100 vendors in every industry, saving private and public schools time and money. It can help you streamline quotes from multiple organizations, get you discounts and extra perks and help you effectively spend to best serve students. Learn more here.
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CAPE: Title I; Test Scores
June 13, 2023
Title I Update Guidance for Title I under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was recently updated by the U.S. Department of Education. The changes don’t directly impact private schools, according to WCRIS Project Manager and state ESSA Ombudsman, Abbie Pavela. The guidance just clarifies how public schools can use a survey to collect poverty data from [...]
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Breaking News: Possible School Choice Expansion
June 08, 2023
The Democratic governor and Wisconsin’s top Republican legislative leaders appear to have reached an agreement today for a shared revenue bill that will aid all municipalities – especially Milwaukee – and boost funding for K-12 schools by $1 billion between state aid and property tax revenue. The boost includes an increase in school choice vouchers [...]
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