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Saturday, January 5, 2013

Will Wisconsin Republicans Increase Education Funding? « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Will Wisconsin Republicans Increase Education Funding? « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:


Will Wisconsin Republicans Increase Education Funding?

By JACK CRAVER
The Capital Times January 3, 2013
The same discord over taxes that we see among Republicans in Congress is
taking place in the Wisconsin Legislature.
On Wednesday morning I wrote that some moderates in the state Senate,
such as Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, are suggesting the Legislature
authorize increased spending on K-12 education at the local level by
allowing school districts to increase property taxes.
Olsen’s idea is to restore some of the cuts made in the last legislative
session, when Republicans imposed a 5.5 percent decrease (or roughly
$250 per student) in the revenue limits for school districts. Olsen
would like to raise the limits by roughly $200 – nearly restoring the
pre-Walker levels.
That was apparently news to Rep. Steve Nass, R-Town of La Grange, who


Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, Which Is It? Centralization or Decentralization

The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute recently issued a report on MPS policies and practices. It was followed by an op-ed piece in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by its President, George Lightbourn. Their conclusion about “decentralization” seems to be a reversal from a previous report from 2007.
From the WPRI opinion piece in the Journal Sentinel January 3rd, 2013:
“Move more responsibility out of central administration to the individual schools. Give teachers more say in choosing the curriculum they teach and the training they receive. Wasted dollars will melt away.”
From a June, 2007 report issued by WPRI:
“We need a better understanding of what factors may be most influential in the low scores that have been