Dive Brief:
- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's fiscal 2016 budget request doesn't increase K-12 spending, but suggests more opportunities for students to use public funds to attend voucher and charter schools.
- The school choice-centric plan calls for the state's current school voucher cap of 1,000 students to be lifted.
- His proposal, which is sure to ruffle feathers, also calls for the removal of the Common Core State Standards and the state's current school ranking structure — which gives summaries of how well schools are meeting goals — in favor of a A-F system.
Dive Insight:
While the plan does not allocate additional funds to K-12 education, it does suggest the removal of a school diversity integration plan that Walker says will re-direct some $60 million.
Additionally, Walker is again suggesting a plan that did not pass last year: the creation of a statewide charter school board that would allow non-profit, nonsectarian companies to operate and start independent, statewide charter schools. Currently, independent charter schools are only found in Milwaukee and are operated elsewhere in the state by local public school districts.
The budget was not a full surprise, as Walker had previously revealed some of his plans. For example, in January, he pushed for people with work experience to be allowed to take a competency test in order to become licensed to teach. It was criticized by local unions, which said plans like this tend to devalue the work and pedagogy behind teaching while assuming that standing in front of students and talking all day is all it takes. In terms of other clues to what may come, Walker also also previously introduced a new bill that would require failing traditional public schools to reorganize as charter schools. The Wisconsin Education Association Council viewed the bill as a mechanism to destroy public schools.