News and information for staff members and the Madison community
Vol. I No. 3 - January 19, 2006
Doyle outlines K-12 education priorities — In the last State of the State address before the 2006 elections, Gov. Jim Doyle outlined his priorities and programs to keep Wisconsin's schools at the forefront of the nation's schools.
While Doyle's speech addressed health care, stem cell research, taxes, the overall strength of the economy and other issues, he was clear about what is most important. "Anyone who knows me will tell you my first priority as Governor has been education. It's why I said no when Republicans in the Legislature tried to cut schools last year by hundreds of millions of dollars.
"It's why I'm fighting to give more families access to four year old kindergarten and smaller classes. It's why I'm fighting for competitive teacher salaries ... so we can recruit and retain the best educators for our kids," the governor said.
Commenting on the Milwaukee voucher program, Doyle said, "I support options for parents, but I can't allow our tax dollars to pay for a principal's Mercedes, or schools with two kids to take field trips to McDonald's."
Doyle highlighted a new initiative called the Wisconsin Covenant, designed to give assurances to 8th graders that they will be able to go to college. "If (students) pledge to stay in school, take challenging courses, stay out of trouble, apply for state and federal financial aid and maintain at least a B average in high school, we'll do our part and guarantee their family a package of financial aid that lets them walk through the doors of one of our U.W. campuses," Doyle said.
Doyle said the program will be available to all students and that students from low-income families would receive grants, while others might receive a mix loans, grants and work study. Doyle challenged the business community and private foundations to help fund the initiative, as was done in a similar program in North Carolina.
The State of the State speech outlines themes that will be repeated during the coming year and represent the issues the governor will campaign on for re-election this fall.
"Bullying" bill killed in committee — In a surprise move, the Assembly Education committee members voted 6-6 to keep Senate Bill 310 ![[PDF File]](/img/pdf-sm.gif "[PDF File]")
in committee, instead of letting the bill be debated by the entire Assembly. The bill had already passed the Senate on a voice vote.
The bill requires school districts to adopt a policy on bullying, to annually supply the district's bullying policy to parents and students, when a bullying incident occurs the policy would have to be provided to the students involved, and the fourth Wednesday of every September would be Bullying Awareness Day.
Four of the committee's seven Republicans voted against the measure. Committee member Rep. Robert Ziegelbauer (D-Manitowoc) said, "This bill is well-intentioned, but it undermines the responsibility and accountability of local school districts and principals."
Habitual truancy bill advances — Assembly Bill 821, which eliminates certain conditions that must be met before a proceeding may be brought against a child under age12 years for habitual truancy, or against his or her parent or guardian for failure to cause the child to attend school regularly was reported out of the Assembly Education committee on an 11-1 vote. The bill is available for floor debate in the 3-week legislative floor period which ends February 2. Proponents believe the changes will make it easier to provide intervention services for children under age12.
Last Updated: Tue Mar 28 12:16:55 2006
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