Legislative Agenda
Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance Advocacy Agenda
What is Best for Children in Rural Wisconsin?
Giving students the tools for success:
- Maintaining high standards and providing access to a robust curriculum
- Continuing support for research-based educational best practices
- Guaranteeing high-quality educators
- Adequately and equitably financing a uniform P-16 system across Wisconsin
- Transitioning to college and career
Guaranteeing educators:
- Competitive compensation packages
- Appropriate licensure flexibility options
- Mentoring for new educators and
- Professional development opportunities
- Recruiting and retaining high-quality educators
Guaranteeing leaders:
- Innovative leadership models to sustain rural schools
Utilizing Technology:
- Implement technology standards for schools
- Provide funding to erase gaps in school technology infrastructure and broadband access
- Provide low-cost access to integrated personalized learning resources i.e. digital curriculum, integrated software, learning repositories
- Ensure quality distance learning opportunities
- Promote and support online and blended delivery models
Unfunded mandates:
- Repeal unnecessary mandates
- Secure funding or provide flexibility to support newly mandated goals, programs or activities
- Match state rules and regulations with federal rules and regulations
- Create an accountability system that is reflective of the uniqueness of small, rural districts
Education flexibility:
- Allow school districts to establish a flexible learning year including hours, days and calendars without restrictions
- Allow school districts flexibility to establish creative partnerships to deliver instruction
Investing in Education:
- A stable state funding stream that is indexed to inflation to eliminate reliance on operating referendums
- Full funding of the state’s special education formulas
- Direct state funding for court-mandated placements
- Funding formula that addresses property tax payers’ issues throughout the state
- Funding formula that addresses high-poverty levels in rural districts
- Increased threshold for districts to qualify for sparsity aid
- Adequate support to remove disparity of transportation costs for rural districts
- Differentiated funding sources for rural schools with declining enrollment
- Adequate funding to maintain the high quality of education in rural schools