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WiRSA Update - March 26, 2024
Announcements
Highlighting the WiRSA CESA Employee of the Year Nomination!
The award is for an individual CESA employee who has demonstrated contributions in one or more of the following areas:
1) Positive impact on students and student achievement.
2) Significant contributions to rural education.
3) Demonstrated collaborative efforts in the community.
4) Innovative leadership efforts to strengthen and preserve rural school districts.
The deadline is September 1, 2024
Nominations for our WiRSA rural school awards!
This is a great opportunity to recognize the outstanding staff, community members, and organizations that do so much to support our schools.
Website Link
School Board Member of the Year!
Administrator of the Year!
Principal of the Year!
Teacher of the Year
Support Staff Member of the Year!
Community Partner of the Year!
School Advocacy of the Year!
CESA Employee of the Year!
WiRSA Conference Registration 2024
Rural Schools and Communities! Resilient Rural!
Monday, October 28 & Tuesday, October 29, 2024 - Welcome Reception - October 27, 2023 - 7:00 p.m.
Click Here for -
Information and Registration
(Click Here to Register)
WiRSA Conference Breakout Proposals, Vendor & Sponsor Information, & Live Auction Donation Link
WiRSA Conference - Call for Proposals
WiRSA Conference - Vendor Registration and Information
WiRSA Conference - Silent & Live Auction Donations (Google Form Donation Link)
We will once again have a silent and live auction to support our WiRSA high school senior students and student-teacher scholarships. Responses can be adjusted if needed. Keep your URL link saved after you submit an auction item.
Highlights / Opportunity
Student Engagement and Attendance Center Webinar Announcement Comprehensive State Strategies to Reduce Chronic Absence
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
1:00-2:15pm Eastern Time
Link to Register
Chronic absenteeism, typically defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days, or 18 days in a year, excused or unexcused, is shown to negatively impact students’ academic success and wellbeing. Research suggests that children who are chronically absent in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the third grade, making them four times more likely to not graduate from high school. Chronic absenteeism can also further disengage students from their learning and connections with their peers and with caring adults. Further, high rates of chronic absence disproportionately affect underserved student populations.
Effective responses to this challenge extend beyond individual schools and require comprehensive State strategies that support districts, schools, and their communities in coming together to engage students and families in addressing barriers to regular school attendance.
On Tuesday, April 2, from 1:00 to 2:15pm ET, the Department’s Student Engagement and Attendance Center (SEAC) will host a webinar Comprehensive State Strategies to Reduce Chronic Absence. Intended for State level teams, this webinar will feature strategies that Connecticut and New Mexico are using to address chronic absence, and a discussion of how States can establish attendance as a shared priority with community partners, integrate chronic absence into pandemic recovery strategies, and promote attendance policies aligned to best practices.
Click here to register for this webinar.
For more information, contact the SEAC at SEAcenter@westat.com.
Jim Boebel (Platteville) was in a Podcast from EngageRocket
The Impact of Mission and Vision Alignment on Hiring and Retention
Host Dr. Jim engages in a deep dive with Jim Boebel, superintendent of the Platteville School District, to explore the challenges and strategies of attracting and retaining top talent in the K-12 education space within rural school districts. As the episode unfolds, the conversation illuminates the unique hurdles that rural schools face, highlighting Platteville's innovative approaches and commitment to mission-driven education. PODCAST LINK
Legislative Update
Gov. Evers Press Releases
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Legislative Maps - 2024 & 2022 (Interactive)
Bill Information
Quick View (as of 3-26-2024) Bills Enrolled or Enacted into Law (Link)
Enacted into Law
AB223 - Relating to: maintaining a supply of usable opioid antagonist at a school.
AB251 - Relating to: a tier I license issued by the Department of Public Instruction and modifying administrative rules promulgated by the Department of Public Instruction.
AB550 - Relating to: technical education equipment grants, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and making an appropriation.
AB569 - Relating to: the location and operation of driver schools.
AB914 - Relating to: the supply and use of short-acting bronchodilators on school premises or at a school-sponsored event.
SB111 - Relating to: the definition of “strip search” for the purpose of the prohibition against strip searching a pupil.
SB303 - Relating to: defining critical mapping data for school safety plans.
SB313 - Relating to: increased penalties for failing to stop for a school bus.
SB333 - Relating to: sexual misconduct against a pupil by a school staff member or volunteer and providing a penalty.
SB447 - Relating to: ready-to-use glucagon rescue therapies in schools.
SB742 - Relating to: an alternative teacher certification program for an initial license to teach.
SB990 - Relating to: mandatory early literacy professional development.
SB549 - Veto - Relating to: allowing representatives of certain federally chartered youth membership organizations to provide information to pupils on public school property.
News Articles
WISCONSIN POLICY FORUM
WISCONSIN EXAMINER
OFFICE OF SCHOOL SAFETY /WSCCA
OFFICE OF SCHOOL SAFETY SAFETY RESOURCES TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES VIRTUAL LEARNING
SPEAK UP - SPEAK OUT (WISCONSIN’S SCHOOL THREAT REPORTING SYSTEM)
New to grants or never completed an application before? We are here to help! OSS is hosting a series of virtual webinars to discuss this opportunity and answer questions, and then move through completion of an application together. Please click on one of the following dates to register. You do not have to be a grant writer or have grant writing experience to participate. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact OSS Grants Specialist, Jacob Dorff at schoolsafetygrants@doj.state.wi.us.
Tuesday April 2, 10 - 11:30 AM
Update From NREA (National Rural Education Association) From the NREA Weekly Update
QoreInsights 2024 MicroGrant: AI-Enabled Personalized Professional Learning
QoreInsights is accepting proposals from qualified educational institutions to receive an exclusive free subscription to its acclaimed cloud-based platform – The Classroom Education Plan© (CEP). CEP blends AI with teacher and student inputs to catalyze instruction in literacy and math, and boost student engagement.
The grant is open to any elementary education (K-6) learning institution working with teachers and coaches who would benefit from a tool that elevates teacher and student voice, helps improve core instruction using evidence-based instructional strategies for every classroom, and guide data-informed PLCs.
———————————————————————————————————————Article from Dr. Allen Pratt, NREA Executive Director
As a Tennessee rural educator, I fear that school voucher expansion will hurt our children
This article highlights the threat of school vouchers to rural public schools in Tennessee. With over 600,000 students in rural districts, these schools serve as community hubs offering various services. Governor Bill Lee's proposal to expand universal vouchers could undermine these schools' crucial roles.
The National Rural Education Association advocates for investing in public schools by raising teacher pay, reducing class sizes, and expanding vocational programs instead of implementing vouchers, which would harm students and communities. We urge lawmakers to reject Governor Lee's voucher proposal and prioritize public education.
You can read more in the full article.
——————————————————————————————————————New Report on Rural America From Georgetown CEW
“Rural Americans are only slightly less likely to have a good job than their urban counterparts, and for workers without a bachelor's degree, rural America actually offers a better likelihood of having a good job. That being said, white workers are currently the only demographic group in rural America in which the majority hold a good job.” — Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce Director Anthony P. Carnevale in their new report. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3SJZIxI
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Update From CEF (Center for Education Funding)
I. Policy Intelligence and Education News
FY 2024 funding enacted, Congress in recess – After a flurry of last-minute action on Friday and early Saturday to pass the second package of six fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills – including the Labor-HHS-Education bill described in the CEF Update #2 on 3.21.24 – the President signed the bill into law and Congress began a two-week recess. Attention will turn to the FY 2025 cycle when the House and Senate return to session the second week of April. The package provides a cut of 0.2% to Department of Education (ED) discretionary funding versus the net amount for FY 2023, which reflects the pattern of essentially freezing ED funding in years when there are caps on non-defense funding. The attached chart shows that pattern, in the years with funding shaded in red. The Budget Control Act capped defense and non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding from 2013-2021, and every two years Congress raised the caps when they proved to be too low to allow bills to pass. As a result, ED funding increased the first year of the two-year boost (2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020) and was slightly cut in most cases the subsequent year when caps were frozen. This is like the funding scenario for FYs 2023-2025, with the FY 2024 and FY 2025 cap essentially the same as FY 2023. The President has requested an increase for ED for FY 2025, but based on Congress’s recent history, we have a lot of advocacy ahead of us to make that increase a reality.
Rep. Granger stepping down as House Appropriations Committee chair – On Friday, after the House voted on the FY 2024 appropriations package, House Appropriations Committee chair Kay Granger (R-TX) wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) asking that he start the process to choose a new Committee chair for the rest of this Congress. She outlines her reasons for stepping down as chair, but I am assuming they also include frustration with the difficulty of producing bills that will satisfy her caucus and that can also pass the Senate, as well as a thought that the FY 2025 cycle may not be concluded by time she retires at the end of the 118th Congress. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) immediately announced his candidacy for Appropriations Committee chair, and he seems a favorite to win the spot. He is currently chair of the House Rules Committee and was a long-time Republican chair or ranking member of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee who has been supportive of education funding in general. CEF presented Rep. Cole with its Special Recognition award at our 2016 gala.
What’s next for FY 2025? I’m not going to bug Appropriations Committee staff (for a few days at least!) about the FY 2025 cycle, but I am sure we will soon see dates and information posted about deadlines for member requests and earmarks, and opportunities for outside groups to request to testify or submit testimony for the record. The House will likely select a new Appropriations Committee chair first, and if Republicans choose Rep. Cole, they will also have to replace him as chair of the Rules Committee. I do think we will see the start of the regular appropriations cycle (hearings and likely some subcommittee markups at least in the House), but nobody expects that serious negotiations on the FY 2025 bills will occur until after the November elections, meaning there will need to be a continuing resolution to extend FY 2024 funding before the end of the fiscal year on September 30. The House will also have to decide next steps with the motion filed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) to oust Speaker Johnson from his position. Because she did not file the motion as “privileged,” it’s possible that the House will not vote on it – she described her action as a “more of a warning than a pink slip.”
II. Advocacy
Sample social media post supporting investments in education funding – Each week CEF provides a sample post that our members can use. The following post could be sent with the attached graphic (“ED funding flat in years with caps…”) in support of investments in education :
Education got cut under a spending cap that froze 2024 non-defense funding, & the cap for 2025 is about the same. The President’s 2025 budget increases #edfunding so it’s vital that Congress hear why education funding matters; use @edfunding's toolkit @ https://cef.org/advocacy/
Thank You!
WiRSA 2023
Conference Sponsors
