WiRSA INFO
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Assembly Committee on Education
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Teacher Apprenticeship Dept. of Work Force Develpment
School Data Tools
DPI - Legislator by School District
Special Education Interactive Map
2022-23 Interactive State Map Voucher Aid Reduction for Wisconsin Public Schools
ELC (Education for Law Center - Special Education Funding Crunch Information
WiRSA Update - June 19, 2024
Announcments
Highlighting Call for Proposals at our WiRSA conference!
Less than a month left to get your breakout session proposal to WiRSA. Rural and town schools make up over 70% of the schools in Wisconsin, and our educators and leaders are creative, innovative, passionate, and result oriented. Spread the wealth by presenting at our energetic and informative conference.
WiRSA Conference - Call for Proposals
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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)
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WiRSA Conference, Vendor & Sponsor Reistration, & Live Auction Donation Link
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
From EngageRocket - A New PODCAST
Transforming Schools Through Intentional Leadership and Culture
Summary:
Dr. Jim chats about the impact of front-loading the hiring process on employee retention with Tim Widiker, Superintendent of St. Croix School District. They discuss how focusing on fit and standardized interview checklists can improve hiring outcomes. Widiker shares his approach to creating a leader-full organization through effective coaching, ongoing development, and fostering a culture of respect and collaboration. Takeaways include leveraging building leadership teams and ensuring continuous investment in employee growth. This episode offers valuable insights for leaders in both education and private sectors aiming to optimize retention.
Key Takeaways:
Strategic Hiring for Fit: Tim Widiker stresses the importance of hiring great people over purely skill-based evaluations, emphasizing the role of behavioral-based interview questions to ensure cultural alignment and better retention outcomes.
Continual Professional Development: Systematic professional development, including monthly PD days focused on staff wellness and social-emotional learning, is critical in maintaining a high engagement level among educators.
Leadership at All Levels: Promoting a belief that everyone in the organization is a leader, whether a bus driver or a principal, helps foster a strong, inclusive culture.
Building Leadership Pipelines: The significance of early-stage talent identification through programs like the building leadership teams ensures a steady flow of capable future administrators.
Highlighting the WiRSA Advocacy Award
Nomination!
Rural Advocacy Award
Recognizing individual educators, legislators, business/industry leaders, and community leaders.
The Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance (WiRSA) Board of Directors established this award to recognize an individual educator, legislator, business/industry leader, or community leader in Wisconsin who has devoted significant time and contributed substantial effort to strengthen and preserve rural schools in Wisconsin.
To be nominated, you must be an individual educator, legislator, business/industry leader, or community leader in Wisconsin.
Award winners will be selected by the WiRSA Board of Directors Executive Committee. The deadline is September 1, 2024
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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
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)
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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
DPI - News
State superintendent statement on unified, coordinated approach in support of MPS’ kids
State superintendent statement on Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent resignation
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Updated Asset-Based Performance Levels
DPI Flyer Communication Handout
After extensive engagement with internal and external education partners, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is updating terminology used to describe student performance levels on statewide standardized assessments.
The terms developing, approaching, meeting, and advanced will replace outdated terms on student standardized assessment reports. This update promotes academic potential, engagement, and growth at every level, and improves feelings of encouragement and motivation among students.
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DPI Memo for the 2023-2024 Enacted
Legislation Affecting Schools
Linked here is a summary of K-12 education-related bills enacted in this session, along with links to the text of each act and available Legislative Council summary
Legislative Update
WASB (Wisconsin Association of School Boards) Blog News
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Legislative Maps - 2024 & 2022 (Interactive)
You can find your legislator and their contact information by CLICKING THIS LINK and entering your address.
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Wisconsin Elections Commission - Website
Candidates on the ballot by election - Partisan Primary
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WisEye Morning Minute on State Budget Projections
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Gov. Evers Press Releases
News Articles
University of Wisconsin GREEN BAY
WISCONSIN POLICY FORUM
Wisconsin Public Radio
WISCONSIN EXAMINER
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Technical colleges are filling rural education gaps
Dual enrollment
The vast majority of dual enrollment classes are in the technical college system, where nearly 55,000 high school students either received credit during the high school day or attended classes at a technical college, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
AP
WisEYE Morning Minute
WISPOLITICS
Spectrum NEWS 1
OFFICE OF SCHOOL SAFETY /WSCCA
OFFICE OF SCHOOL SAFETY SAFETY RESOURCES TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES VIRTUAL LEARNING
Please Help Us To Continue Serving You - Updating Your Contact Information
This is the time of the year where a number of staff leave their school or school district to retire or to a new position in another school or school district. WSSCA would like to continue supporting you and/or your school district without a disruption. Please let us know if you are retiring or changing employment to another school or school district. If you are leaving your school or school district, please provide us with the name and contact information for the person that will be replacing you.
Please email Tom Wohlleber with any membership changes/updates. Thank you for allowing WSSCA to support your school safety efforts!
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Update From NREA (National Rural Education Association) From the NREA Weekly Update
“A Can’t Miss Education Conference.” “Best Education Conferences to Attend.”
The National Forum to Advance Rural Education is one of the country’s leading rural education conferences. The event is designed to create an environment for collaboration and innovation with a diverse community that includes national experts, K–12 and higher education practitioners, leading researchers, policymakers, and philanthropic leaders from around the country.
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In this fourth bonus episode, Apprenticeship 2.0 gives the floor to its marketing partners. These leaders in the apprenticeship space support not only the podcast but apprenticeship initiatives across the U.S. Serving as the voices of these organizations are Stephanie Curtis, Executive Director of Teacher Apprentice Sponsor Coaching and Collaboration, or TASCC LLC; Dr. Allen Pratt, Executive Director of the National Rural Education Association; and Carlon Howard, Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer of the Equity Institute.
Update From CEF (Center for Education Funding)
I. Policy Intelligence and Education News
Appropriations – The House Appropriations Committee is continuing to work through its fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding bills, with one more bill being marked up at subcommittee this week and a total of five scheduled for full Committee markup tomorrow and on Wednesday. Last week the House passed the first government funding bill and, If all markups are successful, by the end of this week the Committee will have passed half of the 12 government funding bills. The Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee plans to mark up its bill on June 27, meaning we will get to see the bill the day before. The legislative text does not spell out precise levels for all programs, although it does for some, and the Subcommittee press release usually offers some specifics, as well. I’ll update CEF’s funding table with the details we know and share it with CEF members as soon as possible, but we won’t know all program levels until we see the Committee report, which is usually released the day before the full Committee markup. Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) has said the total for the Labor-HHS-Education bill is about 10% lower than it was for FY 2025. The Senate Appropriations Committee is continuing to hold hearings on the FY 2025 budget this week and has not yet released its allocations. Both chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and ranking member Susan Collins (R-ME) have expressed support for exceeding one or both of the caps on defense and non-defense discretionary funding, in contrast to the House, where the non-defense total is effectively a 6% cut below the 2024 total (it is a 1% increase from the 2024 cap level, but 2024 funding included an extra $75 billion for non-defense programs that wasn’t counted under the cap).
Upcoming education-related hearings –
“The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: Supporting Efforts to Meet the Needs of Youth, Workers, and Employers” on Wednesday, June 12, at 10am ET, in the Senate HELP Committee.
“The Crisis on Campus: Antisemitism, Radical Faculty, and the Failure of University Leadership” on Thursday, June 13, at 10am ET, in the House Ways and Means Committee
CEF - Investing in America’s Future - EDUCATION MATTERS
The recorded CEF Hill briefing to release our FY 2025 Education Budget Book.
We had a great panel discussion highlighting the importance of investments in the education continuum. If you missed the briefing, you can watch it on CEF’s YouTube channel and attached above are the pdf budget book for 2025 and PPT slides with all charts.
U.S. Department of Education News
Office of Education Technology
The Office of Educational Technology is working to develop policies and supports focused on the effective, safe, and fair use of AI-enabled educational technology.
Thank You!
WiRSA 2023
Conference Sponsors
