Ed Advocacy Update: Senate Holds Hearing on Bill to Censor ‘Controversial Subjects,’ Make It Easier to Sue Teachers & Schools

A week after the Assembly Education Committee passed a bill designed to censor “controversial subjects” through a litany of requirements and ultimately making it easier to sue teachers and schools, the Senate Education Committee held a public hearing on the companion bill. The bill (AB 510 / SB 489) would drag political games into classrooms, making it easier for a few extremists to ban books and deny students an honest education. The bill creates a process for parents who feel a school has infringed on their beliefs in areas such as health, religion or education to file a lawsuit.

One committee member asked how teachers could incorporate the lengthy list of requirements in real life, “If any teacher talks about an issue that is not on the agenda, what does that mean? Does a teacher have to say, ‘Sorry, I have to go back and notify every parent before we have this conversation?’”

As for what constitutes a controversial topic, the bill’s author said, “We’ll know it when we see it.”

Email Your Senator to Oppose SB 489

Opponents of the bill pointed out that the law would allow a parent – or a out-of-state funded lawsuit mill that thrives on suing schools and government agencies – to bring suit every single time a teacher might address a topic someone might label ‘controversial.’

WEAC opposes the bill because parents, school boards and educators work very well together to do what is best for students, and this bill would undermine our ability to do that. This bill would infringe on the rights of most parents to favor a few extremists. Polls show that more than 70 percent of parents oppose book bans and other extreme policies this bill would encourage.

The bill is very similar to one introduced last session, which was vetoed by Governor Evers. Republicans attempted to override the governor’s veto and failed.

Roundup: Legislative Proposals on Vouchers, Private Charters

Bills Would Change the Way Vouchers, Private Charters are Funded

Public hearings were postponed last week on bills to change the way many vouchers and privately run charters are funded (AB 688 / SB 652, AB 900 / SB 838). Under the plan, local tax dollars that now fund the Racine, statewide and special needs vouchers would shift so they’re paid for from general purpose revenue (bottom line: taxpayers are still on the hook). The legislative move comes after growing recognition that the current funding system for these outfits is unconstitutional – because local public school taxes are diverted from the majority of students in order to pay tuition for a small percentage of private school attendees. WEAC is opposed to the bills.

Vouchers Get Historic Funding in 2023-25 State Budget

You’ll remember that deals made on the 2023-25 state budget resulted in an expansion of per-pupil voucher payments as much as 41 percent. In signing the budget deal, Governor Evers then used his line-item veto power to extend increases for public schools for the next 400 years to provide a modest predictable funding stream that will vary by district.

Voucher Lawsuit Update

A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s school voucher system will likely be heard by a lower court, after the Supreme Court announced it will not take up the challenge directly. While the Supreme Court decided not to take the case, Underwood v. Vos, directly as an original action, a case can still be filed with the circuit court.

The lawsuit against the voucher system asserts that the state’s ever-increasing tax spending on vouchers – Wisconsin diverted over a half billion tax dollars to unaccountable private school vouchers last year – is unconstitutional. The Constitution requires that the state fund only public schools with taxes. Under vouchers, the majority of the state’s children are paying the price when their local public school funding is diverted to voucher schools.

Bill: Automatic Re-enrollment in Voucher Program

This bill (SB 74 / AB 77) would create an automatic process for re-enrollment into voucher programs, rather than the current system requiring annual enrollment in the tax-funded program during a set window.

Bill: Requiring Tax-Funded Vouchers to Have Librarians

This bill  (AB 782 / SB 758) would require every public, voucher and tax-funded privately run charter to have a licensed library media specialist working full-time in each school. Voucher schools would be able to have either a licensed library media specialist or someone with a degree in library science working full-time. The bill allows schools to adjust their budget to increase their budget to cover that cost.

Assembly Education Committee Meets: Here’s What Happened

Bills passed out of committee:

• AB 450: Ready-to-use glucagon rescue therapies in schools;
• AB 592: Allowing representatives of certain federally chartered youth membership organizations, like Boy Scouts, to provide information to pupils on public school property;
• AB 638: Requiring school boards to make textbooks, curricula, and instructional materials available for inspection by school district residents;
• AB 758: Alternative teacher certification program for an initial license to teach. This bill removes the requirement that an alternative teacher certification program be operated by a nonstock, nonprofit organization for purposes of an initial license to teach.

Public hearings were held on:

• Civics Ed Requirement (AB 898/SB 837). Requires instruction in civics in elementary and high school as a graduation requirement.
• Cursive Writing Requirement (AB 937/SB 873). Requires cursive writing in elementary school as part of English Language Standards.
• Pelz Holocaust Ed Resource Center (SB 833/AB 919). Funds the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Center in Wisconsin, which provides programming free of charge for schools to comply with 2021 Act 30, requiring education on the Holocaust. Wisconsin is recognized as the leader in Holocaust education. (See educator resources)

Senate Education Committee Update

In addition to the censorship bill, the committee held public hearings on:

• Remote Proctoring of Pupil Assessments (SB 611/AB 652). Would allow the Forward Exam to be administered through remote proctoring has a remote proctoring policy that meets certain requirements.
• Grants for School Firearm Detection Software (SB 523/AB 542). Providing $4 million in state grants to install micro-radar technology to identify firearms for use primarily in parking lots and main corridors. The technology was used at the recent Republican national debate in Milwaukee to scan all entrants using AI and existing security cameras.
• Pelz Holocaust Ed Resource Center (SB 833/AB 919). Funds the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Center in Wisconsin, which provides programming free of charge for schools to comply with 2021 Act 30, requiring education on the Holocaust. Wisconsin is recognized as the leader in Holocaust education. (See educator resources)