Curriculum and Academic Freedom
Teacher Preparation. Current law allows authorization of a teacher preparatory program only for student teaching that consists of full days for a full semester. This bill allows for teacher preparatory programs that are full day for a full summer session.
Cursive Writing (AB3/). Requires cursive writing in elementary school as part of English Language Standards. 24 states currently incorporate cursive writing in state standards. Groups registering against include school boards, superintendents and Catholic schools.
Changing Assessment Standards (AB1 / SB 18). This bill would change assessment standards, AKA cut scores, on school report cards to require them to align to the NAEP standards, rather than the state standards educators teach in school every day. DPI Testimony
Civics Curriculum (AB4 / SB30). Requires instruction in civics in elementary and high school as a graduation requirement, beyond current requirements which already call for students to pass the U.S. Citizenship test to graduate. Proponents said 36 other states require this additional, dedicated instruction in civics outside of what is already being taught. A proponent from the Center for Civic Education, speaking for the bill, said he wants to see more time spent on instruction, acknowledging that there are costs associated with additional staff time, professional development and the pressure for schools to prioritize reading and math given the focus on test scores. Moms for Liberty also testified for the bill, generalizing that schools used to teach civics for about an hour a day but now only teach it one day a week and expressed concern about students being allowed to retake the civics test for graduation.
Inspect School Materials (AB5). Requires districts to comply with requests to inspect a textbook, curriculum or instructional material within 14 days. Under the bill, each school board must post a list of adopted textbooks on the school board’s website. Despite the requirements for schools to follow open records law and that districts already share their materials, proponents say districts may not be as transparent as they should be. The DPI spoke against the bill, wondering if this might be an effort to sow distrust by inferring materials are not currently available. Ed groups registering against include those representing school boards and administrators.
School Sports Teams K-12 (AB 100 / SB 117). Requires school policies for sports teams to be determined by gender and limit participation to the gender of a student at time of birth. Passed Assembly, referred to Senate committee on operations, labor and economic development.
School Sports Teams – College (AB 102/SB 116). Requires school policies for sports teams to be determined by gender and limit participation to the gender of a student at time of birth. Passed Assembly, introduced in Senate.
Dual enrollment. This proposal would change Wisconsin’s dual enrollment regulation to expand access for high school students.
Funding
General Aids for Public Schools. WEAC President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen spoke at a recent news conference at the state Capitol in support of the Kids First package of bills consistent with WEAC’s demands to increase school generalization aid, require voucher transparency and provide healthy school meals for all. While WEAC continues to advocate for a sweeping package to support public education in the wake of a disappointing 2025-27 state budget, Wirtz-Olsen said these initiatives cannot wait. The bill to provide an increase in general aids for schools (AB 495) comes after the 2025-27 state budget was passed with zero increases in this area. The bill would guarantee that every school district receives at least as much state aid as it did last school year. The bill is in the Assembly Education Committee.
Per-Pupil Adjustment for Revenue Limits. (SB 389) This would eliminate the $325 per pupil adjustment in school district revenue limit calculations afforded by Governor Evers’ partial veto in the 2023-25 state budget in the school district revenue limit formula beginning with the calculation of school district revenue limits for the 2027-28 school year.
70% Operation Expense Mandate (AB6 / SB32). Requires districts use 70% of operation expenses for direct classroom expenditures and administrative pay or face reduction of state funding. The author of the bill said he’s bringing the bill forward to re-designate resources as a step to “solve problems” in public schools. He said the average in WI is 73%, but said “some” are not. He clarified that teacher pay is part of the direct expenditures. The author also couldn’t say if that would tie the hands of local school boards to set pay in their districts. The DPI is opposed to this, noting vague definitions and that the state already limits what districts can spend through revenue limes and that the move usurps authority of locally elected school boards.
Blocking large referendums from being counted toward state aid (AB 81). This bill would change how equalization aid is calculated for most school districts, excluding any money raised through referendums exceeding $50M. According to the Republican author’s, “This bill targets referendums that would significantly draw from the pot of money that is to be shared by all school districts” and specifically mentioned Milwaukee Public Schools’ recent referendum.
Limiting school operating referenda (AB 71 / SB 81). Eliminates recurring operating referenda and limits a nonrecurring operating referendum to no more than four years.
Extraordinary Session (AB 150 / SB 149) Requires legislature to convene an extraordinary session if an executive order of the president of the United States freezes federal aid to the state. Introduced in Assembly & Senate.
Higher Education
Technical colleges’ lease of their facilities (WI SB26). This bill allows a technical college to lease its facilities to others for the operation of a child care center.
Tuition and fee remission for veterans and dependents in UW and technical college (LRB 1653). This bill modifies the residency requirement for the tuition and fee remission program for certain veterans and their spouses and children enrolled in University of Wisconsin System schools and technical colleges by eliminating the five-year durational residency requirement for veterans and their spouses and children.
Income tax subtraction for education loan payments. This proposal would create a new individual income tax deduction for both principal and interest paid on qualified education loans, especially useful for families who are unable to save for higher education costs through Wisconsin’s EdVest program. For the 2025 tax year, the deduction would be limited to $5,130, an amount that, like EdVest, would then be adjusted annually for inflation. Under existing law, borrowers may only deduct up to $2,500 in interest payments, a benefit that is quickly phased out as a graduate’s income rises.
Safety and Health
Prohibiting Firearms on University Campuses. (LRB 470/1) Current law stipulates any person carrying a firearm in public or privately owned university buildings is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. However, individuals with licenses to carry a concealed weapon are exempt from this rule. Under this bill, university campuses will be afforded the same gun-free zones as our K12 campuses.
Healthy School Meals for All. The Healthy School Meals for All bill (LRB-1300/P1) is intended to ensure that every student in Wisconsin can have a nutritious breakfast and lunch regardless of their family finances. It would reestablish the policy that was in effect during the covid-19 pandemic that ended at the start of the 2022-23 school year. “Investment in healthy school meals pays back many times over,” WEAC President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen said. “It improves students’ educational outcomes and health, saves families time and money, removes stigma for low-income families, it is equitable, and it supports Wisconsin’s local farmers.” Note: This bill was introduced last session as SB 720/AB 754.
Cell Phone Ban (AB 2 / SB 29). The bill bans cellular phones, tablet computers, laptop computers and gaming devices in public schools. Exceptions include 1) for emergencies and perceived threats, 2) to manage a pupil’s health care, 3) for a use included in an individualized education program or 504 plan, and 4) for a use authorized by a teacher for educational purposes. The bill also authorizes a school board to include other exceptions if the school board determines that doing so is beneficial. Private schools receiving government funding through vouchers would not be subject to the law.
Vouchers and Privatization
Income Requirements. This bill (AB 496) would ensure fiscal responsibility in government-issued voucher payments, calling for families exceeding 220 percent of the federal poverty level to leave the taxpayer-funded program. Currently, if a family income increases while in the voucher program, vouchers are still provided in Wisconsin’s once-on-a-voucher, always-on-a-voucher system.
Open Meetings. This bill (AB497) would apply Wisconsin’s public records and open meetings laws to privately run charters and voucher schools, the same as public schools follow. Bill authors note that since many of these institutions take state funding for most or all of their students they are essentially government-funded and should be transparent to taxpayers who fund them.
Tax Bill Transparency. This bill (AB 504) would require the amount of taxpayer funding for private schools receiving vouchers to be printed on the property tax bill, rather than the current practice of accounting the entire amount of school funding under the local public school district.
Prohibiting corporal punishment in public and private schools. This bill (AB 500) would expand current law prohibiting corporal punishment in public schools to private run charter schools and private institution taking government funding through vouchers.
Loosening Residency Requirements Verification. Republicans have introduced a bill (AB 485) to ban the Department of Public Instruction from verifying the residence of a family before issuing a government-funded private school voucher, unless the family reports their residence has changed.
Workforce
Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday. (LRB 4235/2) This would create a sales tax holiday during the back-to-school season on school supplies.
Tax Subtraction for School Supplies (AB 64). Wisconsin educators spend hundreds of their own money on school supplies. This bill would allow educators to deduct up to $300 annually for school supplies they buy for their classrooms and students.
Ending Work-from-Home. Requires all state employees to return to in-person work by July 1, 2025. The bill’s author cited a report from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau outlining the extent of telework in state government. The author’s announcement stated, “For example, the audit revealed that an average of only 5.3% of workstations were in use at the Department of Public Instruction… It’s “unconscionable” for 5% of DPI’s employees to be working in-person while teachers across the state are in their classrooms five days a week.”
Educator Health Insurance Study (SB516). With educator health insurance premiums increasing three times as fast as wages and hundreds of dollars more coming out of paychecks for co-pays and deductibles, more teachers and staff are leaving the profession for jobs with better benefits. In response, a bill has been introduced to initiate a study into putting educators in the state group health insurance. The bill is in the Senate Committee on Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry. WEAC supports. See our Educator Healthcare page for more information
Voting & Civil Rights
English Only (SB 357). Currently, Wisconsin has no official language but this would establish English in that capacity. Instead of providing an English interpreter, governmental agencies required to provide an interpreter could use AI for translation purposes and all oral and written communication would be required to be in English. No companion bill, referred to Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development.
Immigration Chaos. Wisconsin Democrats are circulating bills (LRB-1618, 1688) to limit the ability to detain immigrants in schools and similar places where safety is paramount. “Kids deserve to feel safe in school, people deserve to seek medical care without fear of separation or detainment,” the authors say.
Capitol Flags (AB 58). A proposal to limit the flags that can be flown at the State Capitol, resulting in certain flags – including the Pride flag – from being raised. Governor Evers has been flying the Pride flag at the Capitol since 2019.
Limiting Governor’s Veto (LRB-0312). Restricts the governor’s partial veto authority. This proposal comes after Governor Evers’ veto extending a minimum increase for public school funding for the next 400 years. Evers’ move, which faces a Supreme Court challenge, would ensure local public schools would no longer be subject to funding freezes. The practice, used to balance the state budget but leaving schools without even an inflationary increase, forces schools to go to referendums to keep open.
Access to public high schools for military recruiters (SB 10). Mandates that recruiters have access to common areas in high schools during a school day and to school-sanctioned events.
Youth Membership Groups (SB 11). Allows representatives of certain federally chartered youth membership groups, such as the Boy Scouts, to provide information to pupils on public school property during school hours.
WIAA Open Records (SB 16). Prohibits a school district from being a member of an interscholastic athletic association unless the association elects to be governed by the state’s public records and open meetings laws. The bill includes exceptions for records of an interscholastic athletic association pertaining to individual referees or individual pupils.
Detaining anyone alleged to be not lawfully present in the U.S. (LRB-1618 & 1688). Prohibits any official from engaging in the detention of an individual if the individual is being detained on the sole basis that the individual is or is alleged to be not lawfully present in the United States. The bill applies only to a detention that occurs in a public building or facility, school, place of worship, place where child care services are provided, or place where medical or other health care services are provided. The bill prohibits expending any moneys to aid in the detention of an individual if the individual is being detained on the sole basis that the individual is or is alleged to be not lawfully present in the United States.
Requiring national motto in public schools and public buildings (LRB 1631 & 1025). Requires public buildings to display the national motto, “In God We Trust.”. Beginning in 2026-27 school year, the bill also requires that the national motto, “In God We Trust,” be displayed in each public school classroom, including charter school classrooms. Under current law, each school board and governing body of a private school must display the U.S. flag in the schoolroom or from a flagstaff on the school grounds during the school hours of each school day.
‘Free speech, academic freedom’ at UW and WTCS. This Republican bill (AB 501) establishes due process in disciplinary proceedings at UW and WTCS campuses, setting certain standards and opening the schools to lawsuits. Referred to Committee on Colleges and Universities.