AB 1144

School district revenue limits

Current law generally limits the total amount of revenue per pupil that a school

district may receive from general school aids and property taxes in a school year to

the amount of revenue allowed per pupil in the previous school year plus a per pupil

adjustment, if any, as provided by law. Until 2425, current law provides a $325 per

pupil adjustment in each school year. Under the bill, beginning in the 2024-25 school

year, the per pupil adjustment is the per pupil increase for the previous school year

as adjusted for any increase in the consumer price index.

Reimbursement for special education costs

The bill also changes the rate at which the state reimburses school boards,

operators of independent charter schools, cooperative educational service agencies

(CESAs), and county children with disabilities education boards (CCDEBs) for costs

incurred to provide special education and related services to children with

disabilities and for school age parents programs (eligible costs). Under current law,

the state reimburses the full cost of special education for children in hospitals and

convalescent homes for orthopedically disabled children. After those costs are paid,

the state reimburses remaining eligible costs from the amount remaining in the

appropriation account at a rate that distributes the full amount appropriated. The

Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates that, in the 2023-24 school year, the

reimbursement rate will be 33.3 percent.

The bill changes the appropriation to a sum sufficient and provides that,

beginning in the 2023-24 school year, after full payment of hospital and convalescent

home costs, the remaining costs are reimbursed at 90 percent of eligible costs.

Currently, the Department of Public Instruction provides 1) special education

aid to school districts, independent charter schools, CESAs, and CCDEBs; 2) aid to

school districts, CESAs, and CCDEBs for providing physical or mental health

treatment services to private school and tribal school pupils; and 3) aid for school age

parents programs to school districts only.

Teacher preparatory program grant program

Finally, the bill creates a grant program administered by the Higher

Educational Aids Board under which HEAB awards grants to students enrolled in

the teacher preparatory program of an institution of higher education. Grant

moneys may be used to pay 1) the student's tuition and fees and 2) any expense

incurred in connection with obtaining a license to teach issued by the Department

of Public Instruction, including any examination or licensing fee. However, the grant

amount for the payment of tuition and fees is limited to the amount of tuition and

segregated fees charged to a resident undergraduate student at the University of

Wisconsin-Madison for an equivalent program. HEAB also may not award a grant

to a student unless the student enters into a written agreement to work in this state

as a teacher in an elementary or secondary school for at least four years after