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Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Proposed bill seeking to prevent defunding of California schools amid fears of deportation moves forward
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A proposed bill that aims to protect California schools from defunding caused by low attendance rates amid the recent immigration raids passed out of the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday. California uses a school district's Average Daily Attendance to determine its funding. The ADA is calculated by taking the total number of days of student attendance and dividing it by the total number of school days. If a school district's ADA decreases, the state can cut back on funding for that particular school district. New findings on January Border Patrol Operation show agents didn't go after said 'targets' The amended Assembly Bill 1348, proposed by Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains, seeks to protect California school districts from defunding during recent and future immigration raids. The proposal, if passed, would add immigration enforcement activities to the list of emergencies that are eligible for funding protections. The list originally included events like fire, flood, an epidemic, earthquake, a major safety hazard determined by the local law enforcement agency and more. 'Many fear separation from their families, despite their status as citizens or documented residents,' the California Association for Bilingual Education said in a letter of support for the proposal, according to a press release by Bains' office. Never miss a story: Make your homepage The proposal, first read in February, came to be in consideration of President Donald Trump signing executive orders that rolled back protection of schools, churches and hospitals from immigration enforcement activities as well as birthright citizenship, according to the release. 'Let's be honest about what's happening here – this administration isn't just enforcing immigration law,' Bains said in the release. 'It's waging psychological warfare against immigrants which the President has claimed, quote, 'poison the blood of our country.'' The bill will move on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pair of legislative proposals push back against Trump's anti-immigrant offensive
'Across the nation, we have seen instances where officers have gone to schools and have intimidated teachers, staff and students,' said Democratic Assemblymember Cecelia González. (Photo: Alejanda Rubio/Nevada Current) President Donald Trump's efforts to carry out mass deportations and detain legal permanent residents and green card recipients has created increased 'fear and uncertainty' throughout the state, immigrant groups have told Nevada lawmakers. Two bills proposed this session, which recently passed out of committee, seek to provide a measure of reassurance to anxious families. One would protect students from being taken from school by immigration officials. Another would establish a procedure for families to select potential temporary guardians if parents are deported. 'While we may not have control over the events that are unfolding on a national scale, we do have the power to make a meaningful impact within our own communities,' Noé Orosco, the Government Affairs Manager with Make the Road Nevada, told lawmakers in March. The Trump administration has defied court orders seeking to restrict aggressive federal immigration tactics, and rescinded long-standing policies that prohibit immigration enforcement in 'sensitive' places such as schools, churches, and hospitals. Assembly Bill 217 would prohibit school employees from granting permission to immigration officers to enter a school, or provide student records, including information on a student's family, without a warrant. 'Across the nation, we have seen instances where officers have gone to schools and have intimidated teachers, staff and students,' said Democratic Assemblymember Cecelia González, who sponsored the bill. 'This is really a response to the fears of our students, staff and families and mixed-status families.' González, who presented the bill to the Assembly Education Committee in March, said Clark and Washoe county school districts already have existing policies to prevent employees from granting permission to immigration enforcement officials seeking to enter a school. The bill would simply codify that policy and ensure other districts throughout the state follow suit. González sought to make a violation of the law a misdemeanor, which received pushback from Nevada Association of School Boards. The bill was amended so the first violation 'will be disciplined under the discretion of each school district.' School employees could face a misdemeanor charge for any subsequent violation. The original version of the bill also prevented school police from using tasers and 'chemical agents' such as pepper spray on students but was edited out of the legislation to focus on immigration enforcement. Orosco, who presented the bill alongside González, said the legislation was needed to address 'an overwhelming sense of fear and uncertainty, particularly those who come from mixed-status families.' The anxiety students feel about losing a parent to deportation, or being taken as well, 'follows them into the classroom where it severely impacts their ability to concentrate and engage in learning,' he said. 'Many students are afraid to attend school because they worry about their family safety,' he said. 'The thought of immigration enforcement officers potentially being present on campuses creates an environment of distress.' AB 217 passed out of committee in late March with only Republican Assemblymember Richard Delong opposed. 'My concern with the bill, and I will be a no on this, is because there's a chance that federal law could change in the future and thus we set up a situation where no matter what a school official does, they're going to be in violation of one law or another,' he said. 'I don't want to put anyone in that position' Democratic Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett, the committee chair, pointed out that 'federal law can change at any point, and our state laws could be a violation of federal law at any point.' González, along with Democratic state Sen. Fabian Doñate, are also sponsoring Assembly Bill 460 that seeks a streamlined process for selecting a temporary guardian for minors prior to any immigration action. 'I think there's some value in the fact that individuals were coming to us with this solution, and so that's why we're putting that bill forward,' Doñate said during the March bill hearing. Nevada is home to one of the largest populations of mixed-status families in the country, González said at the hearing. A 2020 report published by the American Immigration Council estimated that 'about one in seven children in the state was a U.S. citizen living with at least one undocumented family member.' Some estimates put that number in Nevada at one in 10 households Both figures make it likely that throughout the state 'that in every single one of our districts there are hard working families that pay taxes and contribute to our community, yet live with the daily fear of separation,' González said. The legislation, which passed unanimously out of committee last week, would establish a form for parents or guardians to nominate a temporary guardian for a minor. The form would need to be signed by the parent or guardian, two 'impartial adult witnesses' and notarized before being placed in the Nevada Lockbox, an electronic registry maintained by the Nevada Secretary of State. The legislation would require 'a court to consider the form requesting to nominate a guardian of a minor in determining which person is most suitable to be the guardian for the minor,' González said. 'Regardless of where we stand on immigration policy, we can all agree that children should not bear the brunt of these challenges,' González said. 'As policymakers, we have a responsibility to provide solutions that prioritize family unity, stability and the well being of our most vulnerable children.' The original version of the bill also sought to expand eligibility for welfare support assistance for children living with guardians if an immigration order led to their separation. It also allocated $2 million to the Nevada's Department of Education for the Trauma Recovery Grant Project, which provides funding for trauma support for children. Both were removed from the bill. 'It's not lost on me the conversations that we've been having about our state's budget and what that is going to look like this session and beyond,' she said. 'If we have the opportunity to include (the funding), we would love to.'
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Where does New Jersey's proposed classroom cell phone bill stand?
TRENTON, N.J. (PIX11) — Lawmakers in New Jersey are keeping the 'phone' conversation going. In Monday's Assembly Education Committee meeting, lawmakers held a discussion on the proposed legislation to ban cell phones in classrooms, an effort backed by Governor Phil Murphy. More Local News 'We're trying to get back to learning,' said Asw. Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-NJ 15th District). After spending around an hour hearing testimony from experts in education and public safety, supporters of the bill noted that while the bill has been seen in the public as a phone ban, it leaves it up to school districts to adopt their own policies. Lawmakers say there are some instances where cell phones could be used for academic purposes, like Kahoot, a learning game platform. 'Use it when it's appropriate but at the same time we need it to a side for a little while as well,' said Reynolds-Jackson. Republican Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia was among a few lawmakers who expressed some concerns, including one that many parents have voiced: the ability for their child to reach them in an emergency, like a lockdown situation. 'I don't think anyone is opposed to actually developing a policy that schools can use as guidance to follow,' said Fantasia (R-NJ 24th District). 'The larger concern we're dealing with is when it costs money, and also safety concerns… That's a real issue, that's a valid issue, and we really, really have to look into that before we force guidelines on schools.' More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Democratic Assemblyman Cody Miller, who serves as a volunteer first responder, testified that parents flooding a school parking lot in an emergency after their kids contact them could hinder responses. 'Wherever the emergency services are that are on that school campus, they don't have the ability to respond to calls effectively,' said Miller (D-NJ 4th District). The committee advanced the bill. There's no timetable yet on when it could reach the assembly floor for a vote. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Widespread opposition at hearing to bill requiring parental approval for pronoun, name changes
The Progress Pride Flag flies over the Wisconsin Capitol in June 2023. Wisconsin lawmakers held a hearing Thursday on two bills that would limit the rights of trans and non-binary people under the age of 18.. (Photo by Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner)miner) Two controversial bills that target transgender youth in schools, one dictating how school districts handle name and pronoun changes and the other banning transgender students from sports teams that align with their gender identity, received vast opposition at a public hearing Thursday. The first bill — AB 103 — would require districts to implement policies stating that parents determine the names and pronouns used by school staff and requiring a parent's written authorization for school employees to use something different. It includes one exception: if a nickname is a shortened version of a student's legal first or middle name. Rep. Barbara Dittrich (R-Oconomowoc) told the Assembly Education Committee that the bill is another way to unite parents and their children. Dittrich and coauthor Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken) said the bill is modeled after a policy implemented at Arrowhead High School in 2022. 'Set aside whether or not you think a child should change their name or socially transition at school age, in our schools, we don't allow our kids to take a Tylenol without permission from parents. We don't allow them to go on a field trip without permission from parents. We don't allow their pictures to be shared without permission from parents,' Dittrich said. 'A major life choice — and transitioning and changing your name, it is a major life choice — is something parents should be involved in.' Dittrich said there should be a legal document affirming that parents approve any changes. Democrats expressed their opposition to the bill. Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) said she was concerned about the bill being a 'copy and paste' of one local school district's policy and being applied statewide. Rep. Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire) asked how many transgender people Dittrich consulted in drafting the bill. She said she spoke with none. 'This is a parent's rights bill. The parent is the legal guardian, therefore, I did not consult anyone who's trans,' Dittrich said. Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit), leader of the LGBTQ+ caucus, and Sen. Melissa Ratcliff (D-Cottage Grove), leader of the Transgender Parent and Non-Binary Advocacy caucus, both testified at the hearing. The bill is 'cruel, discriminatory, and inhumane,' said Ratcliff, who is the parent of a transgender child. 'It incentivizes persistent mistreatment of not just transgender and non-binary children, but all children, and it creates unsafe learning environments. It's a mess of a bill that would lead to absurd situations,' Ratcliff said. 'This bill would be laughable if not for the fact that it creates real harm for our trans and non-binary students.' Ratcliff also noted that the exceptions to the bills were narrow and may not make sense in practice. 'Perhaps your legal name is Richard, and you cannot be called Dick, or perhaps Charles can no longer be a Chuck? Legislatures should not be micromanaging policy choices local school school boards make,' Ratcliff said. Spreitzer urged lawmakers to not take a vote on the bills or to vote them down in committee. He noted that the bills are unlikely to become law given that Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed similar bills and vowed to veto future legislation. 'This discussion is not aimed at making policy,' he said. 'It is just giving a forum for bigotry, and it is going to hurt our youth, and if you don't have that intent, then I appreciate that, but that is the effect it is going to have, so I would ask you to look at that, consider your own intent and act accordingly.' Many in the room broke out into applause at Spreitzer's comments, but committee chair Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) quickly shut that down. 'Please, I've said no cheering. We're all going to hear things we agree with and disagree with. Just keep it to yourself,' Kitchens said, adding he didn't want to have to have people removed from the room. He asked the crowd to quiet down several times throughout the day. Dittrich asked if there are any amendments that could be made to make the bill better, but Spreitzer said the bill isn't 'fixable.' He said the intent of the bill appears to be making it harder for trans and nonbinary youth to change their names or pronouns and 'if that is the intent of this bill, I don't know that there is a way you can fix the language of it through an amendment.' More than 70 people testified during the public hearing, which ran for more than ten hours, with witnesses given a five-minute time limit. There were many more opponents than supporters at the hearing — leading Wisconsin Moms For Liberty activist Scarlett Johnson, testifying in favor of the bill, to ask for extra time after hitting the time limit. Johnson argued that she and supporters of the bill were 'wildly outnumbered.' Wisconsin Republicans have introduced bills targeting LGBTQ+ youth many times over the last several years. This year's bills come as President Donald Trump has also targeted transgender people through a series of executive orders. Several witnesses noted that this was not their first time testifying against such legislation; one said they were 'really tired of coming.' Luke Berg, an attorney with the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said the organization has received calls about schools from 'far too many Wisconsin parents in the last few years.' Asked about the exact number, Berg estimated that WILL has heard from six to 12 parents. Lawmakers on the committee asked Berg about what would happen if a student is fearful of their home life. Berg said concerns about students living in an unsafe home environment could be dealt with by Child Protective Services. 'I certainly don't disagree that there are bad parents, but we have a system and a process in place to deal with that,' Berg said. WILL clients Tammy Fournier and her daughter, Autumn, said the bill would have been helpful for them and is needed to ensure 'no other Wisconsin families would have to experience the government overstep we did.' They testified that at age 12, Autumn was questioning her gender identity and for a time was referred to at school as 'he' and by a different name. She later changed her mind. WILL brought a successful suit against the Kettle Moraine School District on their behalf that claimed the district violated parental rights by adopting a policy to allow, facilitate, and affirm a minor student's request to transition to a different gender identity at school without parental consent and even over the parents' objection. A judge blocked the district's policy that had allowed students to choose their name and pronouns. Many of the bill's opponents, including parents of transgender youth, said transgender youth need support and should have the ability to make decisions for themselves. They said the bill could be detrimental to young people's mental health. 'Parental involvement in support is incredibly important, but it's not always present, and when it's not, our schools can be a safe place for students who do not have a safe place at home,' Spreitzer said. 'There are nuanced ways we can navigate this without this one-size-fits-all approach that is aimed at making it harder for trans and non-binary students, and even in some cases, their supportive parent.' The Trevor Project's 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People surveyed 358 Wisconsin youths, finding significant mental health struggles LGBTQ+ youth can face. About 39% of LGBTQ+ youth surveyed reported seriously considering suicide, including 44% of transgender and nonbinary youth, and 12% reported a suicide attempt, the survey found. In addition, 63% of LGBTQ+ surveyed reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety. Kai Pyle, an assistant professor at UW-Madison told lawmakers about their experience exploring their identity growing up. Pyle stipulated they were speaking in a personal capacity, not for the university. Pyle said that at the age of 15 they asked friends, classmates and teachers to use a name different from their legal name, and it was mostly accepted. A little over a year later, they came out as transgender, which was a 'little bit of a more difficult change for many of my peers and teachers, but they were used to calling me Kai at that point, which in 2009 was a pretty unusual name in Wisconsin,' Pyle said. Pyle questioned the effect the bill would have had on them had it been law then. 'Would I have been acceptable because it was potentially just a shortened version of my legal name, which also started with the letter K?… The situation that a student like me would find themselves in, should this bill become law, clearly shows how this policy is discriminatory specifically to transgender youth, and how nonsensical it is to try to legally limit staff from using students' own preferred names and pronouns,' Pyle said. 'Beyond simply being nonsensical and discriminatory, however, it is fundamentally an attack on the right of all humans, regardless of their age, to be treated with dignity in a way that respects their sense of self.' The second bill — AB 100 — would require Wisconsin K-12 schools sports teams be designated based on 'sex,' defined as the sex at birth, and would ban transgender girls from participating on teams and being in locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. Tessa Price, a Madison resident, said the legislation won't be successful in gaining the type of control that lawmakers appear to want with the bill. 'At the end of the day, trans people exist, they play sports, and they will continue playing sports with other members [with] community support that they find,' Price said. 'So you will still find expressions within those sports that don't match the control you're trying to exert over it.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Education committee considers bills on test scores, money for local districts
A teacher and students in a classroom. (Klaus Vedfelt | Getty Images) In its first hearing of the legislative session, the Assembly Education Committee took testimony Thursday on several Republican bills, including one that would reverse changes to state testing standards and others that implement new state requirements on local school districts. State Superintendent Jill Underly criticized several of the bills ahead of the hearing in a statement for not providing 'real solutions' to the problems that school districts are facing across the state. '[Republicans are] too busy playing political games, using our schools and children as pawns to push their own ideological agenda,' Underly said in a statement. 'Rather than empowering local districts, they are intent on ignoring local control and imposing their own control over classrooms, dictating every move and actively trying to undermine public trust in our teachers and the entire education system.' The first bill — AB 1 — would reverse the changes to the Forward Exam test scores implemented by DPI last year. Under the bill, Wisconsin would be required to return educational assessments to score ranges and qualitative terms that DPI used on school report cards for the 2019-2020 school year. It also would require DPI to align the Forward exam score ranges and pupil performance categories to those set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Each year Wisconsin students take standardized tests, including the Forward Exam for third graders through eighth graders and the ACT and PreACT Secure for high school students, that help schools, teachers and families determine educational progress. Last year, DPI approved changes that included new terms to describe student achievement — 'developing,' 'approaching,' 'meeting' and 'advanced.' Previously, the terms were 'below basic,' 'basic,' 'proficient' and 'advanced.' New cut scores were also implemented — switching the state from a 3-digit number to a 4-digit number score for the math and English/language arts (ELA) test and changing the test scores needed to qualify to be placed in each performance level. Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown) said at the hearing that the recent changes to the test scores 'broke the connection to previous years to allow us to see how our kids are performing over time.' 'As we move out of COVID, it is more important than ever that we're able to see how our educational system is advancing or not advancing,' Jagler said. 'Moving away from the national standards set by NAEP only compounded the problem.' Jagler said he was 'disturbed' to see recent NAEP results that found that 31% of fourth grade students were at or above proficient in reading and 8% were advanced. The Forward Exam results with the new cut scores found that public school student proficiency rates in ELA were 48%. 'We simply can't improve our numbers by cooking the books which it appears we've done here,' Jagler said. Lawmakers said there needs to be more oversight of the process for test score review, especially as more money is being requested for education in Wisconsin. Underly has proposed spending an additional $4 billion. 'Later on in this session, there will be a request for billions of dollars to be invested in our schools. Should we, the Legislature, be able to determine where we are with other states that are making improvements?' Wittke commented. Representatives from DPI defended the test score changes and said reverting to the old standards would not be an effective way of measuring test results any longer. Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy, noting that Wisconsin has a seven-year process for reviewing standards, said Wisconsin hasn't lowered its educational standards 'one iota.' 'If you ask a classroom teacher, what we are expecting them… to teach kids has continued to get more and more rigorous over the past decade,' McCarthy said. When it comes to NAEP, McCarthy said that it 'does not have standards like we do,' adding of the NAEP standard rubric, that it 'sometimes relates and it sometimes does not relate.' DPI Director of the Office of Educational Accountability Viji Somasundaram noted that NAEP addresses the 'proficiency' measure on its website. 'It should be noted that the NAEP Proficient achievement level does not represent grade level proficiency as determined by other assessment standards (e.g., state or district assessments),' the website states. Somasundaram also said that while state assessments are administered to every student in Wisconsin (in 2023-24 there was a 95.4% participation rate for public school students) the NAEP is only administered to a few thousand students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the NAEP just tests a representative sample in a state, so not every student in a school or school in a district participates. She said it is a 'valuable tool' that can 'provide comparison information across the states' and trend information over several years but it doesn't provide grade level assessment. Somasundaram explained the process for coming to the new state standards, saying it included input from 88 participants who met over the course of four days. She said they used a method called 'bookmark' standard setting, which is used across the country for developing cut scores. DPI helped organize the session but isn't involved in the process, she said. 'We have one of the most stable assessment systems and it is a practice that we have been following to bring educators together after we have a new assessment to establish cut points,' Somasundaram said. Some have complained that because participants were required to sign nondisclosure agreements it was a sign of a 'secret' process, however, McCarthy said the NDAs were required since participants were looking at 'live' test questions, which are considered 'proprietary' information. 'Reverting the cut course or having these conversations and accusing people of dumbing down or lowering standards is a convenient political narrative, but it's not actually real,' McCarthy said. 'It's not what's happening in schools.' Rep. Cindi Duchow (R-Town of Delafield) accused DPI of trying to 'muddy the waters' when it comes to the scores and focused specifically on the results in Milwaukee. The recent NAEP test results found concerning results for Milwaukee public schools, where only 9% of fourth-grade students tested proficient or above in reading. Other large cities had 26% of students at that level 'We got the national reading scores last week. MPS is the worst in the country. You should all be embarrassed,' Duchow said, 'and if this was a private sector and not a government bureaucracy, you would all be fired.' 'You've got nothing but word salads going on,' she added. In response, McCarthy said that the challenges in Milwaukee Public Schools go beyond the agency and have existed since 1988 when the Legislature created the Milwaukee school voucher program. 'I would contend for you that since that point in time things have not actually gotten any better, it's actually gotten worse,' McCarthy said. 'If you want to sit down and have a conversation about what we can do to support Milwaukee and figure out how to drive their results, we're on board, but the Department of Public Instruction does not have a lever to push that says 'make Milwaukee better.'' According to the Wisconsin lobbying website, the test score bill is supported by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, the City Forward Collective, Badger Institute, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, School Choice Wisconsin Action, Wisconsin Charter Action and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin is registered in opposition. Gov. Tony Evers' spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. The committee also discussed a bill that would impose new mandates on the way school districts allocate money. The bill — AB 6 — would require school boards in Wisconsin to spend a minimum of 70% of operating money on direct classroom expenditures and would limit annual compensation increases for school administrators to the average annual percentage increase in total compensation that is provided to teachers in the school district. The bill defines 'direct classroom expenditures' as money spent on 'salaries and benefits of teachers and teacher aides, instructional supplies, tuition, athletic programs and cocurricular activities.' Currently in Wisconsin, local school boards, which are elected by community members, are responsible for overseeing school spending. Bill coauthor Rep. Benjamin Franklin (R-De Pere) said the bill would 'provide fairness for our teachers and support staff and prioritize our students by making simple reforms to how schools use their resources.' He noted that, according to National Center for Education Statistics, positions devoted to school administration grew by 94.6% nationally between 2000 and 2022 while teaching positions have shrunk. He also noted the recent results on the NAEP test. 'In the business world if I invest money in a particular area and it yields negative or undesirable results, I would look to reallocating my resources to achieve the desired outcome,' Franklin said. 'Government is no different. As state legislators, we have the responsibility to be wise stewards of citizens' tax dollars and to make sure that we continue to invest back in our classrooms and not in the front office.' Rep. William Penterman (R-Hustisford) asked how the author came to the 70% number. Franklin said that most school districts spend on average 73% in the classroom across the state, though he couldn't name the source of the 73% average. He said 70% is an 'achievable' number, and that the bill is a way to ensure districts that are 'underperforming' keep up with other districts. If school districts don't meet the requirement, DPI would be required to cut the district's state aid payments by the difference between what the school board spent on direct classroom expenditures and the minimum that it should have spent on direct classroom expenditures. The district would also be prohibited from levying additional property taxes to compensate for the reduction. Under the bill, if the total reduction in state aid and other state payments does not cover a school board's excess expenditures, DPI must order the school board to reduce the property tax obligations of its taxpayers, including providing refunds to taxpayers who have already paid their annual taxes, by an amount that represents the amount of excess expenditures that have not been recovered through the state aid reductions. Franklin highlighted that Milwaukee Public Schools recently came under fire for attempting to increase four administrators' salaries to $200,000 a year, though the district eventually decided against the raises due to the district's current finances. The finances of the district have been under scrutiny over the last year due to the passage of one of the largest operating referendums in state history and the subsequent news that the district was late in delivering required financial information to DPI. Underly said in her statement that the bill 'threatens local control, burdens schools with unnecessary penalties and risks worsening the already fragile financial and administrative challenges districts face.' 'Instead of top-down mandates, local communities should retain control over how their schools are run and the Legislature should instead focus on fully funding our public schools so they can meet their local priorities and student needs,' Underly said. During the hearing, DPI representatives presented more in-depth testimony about why the bill would be ineffective. Kimber Vercauteran with DPI noted that the state already limits school districts spending through revenue caps. She said that the agency is also supportive of local control, calling it 'the most important aspect of our Wisconsin state law.' 'This bill because it requires DPI to intervene, calculate, monitor and penalize spending at the district level lies in direct conflict with school boards, which are empowered with the supervision and management of schools,' Vercauteran said. 'Boards are still best positioned to ensure that bonds are expended in accord with the needs of the community.' Vercauteran also said that the definition included in the bill may not cover all of the costs actually incurred. For example, she said, athletic activities usually require facilities. She said that the remaining 30% also may not cover the costs of other things including school safety, libraries and librarians, nutrition services, transportation or utilities as the bill is written. Vercauteran said there are also logistical problems with the enforcement mechanism included in the bill. She said that DPI doesn't receive school district reports until after the end of a school year. 'We would not be able to determine whether the district meets that 70% benchmark until well into the following year, and if this bill wants us to enact those aid reductions in that following year, school districts have little to no notification that they're all of a sudden going to have an aid reduction,' Vercauteran said. Wisconsin Republicans are also resurrecting a bill that would set a deadline for a school district to respond to a resident's written request to inspect a textbook, curriculum, or instructional material. The bill — AB 5 — would require school districts to comply with requests within 14 days. This is the third session in which lawmakers have introduced a bill to accomplish this. In the 2021-23 session, the bill passed the Legislature and Evers vetoed it. Last session, the bill passed the Assembly and never received a vote in the Senate. Nicholas Zabloudil, who works for bill author Rep. Barbara Dittrich (R-Oconomowoc) — who was absent from the hearing due to illness — said the bill 'is vital in restoring the relationship between parents and school districts.' 'We've seen an outcry from parents around our state and frankly around the country regarding the lack of transparency in public schools,' Zabloudil said. He noted that in some cases parents have made records requests and have encountered delays in receiving responses. DPI testified against the bill, saying it is duplicative, unnecessary and would put a burden on school employees. DPI Education Policy Advisor Laura Adams said that the agency fully believes in transparency for families and community members, but noted that there are already a variety of ways for people to gain access and to understand the types of instructional materials being used in schools Adams said that open records laws 'are already a vehicle for families and community members to be able to request instructional materials and to see the instructional materials that are being used.' Other laws in Wisconsin include one that requires a list of textbooks be filed with the school board clerk every year on an annual basis. Another state statute requires school boards to provide the complete human growth and development curriculum and all instructional materials for inspection to parents who request it. The committee also took testimony Thursday on a bill to place cursive in Wisconsin's educational standards and a bill to require students take a half-credit civics class. 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