Wisconsin Governor Doyle Announces $112 Million for Milwaukee-Area Schools

April 24, 2009 -- WEST ALLIS - Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle today announced $111,877,624 million for Milwaukee-area schools which will be used for special education and for schools with a high percentage of low-income students. The funding is part of $366 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding released yesterday by the Governor and State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster for Wisconsin school districts. The Governor made the announcement at Irving Elementary School in West Allis.

“During this tough time it is incredibly important we remain focused on our most basic principles, especially education,” Governor Doyle said. “Without this critical funding from the ARRA, we would have been looking at cutting school funding and laying off teachers. Instead we are investing in what is most important to our state – education. We cannot ask a second grader to come back and complete their studies five years from now when the economy has turned around. The education we provide now will be the strength of our state and nation for decades to come.”

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Milwaukee-area schools will receive:

· Brown Deer - $469,388
· Cudahy - $949,456
· Fox Point - $370,404
· Franklin - $928,868
· Glendale-River Hills - $294,763
· Greendale - $760,149
· Greenfield - $1,021,477
· Maple Dale-Indian Hill - $285,712
· Milwaukee - $95,636,811
· Nicolet - $349,909
· Oak Creek-Franklin - $1,532,492
· St. Francis - $451,601
· Shorewood - $541,530
· South Milwaukee - $1,102,189
· Wauwatosa - $2,177,447
· West Allis - $3,403,252
· Whitefish Bay- $757,740
· Whitnall - $844,436

The $366 million in ARRA funding will flow through two existing programs: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, which supports special education and early academic and behavioral interventions; and Title I, Part A, which supports educational services for economically disadvantaged students and outreach to parents. The state’s total ARRA allocation through IDEA, Part B, is $218 million. Title I, Part A, allotments in Wisconsin total $148 million.

The statewide and local funding amounts were determined using formulas and procedures prescribed by ARRA and other federal laws. School districts have through the 2010-11 school year to spend their funds.

IDEA has historically been underfunded at the federal level, with the federal government never fulfilling its statutory commitment to 40 percent of expenses incurred by local school districts. Currently, federal funding accounts for an 18 percent share of special education costs; estimates suggest ARRA funding combined with an increase in the regular appropriation will bring the federal share of support to approximately 29 percent. The Department of Public Instruction will advocate for maintaining this level of funding in the future.

The Governor and Superintendent Burmaster are working together to ensure these funds are wisely spent by schools to bolster the economy and support student achievement. The Department of Public Instruction is providing districts with a set of suggested strategies for using this increased federal funding. The strategies will help districts make wise investments in educational programs and avoid potential funding cliffs after the expiration of the ARRA funding in two years. The DPI is also providing a series of webinars and other technical assistance to districts and Cooperative Education Service Agencies (CESAs) to help them work with these funding streams.

The ARRA also provides competitive grants for teacher incentive funding, teacher quality enhancement, state-wide longitudinal data system development, school lunch equipment purchases, and enhancing education through technology grants.

Local funding allocations for IDEA, Part B, and Title I, Part A, are viewable at: http://dpi.wi.gov/recovery/xls/titleone-idea.xls

More information about the impact of the ARRA on Wisconsin schools and libraries can be found at http://dpi.wi.gov/recovery.

Source: Wisconsin Governor