Issue Position: Education Funding Reform

Issue Position

The purpose of K-12 education is to prepare young people for their lives. A large part of life is being financially literate. In other words, being able to understand how money works and being able to save and use money effectively. These are skills I hold in high regard. I worked on Assembly Bill 248, which would have required all K-12 schools to teach financial literacy in each grade level and to inform college students who are on their way into the workforce.

I saw Assembly Bill 744 pass into law this past session, which allows UW schools to prepare yearly reports for students showing their level of debt and costs of financing education. This is an important victory for ensuring the growth of financial literacy among Wisconsin students.

At UW-Stevens Point, there have been more and more students taking longer than the expected 4 years to graduate due to too few course sections being offered each semester. During the State budget, I fought for differential tuition for UWSP. As a result, UWSP can now charge a small amount more to open more course sections allowing more students to graduate on time.

Another bill I worked on last session is Assembly Bill 626, known as the Technical Excellence Scholarship bill. This would have allowed for more students to take advantage of scholarships based on their level of aptitude in technical skills. The issue of education funding has come to the forefront of my attention for the upcoming session, and I plan to see more legislation pass to that end.

Source