Key Wisconsin Committee Advances Financial Transparency Legislation

Parents and community members deserve access to transparent financial data showing how much funding is being generated and spent at their local schools. I testified in support of Assembly Bill 378 and Senate Bill 373, which will require the Department of Public Instruction to include district and school-level funding, revenue and expenditure data on an interactive, online portal that is easy to use by the public.

The Assembly Committee on Government Accountability and Oversight passed AB 378. The legislation now moves to the full Assembly for consideration.

Why does school-level financial transparency matter?

• It promotes more effective and efficient use of resources. School-level financial transparency enables school leaders to identify comparable schools that are getting better student outcomes with the same or less funding.
• It promotes empowerment of school leaders and educators. This is crucial for those who are closest to students and have the greatest understanding of their unique needs. This information will help educators continue to improve student success.
• It enables school leaders to identify comparable schools that are achieving better student outcomes with the same or less funding. It could then provide information on how these other schools are spending money differently in a way that may explain the better outcomes.

I applaud Representative Gae Magnafici, Representative Robert Wittke and Senator Mary Felzkowski – as well as the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and Institute for Reforming Government – for their work to empower and inform parents, school leaders and policymakers to make decisions on how to best leverage school resources to drive student success.