QEO/Arbitration Factors Remain in State Budget Proposal
The co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Finance, Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison), announced that they intend to remove 45 of the 80 items in the governor's 2009-11 state budget that have been identified by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau as non-fiscal policy items. Among the list of items to be removed and drafted as separate legislation includes the governor's proposal to require three credits of math and science for high school graduation.
The co-chairs intend to retain the non-fiscal policy items that would:
- repeal the qualified economic offer (QEO);
- eliminate the greatest and greater weight given to revenue limits and local economic conditions in arbitration decisions;
- allow teacher contracts of up to four years;
- make it easier to combine school district collective bargaining units;
- ease retirement eligibility for educational support personnel; and
- impose greater accountability measures on the Milwaukee voucher program.
In previous budgets, proposals to repeal the QEO were identified as non-fiscal policy and removed by the co-chairs.
Here is the MMSD's Legislative Agenda for 2009-2011. Feel free to share this information with your legislators and Rep. Pocan and Sen. Miller.
