Governor Scott Walker has signed a bill increasing state aid for rural schools. The governor told students at Riverdale High School in Muscoda that the bill signing was a good civics lesson. “This is really a hands on way of seeing how legislation goes from the idea process all the way through,” Walker said.
The new law increases the maximum that qualifying low-spending districts can spend. “We know that there are unique costs that come from rural school districts,” Walker said.
A combination of property taxes and state aid will allow those qualifying schools to spend up to $9400 per student for the upcoming school year. That will increase by 100 dollars annually, to a maximum of $9800 by 2022-2023. Per student sparsity aid to very small schools will increase from $300 to $400 dollars.
“The Riverdale School District is a great example to demonstrate the benefits of this law,” State Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) said. “The district will receive $72,124 more in Sparsity Aid for the 2018-19 school year.”
“It shouldn’t matter where you live, it shouldn’t matter how big or small your community is, it shouldn’t matter what zip code your in, every child in this state should have access to a great education,” Walker said.