CALL TO ACTION
VOTE NO
SB102: Public Education Funding Modifications
Senator Fillmore
1. SB102 shakes up how we fund our public schools. JLC’s immediate concern is the immediate repeal of the Professional Staff Weighted Pupil Units (lines 618-619). This amounts to $269M in the FY26 base budget.
2. SB102 immediately repeals the Professional Staff Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) a critical funding tool that helps retain experienced teachers and ensures schools can attract top educators. In Public Ed Appropriations, Senator Fillmore shared that he was interested in moving the funding to either Flexible Allocation or the WPU.
3. Without it, districts would lose additional state funding meant for skilled teachers, making it harder to keep great educators in the classrooms.
4. The sudden repeal of these funding mechanisms could create financial uncertainty for school districts, forcing them to make tough priority choices.
5. Schools need stable, predictable funding. This change could impact compensation approaches by school districts.
6. Slashing professional staff funding could hurt teacher retention. Why make it harder to keep great educators?
7. Schools need stability, not uncertainty.