Northwoods Reporter

The new bill authored by State Sen. Quinn in the Wisconsin Senate seeks to maintain consistency in school accountability ratings and align assessment standards statewide, according to the Wisconsin State Senate.

According to the Wisconsin State Legislature's official website, the bill was described as follows: "changes to the educational assessment program and the school and school district accountability report. (FE)".

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill mandates that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) maintain consistency in cut scores, score ranges, and qualitative descriptions used in school and school district report cards starting from the school year in which the bill becomes law. It specifies that DPI should adopt the same standards as those used in the 2019-20 school year for accountability rating categories. Additionally, for the Wisconsin Forward Exam in English Language Arts and Mathematics for grades three to eight, DPI must align these criteria with the National Assessment of Educational Progress. For the PreACT and ACT with Writing for grades nine to 11, DPI is required to use standards from the 2021-22 school year, categorizing student performance into "Below Basic," "Basic," "Proficient," and "Advanced." The bill becomes effective at the start of the school year beginning July 1 immediately preceding its enactment.

The bill was co-authored by Representative Robert Wittke (Republican-63rd District), Senator Julian Bradley (Republican-28th District), Senator Rachael Cabral-Guevara (Republican-19th District), Senator Dan Feyen (Republican-20th District), Senator Rob Hutton (Republican-5th District). It was co-sponsored by Representative Scott Allen (Republican-82nd District), Representative Elijah R. Behnke (Republican-6th District), and Representative Mark Born (Republican-37th District), along 34 other co-sponsors.

Romaine Robert Quinn has co-authored another two bills since the beginning of the 2025 session, with none of them being enacted.

Quinn graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay in 2014 with a BA.

Quinn, a Republican, was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 2023 to represent the state's 25th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Janet Bewley.

In Wisconsin, the legislative process starts when a senator, constituent, group, or agency proposes an idea for a bill. After drafting, the bill is introduced, numbered, and referred to a committee for review and public input. If approved, it moves through three readings and votes in both the Senate and Assembly. Once both chambers pass the same version, the bill goes to the governor, who can sign it, veto it, or let it become law without a signature. Only a small share of bills introduced each session ultimately become law. You can learn more about the Wisconsin legislative process here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
SB18	02/05/2025	Changes to the educational assessment program and the school and school district accountability report. (FE)