The measure is one piece of the 2017-’19 budget proposal that will be taken up by the Assembly, then the Senate, beginning Wednesday.
It was not clear initially how the measure made its way into the budget. There was no free-standing bill with sponsors’ names attached. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau, which drafts the budget document on behalf of lawmakers, considers the drafting documents confidential under state law.
The chairs of the Joint Finance Committee — Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) — did not respond to requests for comment.
But Olmstead said Friday that American Board has been working with Darling and Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) for the last year or two in an effort to get into Wisconsin.
Tony Evers, state Superintendent of Public Instruction and Democratic candidate for governor, said he was blindsided by the measure and called it an affront to collaborative efforts already underway “to develop legitimate solutions to our teacher shortage.”