An education package from Assembly Republicans would set new state standards for student discipline in local districts, seek to boost math scores and encourage districts to consolidate to save costs amid declining enrollment.

Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, is also forming four task forces that will begin work this fall on: government efficiency, protecting kids, elder services and the administrative rules process.

The final of the four will put together a constitutional amendment that would seek to negate a state Supreme Court ruling this summer that ended a joint legislative committee’s power to indefinitely suspend proposed rules.

“Legislative Republicans and Democrats should both have an interest in limiting agency rulemaking powers,” said GOP state Rep. Brent Jacobson, who will lead the administrative rules task force. “The laws we follow should be made by the body closest to the people, and that’s the Legislature.”

Vos said yesterday he hoped the education bills will be drafted by next week for action during the October floor period. He wants the task forces to wrap up their work this fall so bills can be introduced in January and acted upon before the Assembly adjourns in February.

The details of the education bills are still in progress. One would direct the guv to opt Wisconsin into a new federal tax credit for donations to organizations that grant private school scholarships. Starting in tax year 2027, it would be a dollar-for-dollar credit for up to $1,700 in donations. The move, included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” requires states to opt in to allow their residents to claim the credit.

A spokesperson for Dem Gov. Tony Evers said he was awaiting final guidance from the federal government on the program, but wasn’t inclined to opt Wisconsin into the program.

The office of Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on the Assembly GOP package.

The other education bills include one that would create what backers called a “teacher’s bill of rights.” State Rep. William Penterman, R-Hustisford, said it would set statewide policy on how districts would discipline students who are sent away for violent or disruptive behavior, adding “every teacher needs to be safe in his or her classroom.”

Vos defended seeking to impose an edict at the state level on how local districts address discipline, even as Republicans have long espoused support for local control.

“I think that’s very easy for us to say it doesn’t matter if you teach in Milwaukee or Burlington, River Falls or Rice Lake, you should have the same protections to ensure that if a disruptive student happens, your school board has taken a position, and they’re standing behind you,” he said.

State Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, said the bill on math skills will mirror an approach lawmakers took last session to boost reading scores, including screeners to catch students who are falling behind early and putting them on a path to catch up. Full implementation of the reading package was held up after Evers inappropriately used his partial veto pen on a piece of the program; the state Supreme Court this summer overturned that move.

Kitchens said there also will be an effort to make it illegal to fly drones over a school without written consent of an administrator, calling it a safety and privacy issue.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, said the legislation to encourage district consolidation will consider things like financial incentives and grade sharing. With enrollment down by more than 50,000 students over the past decade, Nedweski argued consolidation is one option districts can consider to reduce administrative overhead, save money and avoid the cycle of referendums. She said one detail being worked on was how districts with different mill rates for the property taxes they assess would approach that once they’d merged.

And state Rep. Dave Murphy, R-Greenville, is working on legislation that would make it easier to earn dual credit in high school that counts toward a college diploma.