Wisconsin receives funding for public schools two ways: through state funding and through local property taxes. However, unlike all other states, Wisconsin put a cap on how much revenue a district can receive from its local property tax and state funding in 1993. Each kid in Wisconsin costs the state between $11,000-26,000 for education each year, depending on the district, and adjusted for local property taxes. Additionally, this is the 18th year the state has not increased the budget for public schools to account for inflation, so any increase in school funding relies on local residents to pick up the slack through referendums. Many low-income districts are already overburdened with taxes, so increasing the budget for those communities’ schools puts more pressure on an already struggling population when the schools could be state-funded.

Additionally, Wisconsin has the lowest percentage rate of reimbursing special education. If there are more special education students within a district, the local funding must go towards special education programs, not only for moral reasons, but according to state law. This results in cutting music, art, and other extracurricular programs, and additional support staff. The state budget is not centered around meeting the needs of kids in their own districts, and the amount of money spent on each kid has changed very little since 1993, despite population shifts, changes in technology, and the higher cost of living.

You can find more information about funding public schools here, and how your own district is funding your local school here.

Heather DuBois Bourenane is passionate about ensuring our public schools are places of joy for all students. She is a proud public school parent, a founding member of Support Sun Prairie Schools and the Sun Prairie Action Resource Coalition, and an active member of many state and national partnerships and committees. She taught college English and literature, and worked in K-12 outreach at UW-Madison before devoting herself full time to putting our Network vision and values into action. She also serves as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Public Education Action Fund.

Julie Underwood served as dean of the UW–Madison School of Education for over a decade. During her tenure, she increased the diversity of faculty and developed a more inclusive culture at the school. Well-versed in K-12 educational policy and an expert on school law, she served as associate executive director and general counsel for the National School Boards Association. In that role, she led a legal advocacy program on behalf of the nation’s public school boards which included producing friend-of-the-court briefs and legal strategies before the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts. She was also responsible for the 3,000-member Council of School Attorneys.

Photo courtesy of Kate Paape/WORT.

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