You’re forgiven if you can’t follow the ins and outs of the state education budget.
Funding our public schools isn’t a linear equation. It’s more like quantum mechanics.
Several pots of money factor into the calculation — from state aid dollars to federal funding to local property taxes. And spending is based on a convoluted per-pupil formula.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proposed $3.3 billion for the state’s public schools next year. But Republicans who control the budget committee want to spend much less: just $336 million.
The state education budget is coming down to the wire. Wisconsin legislators need to pass it by Monday.
“If it doesn’t get to the governor’s desk by the end of the month, the previous session budget will continue,” according to Democratic Rep. Francesca Hong, who represents the Madison area in the Assembly and sits on its education committee.
Hong says if the Legislature doesn’t pass a budget by Monday to go into effect Tuesday, July 1, the Department of Public Instruction will be operating with the same number of dollars decided in 2023. That was when the last two-year budget was approved.
If Wisconsin can't pass a budget, schools will lose out, dems say
Democratic Rep. Angelina Cruz of Racine was previously a fifth-grade teacher. Here’s how she explains to constituents what will happen if 2023 spending levels remain intact.
“Imagine (your) children’s classroom, imagine larger class sizes, having fewer teachers, fewer educational assistants. Imagine eliminating essential programs, the arts, not being able to fully implement IEPs that are written for special education students,” she says.
The K-12 education budget is one of the main issues causing gridlock among lawmakers. Also at issue are cuts to the UW System, a call from the governor to invest in child care, and disagreement over the Department of Corrections budget.
Two main education issues have arisen through the education budget process.
The first concern is per-student funding.
Last year, Gov. Tony Evers used a partial veto to guarantee more per-student funding for the next 400 years, if school districts want it.
Here's the rub: The state has to fund it. The current budget proposal from the Joint Finance Committee doesn’t actually allocate more money from the state for that increase in per-student funding.
So where would the money come from?
“The entire $325 per-pupil amount would be funded by property tax increases — if not increases, then funded by property taxpayers,” says Dan Rossmiller of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.
Rossmiller says if the Legislature doesn’t raise the amount of state aid going into the per-student formula, property owners will have to make up the difference by paying more in taxes. Otherwise, per-student funding may stay flat.
That’s no way to permanently fund a school district.
“My fear is that, in many locations in the state, we are slowly strangling public education,” he says.
Communities may also go to voters to ask them to raise taxes for the schools. But Rep. Cruz of Racine says repeated referendum voting isn’t fair to communities — and it's happening too often.
“There are 421 school districts in the state of Wisconsin,” she says. “In the last two years, at least two-thirds of them have gone to referendum. And that’s because the state Legislature is not delivering on their promise to fully fund public schools.”
Special education funding at the heart of 2025 WI budget process
The second major issue is reimbursements for special education. Right now, school districts are reimbursed by the state for providing additional services to students with special needs. That’s required by law.
But districts don’t get reimbursed at a rate of 100%. It’s more like 30%.
Gov. Evers’ version of the budget proposed raising the reimbursement rate to 60%.
But Republicans who control the Joint Finance Committee want to increase the reimbursement rate only for high-needs special education. That pot of money is reserved for students who need $30,000 or more in special education services.
Rep. Francesca Hong of Madison says the GOP falls short.
“It’s so important to meet the needs of those students. But there are quite few of them across the state,” she says. “And the 90% high-cost special education reimbursement would only impact about half of our school districts.”
The Joint Finance Committee meets again to discuss its version of the education budget Friday. Once the committee finishes work on all portions of the two-year spending plan, it’ll head to the Assembly and Senate for further scrutiny and debate.
The budget then will head to Gov. Evers, who can approve it, veto it in full, or partially veto items.
This story will be updated.
Katherine Kokal is the education reporter at 89.7 WUWM - Milwaukee's NPR. Have a question about schools or an education story idea? You can reach her at kokal@uwm.edu
