PUBLIC EDUCATION IN WISCONSIN
by: Kristina Reser-Jaynes
It is frustrating to see lawmakers still celebrating Wisconsin’s new biennium budget. They’re stumbling over themselves to spin it as a bipartisan compromise. It seems a lot more like a bipartisan sell out to me, and the consequences to our public schools will be devastating.
To call it a compromise, when the Republican led Joint Finance Committee (JFC) literally tossed out Governor Evers’ entire budget proposal, is disingenuous. Calling it bipartisan, when one party has near total control, is comical.
In the dark of night, scrambling to meet a deadline imposed by our Republican federal government (which would have risked important healthcare funding), the JFC allowed the Governor and a small group of Democratic Senators to make rushed deals in an effort to take back some fragments of the Governor’s original proposal; but true compromise doesn’t happen under threat and fragments do not equal a win for our public schools.
The JFC chose not to answer the pleas from districts across the state to finally address the antiquated and unfair education funding formulas. Current state aid is not based on student need, but rather on district revenue limits (an arbitrary amount based on district spending from over 30 years ago), which creates huge disparities in funding between districts. (State of School Finance in Wisconsin: 2024Edition) The JFC crafted budget provides NO new general aid funding for any public schools, not even inflationary increases. With no new aid, public school districts will be forced to increase local property taxes to cover the much needed per-pupil raise in the revenue limit gained in the previous budget cycle through Governor Ever’s creative partial item veto. (Gov blame for increased property taxes) It seems as though, by allocating no new general aid, Wisconsin Republicans are setting our Governor and our public schools up to take the blame for these tax increases, despite having themselves authored the plan. Republicans are willing to intentionally burden their constituents with increased taxes and fan the flames of resentment towards our beleaguered public schools for what amounts to a thinly veiled campaign gimmick. This will likely result in 66% of Wisconsin school districts receiving LESS funding this school year than last. The Republicans are actually forcing property tax increases while in control of what the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) projects to be a $4.3 billion tax dollar surplus. The LFB also estimated the state’s “rainy day” totals to be another $1.8 billion. (Budget Surplus).
It certainly speaks to Republican priorities when the JFC allocates zero dollars in general aid for the over ~800 thousand Wisconsin public school children, yet increased the per-pupil funding for the ~60 thousand children in private voucher schools by $174 per student for the coming school year. The Republican budget actually increases funding for private voucher schools and independent charter schools by $25.7 million dollars. (Wisconsin school leaders: No general school aid increase will hurt taxpayers – WPR). The voucher program funnels our public tax dollars to private schools that can discriminate against any student and do not have to comply with the same mandates, regulations, transparency or accountability as our public schools.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are touting “historic gains” in the special education reimbursement, yet the reality is that our public schools, that are required to educate all children, will only see a slight increase from 33 to eventually 45%, still only half of the 90% special education reimbursement the Republicans granted private voucher schools, even though those schools can legally discriminate against special needs students.
It’s important to note that special education reimbursement to public schools is “sum certain”, meaning that, although they are mandated to educate every child, there is only a set amount of funds and when it’s gone, it’s gone. This will cause the actual reimbursement rate to land much lower than 45% and force schools to take funds away from other programs to cover those mandated costs. In contrast, private voucher schools have the advantage of “sum sufficient” special education reimbursement, meaning reimbursements are adjusted to meet the actual need, guaranteeing the voucher schools 90% reimbursement if they choose to educate children with special needs. (Special education reimbursement to schools to increase to 45%)
The new budget did increase public school reimbursement for the “high cost” special needs students to 90% by 2026-27. This is also making headlines as a big win and it does give long overdue relief to some of our public schools. However, the celebration glosses over the fact that only 3% of the special education students in Wisconsin public schools qualify as “high cost”, and qualifying requires an extremely arduous and time consuming application process.(high cost special eduaction)
Wisconsin Republicans are now crafting legislation to “decouple” private voucher school funding from our public schools. They will introduce this as a big win for public schools and a relief to local tax payers, once again, obscuring the real objective. Decoupling would give the unaccountable private voucher schools a separate independent funding stream of tax dollars off the top of the General Purpose Revenue (GPR), while our public schools would continue to beg for crumbs. Because there is no new money, these private school voucher programs would be syphoning tax dollars away from other state programs. This decoupling bill is not fiscally responsible and it will encourage a parallel, but unaccountable, private education system. We must demand public accountability of all public money. States like Arizona and Florida are grappling with budget havoc caused by voucher costs coming out of their GPR with numbers skyrocketing above initial estimates. (decoupling source)
The Republican party may have abandoned our public schools, but do individual lawmakers realize privatization is the end goal of the voucher movement? What would that look like for their children or their districts? Do they understand that their votes prioritizing voucher programs raises property taxes for their constituents and takes resources away from the public schools in their districts – schools that have mandates to educate every child, use science-based curriculums, and follow strict accountability and transparency regulations? The current Republican Party has become unrecognizable from the “res publica”, or “the common good”, party that it was named for all those years ago in, ironically, a little school house in Ripon, Wisconsin.
A free common public education is the foundation of our society and vital to the survival of our democracy. Our public schools are the heart of our communities, but how much more can they endure? We must stop electing politicians who can’t be bothered to learn how education funding works and how it affects their constituents. The need for a strong state level investment is crucial as federal education funding cuts and accelerated privatization efforts loom.
Our constitutional obligation to provide a free, nearly uniform, basic education for our children must never be compromised. Yet, here we sit with another state budget that fails to address key public education issues or adequately fund our public schools. Even dressed up in the guise of bipartisan compromise this budget is nothing to celebrate and its long term effects will have costly consequences for every part of our society.
This budget should have been the line in the sand, no more settling for crumbs. They should have stood together for our children, our public schools, and our communities. Instead it was a surrender. Had Governor Evers honored his commitment to our public schools, his veto stamp would have pulled open the curtain and exposed how Republicans seem more guided by the powerful voucher lobby than by the needs of the children of Wisconsin. Responsibility would have fallen squarely on the shoulders of the Republican Party. Instead he, and the other yes votes, are complicit in a budget of concession and the public is left confused. A budget stripped by Republicans of any workable solutions or meaningful investments in the future of Wisconsin public education, and we’re calling it a win?
My disappointment with this process has left me wondering, is there any political party that actually understands how fundamentally important public education is to “the common good”, to the future of our great state, and to the survival of democracy in America?