Public K-12 Education |
Wisconsin has over 2,000 public schools that serve over 870,000 enrolled students. The amount of money allocated to public education by the state government is determined using a formula that considers several factors, including student enrollment rates and property values. State funding for K-12 education in recent budgets has been inadequate to meet the needs of public schools. In addition, funding for public schools has been diverted to pay for students attending private schools.
The 2011-2013 state budget passed historic funding cuts to public K-12 education and also significantly limited local school districts’ ability to raise revenue to fund schools. These drastic cuts were only partially offset by modest increases in state equalization aid and local school district spending authority in the 2013-2015 budget. As a result, many public school systems across Wisconsin continue to face significant funding shortages.
The Governor's proposed budget:
- Cut funding for public school students by $127 million ($148 per pupil).
- Provided increased funding for rural school needs, including $5 million for High Cost Transportation Aid, $8.4 million in Sparsity Aid, $25 million for TEACH 2.0 [primarily technology upgrades], and $6 million for broadband expansion.
- Changed school district’s equalization aid by reducing the amount by the number of new school choice pupils who live in that district multiplied by the district’s per pupil equalization aid number.
- Provided funding for the ongoing implementation of 2013 Wisconsin Act 334, which extends eligibility for out-of-home care support from age 18 to age 21 for young adults who have individualized education programs and who are enrolled in school.
Final 2015-2017 K-12 Education Budget
Funding for public K-12 education was one of the most contentious and complicated issues debated during the 2015-2017 state budget process. While the Legislature did increase spending for public K-12 education as compared to the Governor's proposal, some of the additional "spending" for K-12 education actually was returned directly to local property taxpayers in the form of a very modest tax break. We have provided a summary below of some of the most important highlights of the final K-12 education budget as compared to the Governor's proposal. In addition, because much of the policies and debates regarding public K-12 education deal with public resources going to private schools, please see our issue page for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program for more details regarding how the 2015-2017 budget affected private charter and voucher school policies and funding.
In short, funding for Wisconsin's public K-12 system has been drastically reduced over the past seven years. According to the Wisconsin Budget Project, Wisconsin has reduced state support for public K-12 education 15% per student between 2008 and 2015. This is the fifth largest reduction of state spending on public education in the country. Adjusted for inflation, this means the state is spending $1,014 less on each public education student in 2015 as compared to 2008. As a result, the minimal increases in state spending on public K-12 education in the 2015-2017 will do little to reverse this troubling trend.
- The final budget included an increase of $108 million in "general school aids" as compared to the Governor's proposed budget. However, the budget requires that most of this money be used to reduce property tax bills, not fund public K-12 education needs.
- An increase in per-pupil aid of approximately $100 per student in the second year of the budget.
- No increase in state-imposed revenue limits that are imposed on local governments, which restrict their ability to raise revenue to invest in schools. This is especially problematic because the budget also shifts significant public education funding to pay for private schools.
- An $8 million increase in funding for rural school districts.
- A $5 million increase in the second year of the budget for students with high-cost, special education needs.
- The Legislature also significantly undermined teacher licensure standards by requiring the state to grant anyone with a license to teach in another state a license to teach in Wisconsin, even if the other state has far less stringent licensure standards.
In short, funding for Wisconsin's public K-12 system has been drastically reduced over the past seven years. According to the Wisconsin Budget Project, Wisconsin has reduced state support for public K-12 education 15% per student between 2008 and 2015. This is the fifth largest reduction of state spending on public education in the country. Adjusted for inflation, this means the state is spending $1,014 less on each public education student in 2015 as compared to 2008. As a result, the minimal increases in state spending on public K-12 education in the 2015-2017 will do little to reverse this troubling trend.
Unfortunately, the Governor’s proposed budget continues the trend of underfunding Wisconsin’s public schools that was accelerated by the historic cuts passed in the 2011-2013 budget. The final budget product signed into law did little to change this overall picture. As a result, public schools are being forced to provide for the same quality of education with less revenue every budget cycle. Public schools are increasingly required to rely on local referenda initiatives in order to meet their most basic budgeting needs, which only further exacerbates the disparities between higher and lower income school districts that cannot equally afford to adequately fund their schools in the face of insufficient state revenue supports.
While the proposed budget’s inclusion of additional funding for Sparsity Aid and transportation aid targeted to rural school districts is certainly welcome, according to the Wisconsin Association of School Boards not all rural school districts qualify for this aid. In addition, for those districts that do qualify, the amounts received are unlikely to offset the loss of per pupil aid in 2015-16.
According to the Department of Public Instruction, 40% of Wisconsin K-12 students are low income. Since Wisconsin’s school funding formula does not adjust for income levels, many of the districts with disproportionate number of low-income students lose out. This problem is only further exacerbated by the continued shift of taxpayer dollars to private schools.
While the burden of inadequate state funding for public education will be borne by all girls who attend public K-12 schools, girls who live in lower-income school districts disproportionately experience the adverse effects of Wisconsin’s recent public education budgets.
While the proposed budget’s inclusion of additional funding for Sparsity Aid and transportation aid targeted to rural school districts is certainly welcome, according to the Wisconsin Association of School Boards not all rural school districts qualify for this aid. In addition, for those districts that do qualify, the amounts received are unlikely to offset the loss of per pupil aid in 2015-16.
According to the Department of Public Instruction, 40% of Wisconsin K-12 students are low income. Since Wisconsin’s school funding formula does not adjust for income levels, many of the districts with disproportionate number of low-income students lose out. This problem is only further exacerbated by the continued shift of taxpayer dollars to private schools.
While the burden of inadequate state funding for public education will be borne by all girls who attend public K-12 schools, girls who live in lower-income school districts disproportionately experience the adverse effects of Wisconsin’s recent public education budgets.
Resources
For more information on Wisconsin public schools, please follow these links: