Public education makes its case Thursday before Wisconsin’s Joint Finance Committee

Wisconsin’s budget writing committee will turn its attention to public school funding Thursday.

On the line is everything from increasing the special education reimbursement rate to supporting youth mental health to providing meals to children. 

Gov. Tony Evers’ budget includes more than $3.15 billion for K-12 public schools, including the largest direct investment in state general school aid in 30 years. 

In recent weeks, the Joint Finance Committee eliminated many of those budget items. 

Last week, Evers and Republicans who run the Legislature said they were done negotiating over the state budget, leaving GOP lawmakers to rewrite the document themselves. 

Still, Evers’ original proposal is in front of them, leaving lawmakers with dozens of decisions about investments in K-12 education. 

In 2002, Wisconsin spent more than 43 percent of its general fund on education aid, with per-pupil spending ranking 11th highest in the country. 

By 2023, K-12 education’s share had fallen to 36 percent of general fund spending, and Wisconsin ranked 25th in the country in per-pupil spending

State Superintendent Jill Underly compared the decline to a family driving its car with the gas tank on empty.

“Our schools and our educators have kept things running for as long as they can, on the fumes of the good old days, but we have reached a breaking point,” Underly said. “This is a critical moment for the future of education in Wisconsin and a critical moment for the future of our kids in our state. Our schools need funding that’s predictable, flexible and actually spendable.”

Republicans say no more creative vetoes

During the last budget cycle, Evers got creative with his partial veto pen and increased funding for public schools for the next 400 years. 

Republicans challenged the move, but it was upheld by the state Supreme Court. 

Co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee, Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, told reporters in May that won’t happen again this year. 

“I anticipate that you’re not going to see too many references to digits, years anymore,” Marklein said. “My guess is that our drafting attorneys are going to recommend that you spell out those years and those dates in the budget.” 

Born said Evers’ decision could also affect the education budget because there are increases already “baked into the cake.”

Education leaders call for increase in special education funding

Leaders from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, the School Administrators Alliance, the Southeastern Wisconsin Schools Alliance and the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance wrote a joint letter this week urging lawmakers to increase K-12 funding. 

One of the group’s top issues is the importance of supporting students with disabilities. The group would like to see the state reimburse schools for 60 percent of the costs of special education services. 

The current reimbursement rate is about 30 percent. 

“The lack of an adequate state reimbursement for mandated special education programs and services negatively affects all other academic programs, including career and technical education, reading interventionists, teachers and counselors, STEM, dual enrollment, music, art and more,” the group wrote.

The associations also wrote that school districts’ reliance on referendums is unsustainable but has become necessary as Wisconsin’s state funding has shrunk over the last two decades. 

“This decline has left Wisconsin school districts struggling to meet the needs of their students and forced many districts across the state to turn to their local property taxpayers to close the gap,” the letter says. “We urge the legislature to meet this moment with the urgency it requires.”