DPI Seeks $28 Million For Deafblind Students, Libraries And Cybersecurity
Jill Underly’s 2027-29 budget request boosts services for deafblind children and public libraries statewide.
Wisconsin Superintendent Jill Underly speaks during a press conference Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, at the Tommy G. Thompson Center in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
When the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction submits its biennial budget request to the state Legislature in November, it will include $28 million to support children who are deafblind, bolster public libraries and investigate alleged educator misconduct.
State Superintendent Jill Underly announced the first part of the department’s 2027-29 biennial budget request on Wednesday.
The request also includes money for cybersecurity and technology modernization.
The second half of DPI’s budget request will be submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Administration in November and will include state aid for public schools.
The full DPI budget will then be presented to the Legislature and newly-seated governor.
“Wisconsin has a proud tradition of excellence in public education, but that depends on ensuring schools and libraries have the resources they need to serve their students and communities,” Underly said in a statement. “This first portion of our budget request addresses critical needs at the Department of Public Instruction while making investments in Deafblind Outreach, public libraries, and other essential programs.”
Last fall, the U.S. Department of Education terminated grant funding for the Wisconsin Deafblind Technical Assistance Project and denied a DPI appeal.
DPI secured a sub-grant to continue support, but the agency says $500,000 is needed over the biennium to provide “specialized outreach, consultation, training, family support, and technical assistance to children who are deafblind and their families statewide.”
Wisconsin’s Deafblind Technical Assistance Project serves 170 children from birth through age 21 who live with both vision and hearing loss — 85 percent of whom have four or more disabilities.
The budget request also includes $7.5 million over the biennium for Wisconsin’s public library systems.
The additional funding would provide state aid at or above 8 percent of prior-year expenditures for public libraries while maintaining current service levels for library service contracts, BadgerLink and the Newsline for the Blind.
Additional provisions included in the first part of the DPI’s biennium budget request include:
- $350,200 to fund two additional positions dedicated to educator license investigations.
- $12.5 million to modernize major DPI information technology systems that support core agency functions and improve agency support to districts and schools.
- $6.7 million in cybersecurity investments to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the impact of incidents potentially affecting Wisconsin K-12 schools and public libraries.
- $300,000 to support partner organizations including Special Olympics of Wisconsin and Arts for All.
DPI budget request will include spending on children with deafblindness, investigating educator misconduct was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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