DPI budget proposal finally addresses the elephant in the room for K-12 education
MILWAUKEE, WI – Today, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly unveiled a key part of her K-12 education budget proposal for the next two years. Joining the call first made by educators and grassroots activists, Underly has proposed closing the shameful special ed funding gap between public schools and taxpayer-funded private schools.
In the same election where a Republican won Wisconsin in the race for President, voters in 121 school districts approved 108 school referendum questions for a total of $3.4 billion – nearly 80% of the record $4.3 billion requested statewide.
Earlier this year, I presented data showing that the special education funding gap was at the heart of the rise in operational (i.e. non-building) referendums across Wisconsin. In several districts, the difference between actual special education costs and what was reimbursed by the state could account for the entirety of the dollars requested via operational referendum.
If the 90% reimbursement is passed, it will be better for property taxpayers, better for schools, and will greatly cut down on districts having to routinely go to referendums to make up for the state’s funding gap.
There’s no reason why a kid at a private school receiving public dollars should have 90% of their costs reimbursed by the state while the same kid at a public school – which have far greater levers of accountability than private schools – would only get 33%.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.