Senator Larson, school officials, and parents speak out on special ed funding gap, rise in referendums across WI

South Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, September 23rd, State Senator Chris Larson joined school officials, parents, and community members at a press event in South Milwaukee to illustrate how insufficient state support for special education is helping fuel a school referendum boom across Wisconsin. Said Larson:

“The gerrymandered Republican-controlled state legislature has failed to invest in our kids for over a decade. Per-pupil funding for all students has lagged behind inflation since 2009, and its support to local districts for special education services is woefully insufficient. At the same time, unaccountable private voucher schools – the few that actually accept students with special needs – see 90% of their costs covered by the state – guaranteed.”

In the 2022-23 school year, Wisconsin’s 421 public school districts reported over $2 billion in special education costs. Approximately $1.2 billion of those costs were not reimbursed, leaving local property taxpayers on the hook. In 2024, 147 school districts placed operating referendum questions on local ballots, with a combined annual cost of $763 million. Those same districts faced a total of $515.3 million in unreimbursed special education costs in 2022-23.

That means that over two-thirds of the dollars sought through operating referendums in 2024 can reasonably be explained by unreimbursed special education costs alone. In some districts, this ratio is much higher. In South Milwaukee, unreimbursed special education costs are equivalent to nearly two times the $2 million annual cost of their successful April 2024 operating referendum. The same holds true for West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, which has a $5.8 million operating referendum on the ballot this November. Added Larson:

“Republican legislators love to talk about tax cuts, but what they don’t say is that their K-12 education budgets have caused districts to go to referendum at a record pace, forcing Wisconsinites to choose between raising their own property taxes and short changing their kids’ futures. Fortunately for our kids, the vast majority of these referendums have passed, but there is a limit to what our communities can bear. With a mere 60% passage rate for school referendums this spring, that limit may be fast approaching. It’s time the state did its job by providing our public schools with at least the same level of special education funding that voucher schools get.”

For a complete list of districts with operating referendums on Wisconsin ballots in 2024, and how their annual amounts compare to these districts’ unreimbursed special education costs, CLICK HERE. This data was compiled using primary source documents from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

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.