GOP Low-Ball Special Ed Budget Despite Likely Revenue Increase

By Ruth Conniff, Wisconsin Examiner

May 24, 2021

MADISON — The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) has scheduled a vote on the state’s K-12 education budget for Thursday, May 27, before a revenue estimate likely to come in early June that is expected to show that the state continues to be in good fiscal health.

Public school advocates and school administrators around the state have called for an increase in funding for special education in line with Gov. Tony Evers’ proposal to reimburse school districts at a rate of 50% of the cost of special ed. The special ed funding is significant because school districts are required by federal law to cover students’ special education needs, and as the reimbursement rate has declined school districts have been forced to take money from other programs.

The only alternatives that the JFC appears to be considering in the released budget documents it has prepared ahead of next Thursday’s meeting include special education reimbursements of 28% and 30%.

On Friday, the Department of Public Instruction released an interactive map that allows users to hover over their school districts to see out how a 50% reimbursement would benefit the local public schools.

Under the current budget, private and voucher schools already receive a minimum reimbursement rate of 90% for special education.

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