Wisconsin must follow the lead of Florida and Tennessee on how it funds schools

Yahoo

14-05-2025

Two truths we should all agree on: Every Wisconsin child is worthy of an education that prepares them for a productive, thriving life. And Wisconsin's current school funding structures are failing to deliver the resources our students need, even as property taxes rise.
The last state budget showed what's possible through bipartisan cooperation. State leaders significantly increased base funding for all students while targeting critical needs in early literacy and mental health. Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislators listened, then acted. Students and schools across Wisconsin are better for it.
Wisconsin needs more of this kid-first, pragmatic problem-solving - yet, the spirit of cooperation is fraying. Education once again took top billing across state budget hearings, but progress is grinding to a halt, just as federal uncertainty looms.
Wisconsin stands at a crossroads. We cannot afford to backslide into the battles of the past. We must continue to build on the bipartisan progress all our students deserve and all our schools need.
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Moving forward will require courage and commitment from Wisconsin's leaders. We need three critical actions in the next state budget, pragmatic priorities that transcend traditional political divides and deliver real results for students:
Protect last session's wins for all kids. Reject rollbacks of funding levels or policy agreements – and end the rhetoric that pits students and schools against each other. Wisconsin residents support both strong public schools and robust school choices — this isn't a binary decision. Its time to end divisive attacks and lawsuit threats once and for all. Let's affirm that all Wisconsin students deserve our investment, regardless of their choice of schools.
Close gaps from the bottom up. Focus on our lowest-funded students: districts stuck low-revenue ceiling, and K-8 students in the state's Parental Choice programs (the state's lowest-funded at $10,237 per pupil). Last session's budget provides the blueprint – lifting the low-revenue ceiling from $11,000 closes gaps for both rural districts and schools of choice. Advocates on all sides can find agreement here - state lawmakers should follow their lead.
Prioritize our most vulnerable students. Provide full-day 4K funding, and reform Wisconsin's antiquated approach to special education. Our youngest minds need nurturing, and we cannot lose sight of ensuring four year old students are funded for a full day's education.
It's also time to ensure that services for students with disabilities in all schools are fairly funded - full stop.
The problem isn't vouchers — fewer than 20 students receive the 90% reimbursement that's generated heated rhetoric. The real culprit is Wisconsin's reimbursement approach – funded at just 33% for public schools, and straining budgets to the breaking point. Nearly every other state has abandoned this model, and for good reason.
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The imperative is clear: Students with disabilities deserve full access to the same choices as their peers, and all our state's schools need both a better – and, despite fiscal constraints, a better-funded – special education system. Demagoguing private schools serving special education students is a divisive distraction – let's instead focus on fixing the real issue.
These three foundational strategies represent our best chance to ensure every Wisconsin child receives the education they deserve. They also illuminate a larger issue we must confront: Wisconsin's school funding is fundamentally flawed – and our patch-job fixes are failing.
Wisconsin funds schools under a model hastily created as a stopgap two generations ago. It was designed to stabilize property taxes (a job it's now failing at) and to maintain district funding levels. Nothing about it addresses students' needs. By focusing solely on adult interests, it creates winners and losers, while hiding problems behind immense complexity.
Every two years, state officials are thrown into the middle of a school funding food fight. Students, schools, and sectors battle it out amid heated rhetoric and incomprehensible jargon. The outcomes are erratic, unstable, and leave no one satisfied.
No one wins this never-ending game — least of all, Wisconsin's kids. It's time to stop playing it. Wisconsin needs genuine reform that funds each child based on their individual needs. More than 30 states, from Florida and Tennessee to Colorado and D.C., have transitioned to this approach. Wisconsin should join their ranks.
We cannot continue to duct-tape our way through this. We can't afford a system that funds institutions and fuels fights while failing our kids and schools. We must ensure every child receives fair funding – at any school they choose.
Together, we can build on cross-partisan progress and chart a sustainable course forward for all Wisconsin students and schools.
Born and raised in Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood, and an alum of Milwaukee's public and private schools, Colleston Morgan Jr was appointed as Executive Director of City Forward Collective in 2023. Morgan has served as a high school social studies teacher and public school district administrator in New Orleans, as well as an executive with Teach for America.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Evers, GOP lawmakers must continue work on WI schools | Opinion