Lincoln Hills, a detention facility the state had ordered closed by 2021. (Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections)

When Randy Forsterling went to the Lincoln Hills juvenile prison at 16, he learned skills he still uses today, he told the Examiner. 

“I’m a machine operator,” Forsterling said. “I die cast, I make transmission casings and engine blocks for one of the largest corporations in the world. A lot of the metallurgy that I learned when I was in the foundry in Lincoln Hills, I use it now — 25 years later.” 

While Forsterling doesn’t believe Lincoln Hills still has a foundry, a Wisconsin initiative is aiming to better prepare incarcerated youth with disabilities for the workforce. 

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released a statement about a collaboration with the Departments of Corrections and Workforce Development that is “the first of its kind in Wisconsin.” 

“By providing these young individuals with the guidance, education and opportunities they need, we empower them to break the cycle and contribute positively to society,” State Superintendent Jill Underly said in the statement. “Supporting these kids is not only a step toward healing, it is an investment in their future and will save future taxpayer expenses.” 

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the DPI a 5-year, $10 million grant. The program aims to help youth with disabilities transition from correctional facilities into their communities, according to a DPI statement released in September. Funds will also be used for work rehabilitation training and for dyslexia screening for all youth during intake at state correctional facilities.

The project provides three different levels of support, with some youth falling into more than one level. 

The program intends to support all justice-involved youth with disabilities and the adults who care about them, according to an abstract on the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration’s website. They will receive support through social media campaigns and an app-based reentry toolkit. This is the broadest level of support, for 8,000 participants, the abstract says. 

The second level will support a “targeted group” of students made up of Wisconsin youth under 18 in state correctional facilities. This level involves dyslexia screening and “related intervention services” and is for 1,500 participants. 

The smallest group will receive the highest level of care, or intensive supports, the abstract says. These are students “most marginalized at the intersection of disability and justice and, often, race.” They will receive care under a model that is “trauma-informed, community-based” and facilitated by mentors. This level is for 250 participants, who will begin receiving care while incarcerated. 

Young people have a higher risk of returning to incarceration in Wisconsin 

The Department of Public Instruction’s statement compared youth to older age groups for a three-year period after release, citing an August 2021 DOC report. The report found that for a 2016 cohort, 20-24 year-olds were reincarcerated about twice as often as people aged 45 or older. 

According to the DOC’s website, of 45 people aged 19 and younger released in 2020, 33 were reincarcerated in Wisconsin within three years after release due to a new sentence or a revocation. This data is based only on readmissions to DOC prisons, so it wouldn’t include reincarceration in another state. 

Forsterling said he committed crimes when he was 20 and went into adult prison at 21; he was released to extended supervision last year. He hopes the program will take the experiences of formerly incarcerated people and staff into account. 

Good job training is important for getting a good job, Forsterling said, which helps people avoid a desperate situation that may lead to a return to crime. 

“And that’s where mentors come in very handy,” he said. 

Forsterling said he received helpful mentoring at Lincoln Hills. He mentors and supports several friends who are still incarcerated. 

Cost to incarcerate per child rises as enrollment falls 

The cost of incarceration at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake has “ballooned” to nearly $463,000 per child per year, as enrollment has “plummeted,” Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reported last week. Fewer youth means fixed infrastructure and staffing costs are spread across fewer individuals. 

A new Department of Corrections budget request would nearly double that amount, they reported. That would raise the cost to 58 times what taxpayers spend on the average K-12 public school student. 

Wisconsin’s Division of Juvenile Corrections had a population of 81 people as of a monthly report for September, including 40 at Lincoln Hills and 14 at Copper Lake. The campus was designed for more than 500 youth, the news organizations reported. 

The juvenile prisons, which have been troubled for many years and are slated for closure, received renewed scrutiny after youth counselor Corey Proulx died from injuries received in an assault in late June. Lawmakers on the 2023 Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety heard testimony about safety concerns at a hearing in August. 

The DOC is under a court-ordered consent decree mandating changes at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake after a 2018 lawsuit challenged practices such as the use of pepper spray and punitive solitary confinement. 

The DPI received the grant to assist minors with disabilities as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Disability Innovation Fund program. The program seeks to ensure people with disabilities receive “in-demand, good-paying jobs.” Out of over 800 organizations, Wisconsin was one of 27 projects to receive the grant.

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Underly accepted the 2024 Diversity Award from the State Council on Affirmative Action on behalf of her agency. (Screenshot via Wisconsin DOA YouTube)

Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly became tearful Friday while speaking about a friend she knew in high school, who was kicked out of her home after coming out as gay to her parents.

“Her parents were furious. They said it went against everything they believed, everything they hoped for her, and when she started to cry her dad said, ‘I want you to give us the key’ and she said, ‘My key? My key to my car?’ and her mom chimed in and said, ‘No, the key to our house.’” Underly said, adding that the friend had to stay on another friend’s couch. 

“When I saw her at school, she was so tired and worried. She said she missed her dog. She missed her bed. She missed her brother,” Underly said. “What this story teaches us is the critical lesson — inclusion begins at home. Our families play a critical role in fostering an environment of love and acceptance for everyone and other identities. But what about our schools? What about our teachers?” 

Underly was accepting the 2024 Diversity Award from the State Council on Affirmative Action on behalf of her agency. She noted that many Wisconsin children are continuing to deal with mental health challenges with students of color and LGBTQ+ students facing disproportionate challenges. 

“There’s so many kids who cannot be themselves at home, so they see school as that safe place of belonging,” Underly said.

The council established the Diversity Award in 2000 to “recognize state agencies, Wisconsin Technical Colleges and UW campuses for their strong commitment to the recruitment, retention and promotion of a diverse workforce as measured by the creation of programs, initiatives and practices.” 

This year DPI received the award because of its work on its 2024-26 Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan. The agency developed the plan in accordance with Executive Order 59, which Gov. Tony Evers signed in 2019. The order requires state agencies to create equity and inclusion plans and other strategic plans, analyze how much is spent by agencies for DEI activities, including for staffing, and review reported outcomes resulting from DEI activities. 

DPI’s plan laid out the current status of diversity of the agency and laid out specific goals and actions that it could take to improve equity and inclusion, including addressing disparities throughout its hiring process, improving retention of staff from underrepresented and historically marginalized groups and fostering an inclusive community and creating a culture that is “respectful, free of bias and where accountability is present at all levels of the agency.” 

“While a significant portion of public school students identify as being of color or of mixed races, a much smaller percentage of DPI staff and teachers reflect this diversity. Addressing this imbalance is vital,” the plan states. “To effectively serve all students, especially those from historically marginalized groups, it is crucial to enhance staff diversity throughout the educational system, from the DPI down to individual classrooms.” 

The plan notes that among 576 permanent DPI employees in 2021-2023, an average of 11% were staff of color, 18% had disabilities and 3% were veterans.  

One way the agency could improve its workforce diversity is by increasing outreach to and visibility of the state application and hiring process for DPI positions, the plan suggests. 

Underly thanked Gov. Tony Evers for his dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion in her speech and said the award is a “testament to the dedicated efforts that the team at DPI, who built and continue to implement our equity and inclusion plan with passion and purpose.” 

“We aren’t afraid of the politics, and we will support diversity. We will support equity. We will support inclusion and we will support belonging for employees, for our teachers across the state and for every single child,” Underly said. 

The celebration of the agency’s DEI efforts comes in a year when efforts to foster diversity have been increasingly targeted by Republicans in the state. In May, Republicans launched an audit to look at DEI initiatives throughout state government, including to determine specific activities that are being performed in compliance with Executive Order 59.

At the time, Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Green Bay) called DEI a “neo-Marxian philosophy meant to pit one socially-constructed class against another,” and said that Evers’ executive order “divided Wisconsinites into identity groups against each other’s benefit.” 

Lawmakers in the last legislative session also introduced a bill to eliminate DEI statements and a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate DEI throughout state agencies. 

DPI’s interim communications director Chris Bucher told the Examiner in an email Friday that it “would probably be safe to assume” that similar efforts will come forward next legislative session as “some continue to seek to divide instead of bring us together.” 

“All kids belong in Wisconsin’s schools, no matter their background, and our schools are some of the most diverse places. As you have seen with bills and rhetoric the last few legislative sessions, promoting inclusion and belonging in our schools has been coined by some as a negative thing,” Bucher wrote.

Bucher said the work of the department would not be affected by efforts to “minimize the unique backgrounds and perspectives of kids in our schools and meet their individual needs,” and that that the department would continue to advocate for inclusion. 

“Our diversity is a strength, and as the needs of kids continue to grow, finding ways to improve belonging in our schools is critical,” he said. “We will continue advocating for our diverse schools to be places where all perspectives are welcome, and the provisions outlined in Dr. Underly’s budget proposal are a good starting point in achieving our goals.” 

Underly has proposed spending an additional $4 billion for education, including increasing the state’s share of funding for special education, creating additional mental health supports, and implementing free school meals for all students and early literacy initiatives.

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An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)

Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly, who is running for her second term in office with the backing of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, faces a challenge from Sauk Prairie School District Superintendent Jeff Wright, a Democrat who says he wants to improve DPI’s communication. 

Elections for the state superintendent are technically nonpartisan. Candidates run on the same ballot in the February primary, and the top two advance. The primary is Feb. 18, 2025 and the general election is April 1. No other candidates have entered the race so far.

Underly won her first term in a landslide in 2021, defeating her conservative opponent, a retired superintendent backed by Republican-leaning groups, in a campaign cycle where a record $3 million was spent on the race by candidates and outside special interest groups.

In her September campaign announcement, Underly highlighted some of her accomplishments, and said that students and staff need to be supported in Wisconsin. 

At the helm of the agency, Underly has advocated for increased investments in public education in the state budget, including for special education funding, mental health resources, staff pay and more. She recently announced a budget request that would dedicate an additional $4 billion in state funds to  public education. The DPI under her leadership also helped shape a law that reforms the way reading is taught in Wisconsin schools, though the Legislature has not released the money to support the changes despite Underly’s multiple urgings. 

Underly also highlighted the ongoing politicization of schools in her statement. Throughout her tenure culture war issues have continued to divide voters at the state and local level and she has been an outspoken critic of efforts to cut diversity, equity and inclusion programs and to target LGBTQ+ staff and students. 

“I’ve fought for kids and their teachers to be their true selves in school and stood up to ensure they see themselves represented in their curriculum and in their libraries,” Underly said in a September statement announcing her reelection campaign. “In a second term as superintendent, I want to make sure we continue to make necessary investments in our kids, as well as continue to examine how we evolve education to meet the challenges of the future.”

Prior to winning her first term in 2021, Underly served as the superintendent of Pecatonica School District, a rural district in southwestern Wisconsin. She has also previously worked as a principal, a teacher and a state consultant to Title I schools in Milwaukee and across the state.

Wright, who launched his campaign about a month after Underly, has served as the superintendent of Sauk Prairie School District since 2019 and was named Administrator of the Year in 2024 by the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance. He also previously served as a principal in Chicago. He hasn’t held public office before, but has run unsuccessful campaigns in 2016 and in 2018 for the state Assembly. 

Wright said in an October interview with the Examiner that he probably aligns closely with the current superintendent on many issues, but he thinks there is currently a “disconnect” between DPI and schools.

“They’re not bringing the people together from the teachers’ union, the administrators’ associations and other groups to have an active conversation about what concrete steps are we taking right now to get this work done,” Wright said. “Schools want to know what’s happening at the DPI. We don’t want to be surprised by changes. We want to be in conversation so that it’s very clear that we’re working on the same team.”

Wright cited concerns about whether enough effort has gone into recruiting and retaining educators. He said that he’s also heard “palpable frustration” from educators about the change to standardized testing scores and the lack of communication with school districts about it. The agency lowered the proficiency threshold and changed the terms that are used to to describe student performance, which critics said made it difficult to make comparisons to previous years.

Wright said that he would set himself apart from the current administration by trying to minimize partisanship. He said his district has tried to do this “by making sure that we’re listening to everyone and that we make sure that our doors aren’t closed to people, regardless of their opinion, especially if their children are in our schools.” He said that he hopes “it would also allow for more open conversations with legislators of all political stripes.”

Wright noted that DPI wasn’t invited to testify to the JFC during the last budget cycle.

“That hurts the DPI. It also hurts public education when we’re not having that open conversation between the agency charged with leading public schools and standing up for them and the legislators who are creating the budgets that do need to be rewritten,” Wright said. Underly did address lawmakers in person at one of the public hearings held by the committee in Eau Claire, but DPI was not invited to make its budget presentation to the Joint Finance Committee during the last budget process. 

Wright said schools are also facing challenges as the current funding formula, including for special education, has made it difficult for schools to keep up with costs. He said that funding going to voucher schools “worries” him as well because “there aren’t enough resources for public schools at this point.”

Early supporters of Underly and Wright

Wright has said he was encouraged to run by educators and education professional associations. He did enter the race with a notable supporter — the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) Political Action Committee. 

The Wisconsin Education Association Council is the largest teacher’s union in the state, and its PAC, which aims to help elect “pro-public education” candidates to office, recommended Wright in the race. However, the endorsement process for the full union is ongoing, and it’s unclear when or if a full endorsement will come from the board.

WEAC spokesperson Christina Brey said the PAC’s recommendation is one part of the lengthy endorsement process and said she couldn’t comment on specifics. 

“WEAC is in the process of exploring the candidates for state superintendent, and its political action committee has recommended its support of Jeff Wright; however, the process is still ongoing, with no determined timeline on whether or if a decision will be reached,” Brey said. 

When asked about the specifics on why the PAC recommended Wright, Brey said she couldn’t comment. She also said she couldn’t speak to the relationship between Underly and the union over the last four years due to the ongoing endorsement process. 

Brey told the Examiner that when it comes to the superintendent race, Wisconsin educators are looking for strong and bold leadership and someone that cares as much about students as teachers do. She said some of the issues at play include figuring out how to keep teachers and support staff, how to address the workplace environment, how to handle challenging student behaviors and how to address school funding challenges. She said members will be looking at many things, including policies that have been enacted over the past few years, how those policies have “shaken out” in the classroom, where candidates fall on those issues and who they think will be the best listener, advocate and partner.

Other Wright supporters, according to campaign manager Tyler Smith, include Jim Lynch, Executive Director of the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators. Lynch told the Examiner in an email that the association’s process for endorsing candidates for state superintendent doesn’t begin until later this month, so he couldn’t speak for himself or the association until after the process. 

Smith also named the superintendents of Mauston, Reedsburg, Stevens Point and Poynette school districts and the principals of Sauk Prairie High school and Sun Prairie School Board president as supporters.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Democratic Party endorsed Underly for a second term at the end of November. Party Chair Ben Wikler called her a “steadfast advocate” for students, parents and schools in a statement. 

“From fighting to give rural school districts a seat at the table, to expanding mental health services in schools, to ensuring every school, teacher, and student has the resources they need to succeed, Dr. Underly is the proven leader we need championing our kids in the Department of Public Instruction,” Wikler said.

“At every step, Dr. Underly has had the backs of our kids, standing up to attacks on public education, libraries and LGBTQ+ youth, and ensuring that partisan attempts to divide Wisconsin do not undermine our state’s fundamental and uniting commitment to great public schools, available to all,” Wikler continued.

The state party’s endorsement prompted a strong response from Wright, who said it represented party “insiders” deciding to “ignore” the voices of teachers, administrators and other stakeholders and settling “for the division and mismanagement that have marked Superintendent Underly’s tenure, ignoring failures that are isolating DPI from discussions about the future of Wisconsin’s public schools.” 

“Party leaders even ignored the voices of organized educators, a key member of the Democratic coalition, in making this endorsement,” Wright said. 

The endorsement process for the state party was launched by two county parties — Waukesha and Milwaukee. Waukesha County Democratic Party Chair Matt Mareno said in a statement to the Examiner that the party was proud to put Underly’s name forward for the endorsement. 

“We stood with her when she first ran, and in the years since she’s stood with us shoulder-to-shoulder as we’ve faced down far-right attacks on our public schools,” Mareno said. Schools in Waukesha County have dealt with a number of issues in recent years including becoming the target of a bomb threat and a threatened  school shooting after a right-wing social media account publicized  posts made by a local middle school principal, as well as books and songs being banned from schools. 

“From book bans to bomb threats inspired by right-wing influencers, our community and schools have been through a lot,” Mareno said, “and Jill Underly has been there with us at every step fighting for a better future for our kids.”

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School nutrition advocates say universal free meals could help improve the diets as well as the academic performance of more students. (Getty Images)

Wisconsin School Nutrition Association President Kaitlin Tauriainen says her goal has always been to feed every student.

“It seemed impossible for years, and then COVID happened,” said Tauriainen, who has worked in school nutrition for about 14 years and is also part of the Wisconsin Healthy School Meals For All Coalition. During the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture implemented waivers that allowed schools across the country to serve free meals to all children. “Basically, we were forced into doing it, which was fantastic, and really proved that we were capable and that it was better — like we thought it was going to be.” 

Tauriainen, who works as the child nutrition coordinator for the Ashwaubenon School District in Brown County, said there were less behavioral issues for the district then. She had observed earlier in her career at another school district how improved behavior could be the result of ensuring kids have access to food. She recalled a student who was eating free breakfast and free lunch, but still reported being hungry. Attending a different school that gave him more flexible access to food helped improve his situation, she said.

“He was so hungry all the time that he was just angry and causing disruptions. When they moved him to the charter school that gave him a little more flexibility and freedom to go make himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich whenever he was hungry, he turned into a completely different kid,” Tauriainen said. “That’s what some of the teachers were seeing during COVID as well.”

The federal universal school meals program expired in June 2022 after Congress decided not to extend it. Ashwaubenon School District now charges students who don’t qualify under current guidelines for lunches, but it is able to provide breakfast to all students.

Limiting behavioral problems is just one potential benefit of adopting universal school meals that Tauriainen and other advocates detailed to the Examiner. Other benefits include filling in gaps for students who may need the meals but don’t — or can’t — participate. Advocates say universal meals would level the playing field for students and ensure everyone has access to nutritious meals. 

Last month, Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly visited Kenosha Unified School District to propose that Wisconsin join the eight states that provide school meals to all students.

Under her proposal, Wisconsin would dedicate an additional $290 million per biennium so students, regardless of their families’ income, are eligible for free breakfast and lunch. Her proposal includes an additional $21 million to support other aspects of school nutrition. Those include funding to expand participation in the school breakfast program to independent charter schools, residential schools and residential childcare centers; creating a program to encourage school districts to buy directly from local farmers and producers; and funding for programs to support access to milk.

“Access to food is one of the most basic human needs, and yet many Wisconsin kids are telling us they don’t know when — or if — they will have their next meal,” Underly said in a statement. “When we make sure all our kids are properly nourished, we are nurturing the leaders of tomorrow.”

Hunger and grades

Across Wisconsin, 45.4% of enrolled public schools students — or 782,090 students — participate in the USDA Child Nutrition Programs and 52.1% of enrolled students at private schools participating in the USDA Child Nutrition Programs, according to the state Department of Public Instruction.

The current guidelines outline that students in a household of four, with income of $40,560 per year or less, qualify for free school meals. If a household’s yearly income is between $40,560.01 and $57,720, children can receive reduced-price meals. Families are also required to fill out an application annually in order to receive the benefit.

According to the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, one in four Wisconsin students reported experiencing hunger due to lack of food in the home and 2.6% reported going hungry “most of the time” or “always.” Students with low grades of D’s or F’s also reported going hungry at a higher rate — 10.3% of students — when compared their peers with higher grades of A’s or B’s — 2.3% of students.

Universal school meals would help fill in the gaps that the current system allows for, advocates said. 

Kenosha Unified School District currently provides school meals to all kids free of charge.

“When we had to return to our traditional system of serving meals in the 2022-23 school year, we heard from families that they missed the simplicity and security of free meals for all,” KUSD Chief Communications Officer Tanya Ruder wrote in an email responding to questions from the Examiner.

This year every school in the district is able to provide lunch and breakfast to all students through the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). The policy allows some high-poverty schools and districts to provide school meals to all students regardless of income and without having to fill out an application.

When meals were not universally free, the Kenosha district’s breakfast participation was 23.9%, and lunch participation was 43.8%, Ruder said. Since moving to CEP, those numbers have risen significantly, with breakfast participation now at 29%, and lunch at 55%.

Some families who qualified under the current system may find the application process an obstacle. “The application process is very daunting for some families,” Tauriainen said. “It’s a very simple form to fill out, but it’s just another thing that families have to do to get food to their kids when they might already be struggling.” 

Higher incomes, but still hungry

The income requirements also mean that some families that may be struggling financially may not qualify, Tauriainen said, because the application doesn’t consider other circumstances that families may be dealing with.

 “It doesn’t take into account anything other than your gross wages, so whatever your income is before taxes, doesn’t take into account any medical bills you may have, or other issues that you might have going on financially at home,” Tauriainen said.

Jennifer Gaddis, an associate professor at UW-Madison who researches food systems in schools, said a gap still exists for some students. “There are actually a lot of children and families, who are food-insecure, but who don’t actually meet the federal threshold for eligibility for free or reduced school meals,” Gaddis said. 

Gaddis and Tauriainen said providing school meals for free would benefit students in many ways.

“School meals are literally the only thing that is economically means tested,” Gaddis said. “Everything else kids participate in, regardless of their household income status — like math class, English class, busing — they’re not being charged a different amount or getting a different service necessarily that is tied to their household income status.” 

Providing meals to all students would reduce the stigma that the current system can create, she added. 

School meal debt has also become an issue again as schools have gone back to requiring students to pay for lunch unless they qualify for free food. In Wausau, a pastor recently raised $26,000 to help pay off students’ unpaid meal debts. Madison Metropolitan School District in May reported that school lunch debt in the district stood at almost $230,000.

Ruder of Kenosha Unified said that providing meals free to all students would prevent them from being denied lunch or breakfast when their account funds run out.

Nutritional and academic benefits

Universal school meals could also allow many students to eat more nutritious food since school meals follow the federal dietary guidelines. Some studies have found that participation in school meals has been linked to healthier diets. 

“We get a bad rap, because people think of what school lunch used to be like back when they were in school, and things have changed so much since 2010,” Tauriainen said. “We’re offering whole grains, fruits and vegetables, multiple options every day, so that students pick something that they like to eat — low fat, low sodium, low sugar entrees.” 

Tauriainen also noted that many school districts are trying to serve more food prepared from scratch and use more locally sourced foods for meals. Some school districts in the state serve food grown by the students, including Ashwaubenon School District, which has a 34-unit hydrophobic garden to grow lettuce.

Ensuring that kids are fed helps create a foundation for students to focus, study and be present in the classroom, producing stronger academic outcomes as well, Gaddis said. 

Gaddis takes a historical and international comparative approach to studying school nutrition. Other countries with universal school meal programs, including Japan and Finland, have integrated school nutrition and home economics, she said, so students are “learning about, not only how to think about food and nutrition, but how to prepare things for yourself and how to do so in an economical way, and why you should also have respect for the people who are doing work in the food system.”

It’s an approach that addresses all students.

“It’s not seen as this anti-poverty program in those countries, it’s seen as a really integral part of the school day and an opportunity for people to learn really important life skills,” Gaddis said.

The Wisconsin proposal is part of Underly’s larger budget request, which would invest an additional $4 billion in schools. 

It could face a tough road to becoming a reality given Wisconsin’s split government, where Republican lawmakers, who remain in the majority in the Legislature, have said they oppose growing “the size of government” and want to use most of the state’s budget surplus to cut taxes. 

Tauriainen said she hopes universal school meals can gather bipartisan support, however. 

“Being hungry shouldn’t be something that’s on one side or the other of the aisle,” Tauriainen said. “I really hope that the Legislature can come together and realize that this is something we really need to do for our kids.”

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State Superintendent Jill Underly proposed a grant program to help support clean water in schools. Underly with Madison La Follette High School Principal Mathew Thompson and Madison Public School District Superintendent Joe Gothard in September. (Ruth Conniff | Wisconsin Examiner)

Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly is proposing the creation of a grant program to support Wisconsin schools in upgrading water fountains to control for lead and other contaminants. 

Underly made the announcement Thursday at Cooper Elementary in Superior, and it’s the latest in her growing budget proposal, which will be released in full later this month. She proposed other budget measures Monday that would dedicate over $3 billion to public education for an array of priorities, including increasing the state reimbursement to school districts for special education costs to 90%. 

“It is critical that Wisconsin kids have access to clean drinking water, and schools are a big part of that,” Underly said in a statement. “Funding provided through my budget meets that need and allows schools to have the latest drinking water equipment available to their students.”

Lead exposure can lead to lifelong damage to the brain and other bodily systems for anyone, but is particularly damaging for children under age 6. Wisconsin schools aren’t required to test for lead in their drinking water, but in recent years, some schools have found elevated levels of lead in water coming from fixtures in buildings during voluntary testing.

Under the proposal, the department would dedicate $2.5 million towards the grant program to help schools in modernize water fountains and ensure students have access to clean drinking water. Underly said her budget proposals, including the grant program, put “Wisconsin kids first.”

“By investing in things like expanding access to healthy meals at no cost to families, increasing school mental health services, supporting districts in retaining high-quality teachers, and improving early literacy outcomes, we are moving Wisconsin forward,” Underly said. 

State agencies’ proposals are just the first step in Wisconsin’s budget process. The agencies will deliver their budget requests to the Department of Administration’s State Budget Office. The requests will then be delivered to Gov. Tony Evers, who will create his own budget proposal. Evers’ proposal will then be sent to the Wisconsin State Legislature, which will write the budget bill over the course of several months before voting on it and sending it to Evers to sign or veto.

With the state’s $4.6 budget surplus, Democrats are seeking to invest more money in an array of priorities, including public education. 

Republican lawmakers, who hold majorities in the Senate and Assembly, appear to be opposed to the size of Underly’s proposals. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said this week that it is not a “serious” proposal. 

“We have plenty of money to still invest in our priorities, but it’s going to be nowhere near what she proposed,” Vos said.

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An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)

Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly is proposing Wisconsin increase state public school funding by at least $3 billion, including by increasing the special education reimbursement for public schools. 

Underly outlined the proposal Monday, and it comes as Wisconsin schools have been increasingly turning to voters to help fund rising costs. Last week, Wisconsin voters passed over 78% of school referendum requests. 

“Wisconsin’s public schools have been asked to do more with less for too many years — and the upcoming biennial budget presents a critical opportunity to make meaningful change and support the future of our kids,” Underly said in a statement announcing the proposals on Monday. “My budget proposal reinvests in public education and upholds the responsibility of our state: To ensure our schools have the resources they need to ensure the success of our kids. By providing sustainable funding to our public schools and creating new, innovative ways to meet families’ needs, our educators can continue providing high-quality education to all kids.

The proposal includes raising the state’s reimbursement for special education costs to 75% in 2026 and to 90% in 2027 — providing about $2 billion to schools over the biennium. Private voucher schools in Wisconsin already receive a 90% reimbursement rate. 

The budget request  also includes indexing school revenue limits to inflation — restoring a principle that was last used in  2009-10 — and  increasing public schools’ revenue limits by $425 in fiscal year 2026 and by $437.75 in fiscal year 2027 — providing an additional $1 billion over the biennium. 

At the same time, Underly said her proposal would limit school districts’ property tax increases to an average of 1.5%.

DPI Communications Director Chris Bucher explained in an email to the Examiner that the agency is “proposing both increasing the revenue limit, and then funding that with state dollars.”

“Funding the revenue limit increase has the practical effect of preventing schools from increasing property taxes, due to the revenue limit increase, unless they go to referendum,” Bucher said. “It’s not just a hope and a wish. Schools are effectively prevented from increasing property taxes due to the revenue limit by more than about 1.5% average over the biennium.”

Other proposals include expanding per-pupil categorical aid program payments from $750 to $800 in 2026 and to $850 in 2027, as well as providing an additional 20% for students in poverty; providing $20 million for the out-of-school-time grant program; and reimbursing local education agencies for unaided costs of providing mandated special education services to children with disabilities in early childhood education. 

Over the last month, Underly has also announced other proposals, including investing nearly $60 million to help school districts resolve staffing challenges and retain teachers, $42 million proposal to support early literacy initiatives, $311 million for school nutrition and $304 million to support Wisconsin youth mental health.

Democratic lawmakers responded positively to the proposals, saying they will benefit students. 

“For the love of Wisconsin kids, teachers, and schools, let’s get it done,” Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) said. 

Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), who is a member of the Joint Finance Committee, encouraged her colleagues to support and help pass the proposal in a statement. 

“Public schools are struggling under harsh state levy limits, forcing districts to repeatedly go to referenda to recruit and retain great teachers and to give every student a good education,” Roys said. “This is a budget proposal that finally puts our kids and our schools first, while helping take the burden off of local taxpayers.”

Whether the proposals will actually become law is unclear. The Legislature will have a larger share of Democrats in the upcoming legislative session after the first elections under maps drawn to be more competitive for both parties. Democrats have said that the change will lead to more negotiations with Republican lawmakers over the shape of the budget. 

However, Republicans still hold a majority of seats in both chambers, with a 54-45 GOP majority in the Assembly and an 18-15 majority in the Senate.

Leaders of Senate and Assembly Republicans have said given the state’s budget surplus that tax cuts will be a top priority for them.

Update: This story was updated Tuesday with additional comment from DPI.

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With voters raising taxes on themselves to help fund schools, public school advocates are calling for better investment from the state of Wisconsin for public schools. Students, parents, teachers and advocates joined a rally to increase funding for schools in the Wisconsin state budget at the Capitol on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)

Wisconsin voters approved 78% of school referendum funding requests across the state this week, raising taxes on themselves to grant schools over $3.4 billion for infrastructure and operations, including staff pay increases, program offerings and maintenance costs.

A total of 121 school districts put funding referendum questions on the ballot that combined sought more than $4.2 billion. According to the Department of Public Instruction, of the 138 referendum questions, voters approved 108.

Wisconsin Public Education Network leader Heather DuBois Bourenane said the organization was “thrilled” with the approvals. She said there were worries ahead of Election Day that voters were feeling “referendum fatigue” after about 60% of school funding requests passed in April. 

“Voters spoke loudly and clearly, and they said, ‘we’re here to support our kids in their public schools, and yes, yes, we will pay that bill’,” DuBois Bourenane said. 

DuBois Bourenane said the passage rate reflects that schools made responsible requests of voters and that school administrators and local teams formed to campaign for the referendum questions made sure voters knew what was at stake and the reasons for the requests.

The results reaffirm the widespread support for public schools across the state, she said, including from people across the political spectrum.

The results also come as Donald Trump, who has supported universal school choice, was elected to a second term as president and carried Wisconsin. Voters also reelected Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, an outspoken supporter of public schools, and returned a smaller Republican majority to the Legislature, where GOP lawmakers have worked to expand school choice. 

“Wisconsin might have gone red in this election — that does not indicate a desire for more privatization or desire to abandon or destroy our public schools,” DuBois Bourenane said. 

DuBois Bourenane and other school leaders said schools and their supporters are still working to  advocate for better investment from the state of Wisconsin. 

The largest referendum request in the state came from Madison Metropolitan School District, which asked voters for $507 million to fund  renovations for two schools and to build eight new buildings. The building request won the support of  72% of school district voters. A second request, for $100 million in operational costs, including increases for staff salary and benefits, passed with 69% in favor. 

“As excited as we are, we know that we still have much work ahead,” said MMSD Board President Nichelle Nichols and Superintendent Joe Gothard in a joint statement thanking voters. They added that it would probably not be the end of the district’s funding problems.

“Although the referenda have passed, it’s important for the community to know that we are still operating with a structural deficit. Our revenues are not keeping up with our costs,” they said. “We, along with other public school districts throughout the state, continue to be grossly underfunded by the state. Our team will come together and engage with the community to determine how to move forward and plan for the future.”

DuBois Bourenane said that where referendum questions failed to pass, some schools will struggle to meet costs. 

“It’s awesome that 78% of our referendums passed, but for the 22% that didn’t — some of these districts are going to face a really, really tough year,” DuBois Bourenane said. “We need to not forget that when we’re forced to go to the ballot box to raise taxes on ourselves to fund our schools, some communities do and some communities don’t.”

When questions are rejected, “We’ve just widened another gap, and what we should be doing is demanding the state close those gaps, or level the playing field for every kid, instead of forcing us to compete against each other for scarce resources,” she added.

Reedsburg School District in Sauk County had split results on Tuesday. Voters approved a $14 million facilities referendum for improvements at its high school, but rejected the district’s $16 million nonrecurring operational referendum request.

In a Facebook post, Superintendent Roger Rindo thanked the community for approving the facilities referendum and promised regular updates on the progress of projects and a community open house to view renovations as projects are completed. 

Rindo said he also respected the community’s rejection of the operational referendum, but added that there would be “difficult conversations around budget reductions and continuing to find ways to maximize operational efficiencies and ensuring that we maximize the dollars we have available to support our strategic directions.” 

Rindo also said he would continue to press state lawmakers “for sufficient financial support from the state, including continued and consistent increases to the revenue limit, increases in flexible state aid, adequate support for Special Education, and an increase to the low-revenue ceiling” — the minimum limit on a school district’s per-pupil revenue. 

“It is long past time that the state supported public education at a level that doesn’t put school districts in the position of continuing to ask their communities for additional funding,” Rindo said. “I hope you will join me in advocating with our elected officials.”

Wisconsin school districts have been increasingly relying on money approved via referendum to support local education. The state’s school revenue caps, which were first implemented in 1993, have not kept pace with inflation since 2009, leading schools across the state to regularly turn to voters to ask for additional funding. 

State leaders also reacted to the results this week. Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly called for investments in schools, while a Republican lawmaker pushed back on that. 

Underly said in a statement that the state Legislature has underfunded schools for over a decade, leading “a record number of districts going to referendum to try and fix severe financial constraints on their own.” 

“Too many communities were forced to vote Tuesday on increasing property taxes just so their local schools can pay staff, heat and cool their buildings, and provide a quality education,” Underly said. “The upcoming biennial budget provides yet another opportunity for the legislature to uphold its responsibility to appropriately fund public schools, and to stop forcing Wisconsin communities to make impossible choices.” 

Republican state Rep. Scott Allen of Waukesha, who won reelection on Tuesday, said in a statement that school referendums are “working.”

“These referendums keep the power and choice for how to spend tax dollars with people in local communities,” Allen said. “Instead of a one size fits all approach to the 421 school districts in our state, school referendums allow for local communities to weigh in on decisions that most affect them.” He said the results “proved that the will of the people does not always agree or align with the school administrators who want more taxpayer money.” 

With Democrats gaining seats in both houses of the state Legislature Tuesday, narrowing the Republican majorities, public school officials and advocates will likely focus on asking for lawmakers to put more state money in public schools.

DuBois Bourenane said there is “an opportunity here to build some bridges, improve our relationships… and find some ways to come together for public funding in the next budget.” 

“We’ve had 16 years in a row of budgets that didn’t even keep pace with inflation, and we have got to make a major dent in that trend this year …” DuBois Bourenane said. “From what I heard from candidates and both sides of the fence in this election cycle, there’s a pretty keen awareness of what that means, and it means doing something about the revenue limits that have been crippling our public schools for decades, and giving schools real, significant, spendable aid that’s adequate to meet their needs, and closing our special education gap.” 

DuBois Bourenane said that increasing the special education reimbursement for schools to 90% — to match the reimbursement already provided to private voucher schools — from the current reimbursement rate of about 33% would be the “single most transformational thing” that could be done to help schools.  

“It would free up districts to be able to use their actual state aid for the things that kids really need,” DuBois Bourenane said. School districts “wouldn’t have to tax so much at the local level if they could use their state aid for the things that they’re supposed to.”

DuBois Bourenane said she hopes newly elected lawmakers with backgrounds in public education, including Joe Sheehan, a former superintendent, Angelina Cruz, a teacher and president of Racine Educators United teachers union, and Christian Phelps, who has worked for WPEN, will be able to build relationships with legislators of both parties and be able to provide “critical context” for how education bills and budgets could affect students.

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