It was a dreary, rainy Thursday morning when the state education department announced some depressing news: According to the final, official numbers, 62% of Wisconsin school districts will receive less money in state general aid this year than they did last year. 

Schools are struggling because, for the third year in a row, the state budget put no new money into general school aid, the Department of Public Instruction pointed out in an Oct. 15 press release. That’s after more than 15 years during which annual adjustments to per-pupil general operating revenue in Wisconsin schools has failed to keep pace with inflation. The latest school funding data arrived from DPI under the header: “Nearly two-thirds of districts will receive less aid due to flat state funding, antiquated funding formula.” 

About an hour later, a press release from Gov. Tony Evers’ office cheerfully announced that Wisconsin has ended the fiscal year with a $3.3 billion budget balance and a record  $2.1 billion in the state’s “rainy day” fund. The top line from the governor’s office message was upbeat: “Despite continued national economic turbulence, Wisconsin maintains strong fiscal position, reaching seven consecutive years of record-high General Fund balances during Gov. Evers’ tenure.”

These two announcements, although dramatically different in mood, are directly connected. The reason Wisconsin has a big budget surplus is largely because the state has abandoned its commitment to fund its public schools. 

A slide presentation by Anne Chapman, research director for the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials, graphically illustrates the decline in annual adjustments to per-pupil general operating revenue for Wisconsin public school districts since the 2008-2009 school year. Using Legislative Fiscal Bureau data, Chapman shows the steadily widening gap between the annual adjustment in general operating dollars schools would have had each year if revenue had kept pace with inflation and what they actually got. This year the shortfall reached $3,571 per kid. 

At the same time, schools have been carrying about $1.29 billion in special education costs that are not reimbursed by state or federal aid.

Schools have never bounced back from the drastic cuts to education spending during the administration of former Gov. Scott Walker. But the current budget situation is unprecedented 

“The 2025-27 state budget provided no increase to general school aids. This was an extremely unusual policy choice, especially in light of the fact that the state had a $4.3 billion surplus going into the budget process,” she says. “The last instance of flat or negative general aids across both years of a biennial budget was the 2009-11 budget, at which time the state was facing a deficit.”

In other words, in a historic act of stinginess, the Legislature, while staring at a sizeable budget surplus, chose not to add any money to general school aid, the largest form of state support for K-12 schools. That was a deliberate policy choice, not some sort of emergency measure taken under duress. 

Wisconsin’s school funding formula is complicated —  a mix of state and local funds divvied up based on school districts’ property wealth, enrollment numbers and spending patterns. Different districts get different amounts of funding from the state — and some get none at all. When funding is flat, statewide, some districts get more and some get less. This is the “antiquated” system DPI referred to in its press release. It uses outdated metrics, and doesn’t account for the effects of high poverty or large numbers of English language learners. 

State schools superintendent Jill Underly expanded on this in her State of Education speech in September: “The formula places value on the wrong things. It values enrollment, district spending, and property value, rather than student needs. It fails to ask the most essential question: how much does it actually cost to educate the students who live in a district so that they have an equal opportunity to succeed? A student’s opportunity for success should not depend on their zip code. If we are going to improve the academic outcomes for ALL students, then the funding formula must prioritize student need.”

Because of the complexity of school finance, and the patchwork of have and have-not districts, it’s hard to figure the exact amount Wisconsin has underfunded its schools since 2009, when overall per-pupil spending stopped keeping pace with inflation. But you can get a rough, back of the envelope estimate by taking the three-year rolling average for calculating revenue limit and per pupil categorical aid  from 2025-26  — 781,367 students — and multiplying it by a calculation derived from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s data on the cumulative shortfall in annual adjustments to per-pupil general operating revenue, which was $3,468.60. The number you get is $2.7 billion in combined state aid and property tax levies. If the state returned to its much-discussed commitment to fund two-thirds of the cost of public schools, that would mean we’d have to allocate $1.8 billion of the current $3.3 billion surplus to make schools whole. Add to that the $1.29 billion in special ed costs the state has sloughed off on the schools, and it reaches $3 billion.

One of the main effects of the state deciding not to fund schools is that the burden has fallen instead on local property taxpayers, who are confronting another surge in referendum requests from their local school districts in the voting booth this fall.   

Gov. Evers has proposed, by his own estimate in an address to the Wisconsin Public Education Network, $7 billion in new funding for schools that was rejected by the state Legislature over his two terms. He was bitterly disappointed when the state Senate rejected a $1.8 billion deal he struck with Republican legislative leaders that included some money for increased special education funding and property tax relief along with income tax cuts. 

But in his latest message, the governor embraces the unspent money sitting in state coffers as “damn good news.” 

“We’ve ended every fiscal year I’ve been governor with a positive balance,” he says. “We’ve shown that state government can work, and work better for the people we serve, and I’m incredibly proud of our efforts.”

Along with the surplus, the governor’s office celebrates the “largest balance in the ‘rainy day’ fund in state history” — at $2.1 billion, it’s six times larger than when Evers took office.

Meanwhile, schools are in worse and worse shape, and all over the state, people are struggling to keep up with the cost of housing as property taxes rise. 

Whatever feeling of satisfaction there is in knowing the state has squirreled away a fat rainy day fund, when you look outside, it’s raining. 

Gov. Tony Evers announced a deadline of Oct. 5 as the last day for a Wisconsinite to submit an application for a pardon for a crime, before Evers’ second and last term as governor ends in January 2027. 

Distinct from a commutation or a parole order, a pardon restores rights that a person loses if convicted of a felony, including the right to serve on a jury, hold public office and hold certain professional licenses. 

In 2019, Evers issued the first pardons in Wisconsin in nine years. In a press release, he said that reinstating the pardons process and “offering over 2,000 second chances to folks across our state” has been one of his administration’s most important endeavors. 

“I encourage folks who are interested to apply by the deadline and sincerely hope to see this good work continue in earnest in the years ahead,” Evers said. 

To be eligible, a person must be seeking a pardon for a Wisconsin felony conviction and have finished any criminal sentence at least five years ago. Applicants must not have any pending criminal cases or charges in any jurisdiction or be currently required to register as a sex offender. 

Evers’ Pardon Advisory Board held two hearings on Friday; the agendas for the hearings listed 30 applicants for pardons. 

The pardon application and answers to frequently asked questions are on the governor’s website. Each applicant appears before the board for about 10 minutes, giving an introduction and taking questions from the board. The board votes whether or not to recommend a pardon for an applicant; if a majority of the board votes in favor, the application is sent on to Evers for a final decision. 

On Friday the Commutation Advisory Board met for the second month in a row to hear from another 12 incarcerated people applying for a commutation, a shortening or modification of a criminal sentence allowed by Wisconsin Constitution under the governor’s executive clemency authority.

Gov. Tony Evers issued two executive orders on April 4 establishing the Commutation Advisory Board and application process 25 years after the last commutations  were offered by Gov. Tommy Thompson.

On Aug. 21, the board heard from the first 12 applicants.

The second round of the applicants also appeared in open session via livestreaming. The board then convened in closed session to make recommendations to the governor. Board chair Mel Barnes said that only those receiving a majority vote of the members are forwarded to the governor for consideration.

Touissant Harley

In 1992, Touissant Harley was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder and first-degree reckless injury. A board member said he became eligible for parole in July 2025. Harley, now 53, was convicted at 18. 

Harley told the board that it was impossible for him to “fully grasp the impact that my abhorrent actions had upon Mrs. Sallis, mentally, emotionally and otherwise,” referring to Mavis Sallis, the mother of the victim of the homicide. 

“In me accepting responsibility and apologizing, I’m also expressing the fact that I fully recognize that reality that I am not by no means worthy of the slightest acknowledgement from neither Mr. Evans or Mrs. Sallis,” Harley said. “I did not awake Aug. 15, 1991 with the intent to harm anyone. Nonetheless, me shooting and killing Chris, and injuring Mr. Evans, not only disgusted me, I felt like I was the worst of the worst… My disregard for life generated fear in the community and contributed to the eroding trust society affords each individual.”

In a December 2024 hearing in Harley’s case, then-Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm presented Sallis’s thoughts, using a statement from Sallis prepared by Harley’s attorney. 

Chisholm said that immediately after the homicide, Harley wrote a letter to Sallis, apologizing and asking for forgiveness for the death of her son. He said Sallis is an active supporter of his early release and his pleading to a lesser charge. 

“The relationship has been a testament to the power of forgiveness and restoration,” he said. “During his sentencing and trial phase, the voice of Christopher Sallis’s mother was neither heard nor considered.” 

Mistye Doughty

Mistye Doughty, 66, incarcerated at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, was sentenced on Oct. 11, 2002, in Brown County to 35 years followed by 25 years of extended supervision for felony murder and armed robbery. She has completed 25 years of her sentence.

In 2004, Doughty’s appeal was denied. She claimed she was not a party to a crime involving the robbery of a jeweler, Douglas Tappa, who was killed by her husband, Matthew Doughty, during a robbery.

Doughty recounted her husband attacking Tappa, and then later receiving $100 from him after selling the jewels in Chicago, although the court found she had taken “half the proceeds,” which she contested was incorrect. 

“I accept all responsibility and accountability for my action of not rendering aid and calling 911,” she said. “A good man lost his life. I live with the remorse and regret every day for what I did and didn’t do by not taking the proper action. This shattered many lives. I hurt and violated the sanctity of the home of Mr. Tampa, deeply hurting his children, grandchildren.” 

She recounted receiving therapy and becoming a certified peer specialist  to work and mentor others.

If released, Doughty said, she would live at Safe House in Madison managed by the advocacy group EXPO and continue with therapy and working as a peer mentor.

“Working as a certified peer specialist is my way of giving back to the community,” she said.

During victim statements, Mel Tappa, Douglas’s daughter, recounted how her mother and siblings suffered from the death of her father, and she asked the board to not grant a commutation.

Efrain Campos

In 1999, Efrain Campos was sentenced to 70 years of confinement. He was convicted of being party to armed robbery and first-degree recklessly endangering safety. 

According to a criminal complaint, he was charged with conducting robberies with threat of force between Jan. 18 and 19, 1999, and was charged with attempted homicide for shooting at two responding police officers. He said he’s been incarcerated for about 27 years for crimes committed when he had just turned 18. 

“I am grateful that no one lost their life, but I recognize that the outcome could have been very different,” Campos told the board. “At the time, I was immature, and I wanted to fit in and feel accepted. Growing up without a father in my life contributed to my desire to find acceptance from others. But that is no excuse. I had choices, and I made terrible and selfish ones.”

 

Wazir El-Amin

Wazir El-Amin, formerly Wade A. Curtis, 55, incarcerated at Fox Lake Correctional Institution, was given a life sentence on Nov. 21, 1990 for first degree intentional homicide with a dangerous weapon in Racine County, and has served 37 years in prison.

He applied for juvenile commutation because he was 18 at the time of his conviction; anyone 19 or younger at the time of conviction can apply through the juvenile application.

El-Amin is eligible for a parole hearing in 2028.

At the hearing, he took responsibility for the death of Christopher Rolle,18, and the pain it caused Rolle’s family and community.

“I understand now what I didn’t then – that my actions caused both mental, physical, emotional trauma,” he said.

He said the one way he had made amends was  by turning his life around, including pursuing his  education, getting two degrees, participating in several programs and becoming a tutor and respite care worker.

If released, he said he would live in the duplex he owns with his wife and he would continue in a program helping other people  who have been to prison.

Casey Fisher

In 1994, Casey Fisher was sentenced to life imprisonment and a consecutive 20 years of confinement. He was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide while armed and armed robbery with threat of force. 

Fisher, 54, said he has and still is maintaining his innocence of the crime, but that he isn’t trying to challenge his conviction through the commutation process. 

“I also want to acknowledge that me maintaining my innocence in this matter does not mean that I was some kind of good guy back then,” Fisher said. “I really wasn’t. I made a lot of poor choices, I often associated with the wrong people and acted without thinking about the impact that my actions had on others.”

Fisher said that during his incarceration, he’s taken advantage of some of the programs and classes in the prison system. Board member Cindy O’Donnell, former deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, said that he hadn’t received a prison conduct report since 2018. She said that this was a hard thing to achieve, and asked how he’d done it. 

“Stayed in my own lane and just stayed focused on trying to do better,” Fisher said. “(I’ve) got a 2year-old granddaughter.”

Richard Sulla

Richard Sulla, 39, incarcerated at  Oregon Correctional Center, was convicted in May 15, 2012 for burglary using a dangerous weapon prison and required to make restitution of $101,070 to Joseph and Laurie Dudley. He was also charged with multiple other offenses in Waukesha, Milwaukee, Walworth and Washington counties that cumulatively, with the Jefferson County offenses, resulted in 25 years of incarceration and 25 years extended supervision. He has served 16 years in prison.

Sulla said he began his crime spree after he was medically discharged from the Marine Corp. while struggling with the effects of childhood abuse.

“I violated their sense of security and trust in society,” he said of his victims. “I took family memories and ultimately destroyed the Dudleys’ home. And today I stand here humbled, apologetic, and truly sorry for my actions. The destruction I caused to the Dudleys’ home was the first time in this 18-month crime spree I laid awake at night asking myself, ‘What are you doing, Richard?’”

He said in prison he began to focus on changing and taking responsibility for his actions. Through restorative justice programs, he realized the ripple effect of the harm his actions had caused.

He described  investing his time in getting an education and volunteering for Paws Patrols, working with service dogs and earning an associate’s degree, and starting a certified peer support program.

The Dudleys submitted a letter asking that Sulla not be given a commutation due to the damage he caused the family.

Robert Patterson

Robert Patterson was convicted of killing a man found dead from gunshot wounds in a van where he was a passenger on Sept. 3, 2002.

According to the criminal complaint, Patterson said he was riding in the back of the van when one of the men, Kristopher Beason, suddenly turned around in the front seat. His co-defendant, Kionta Crockett, began shooting after he saw Beason was holding a gun. 

Patterson said “the whole van was lighting up like a strobe light.” Patterson pointed his own gun toward the front of the van and fired at least two shots as he moved to exit the vehicle and ran away. 

Patterson told the board that he feared for his life. 

 “Looking back on the situation, I know that I didn’t have to shoot Kris,” he told the commutations board. “I had options…I also should not have gotten into a vehicle with people I didn’t trust.”

Ballistics results linked Beason’s bullet wounds to Patterson’s gun, according to court records. Patterson pled guilty to an amended charge of party to second-degree intentional homicide in Beason’s death. The prosecution agreed to recommend “in the area of 20 years” for initial confinement. 

Patterson was sentenced in 2003 to 27 years behind bars and 18 years on community supervision. 

Board chair Mel Barnes read a statement opposing Patterson’s application for commutation  from the sister of the victim. She said that the pain of losing her brother, especially knowing the perpetrator was a neighbor of more than 10 years whom she considered a friend, “shattered my sense of safety and trust.” She said Patterson pretended to help look for the people behind the crime despite being responsible. 

“It is deeply painful to know that if Robert Patterson is released, he will move forward with his life, while my family continues to live with the daily anguish of his actions,” Barnes read from the statement.

Dequelvin Douglas

Dequelvin Douglas, 47, a resident of Oshkosh Correctional Institution, was convicted of first degree intentional homicide and attempted first degree intentional homicide in Kenosha County at age 15 and sentenced to life in prison when he was 16. He has been incarcerated for 31 years.

“I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said. “This is not a crime of circumstance or peer pressure, but rather the result of a deliberate and selfish choice that terrorized my community. The actions I display, specifically in regards to my victims and their families, are both inexcusable and unrepairable. I know that there are no words that can be said to heal their pain or change how I destroyed their lives.”

When he went to prison at age 16, Douglas said, he thought he was a “monster,” but, he said, over the years he became a member of a men’ s accountability group and began to change his perspective and mature.

He talked about becoming a peer specialist and a mentor and helping others, especially young men. 

A restorative justice program, he said, helped him understand the perspective of his victims and develop empathy.

Harlan Schwartz 

In 2001, Harlan Schwartz was sentenced to 37 years behind bars and 18 years of supervision in the community. He had been convicted of two counts of arson for setting fire to a building and a count of selling, possessing or manufacturing a Molotov cocktail. 

Schwartz was charged in two instances of arson against then-Douglas County District Attorney Daniel Blank’s home, according to the criminal complaint in the case.

The first incident caused soot discoloration and minor charring on part of the siding on the garage. Over a month later, Blank’s family woke to the sound of breaking glass. Blank, his wife Suzanne and their three year-old daughter had been sleeping on the second floor of their home. Suzanne Blank said that she saw fire and smoke in their living room on the lower level, and the family called 911 and exited the home.  

Schwartz and his co-defendent claimed that they committed the crime under duress because they were in fear of their lives and the lives of their families based on threats by gang leader Alejandro Rivera, Fox 21 News reported. At the time of the firebombing, Rivera was awaiting trial for murder, with Blank as prosecutor. 

“Between (my co-defendant) and I, it was fear for me to participate in this because at that point in time, I didn’t believe I had any other choice,” Schwartz said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized I had a lot of different choices.”

Board member Cindy O’Donnell said that the Blanks wrote a letter in support of Schwartz’s commutation.

“That means so much to me,” Schwartz said. “I’m so sorry for everything I did to them, and for them to support and have forgiveness is just so overwhelming.”

In a notice to the court, Douglas County Circuit Court Judge George Glonek took no position on whether Schwartz should receive a commutation, noting that he was not the judge who handed down the original sentence, and that Judge Joseph McDonald is now deceased. But he stated that the incident “did more than just affect the victims, the city of Superior, or the County of Douglas.” 

Glonek wrote that during the sentencing hearing, McDonald said that the incident “‘was an attack on the criminal justice system’ (including elected officials) which shook the entire State of Wisconsin and beyond.”

Glonek wrote that at the sentencing hearing, McDonald said that the jury appropriately found there was no coercion, and called the conduct an “act of cowardice.”

“He says fear,” McDonald stated, according to Glonek. “The State says money. I say money. Fear wasn’t there…Fear wasn’t there when he was calling, trying to make arrangements after the fire bombing to Rivera to get the money, according to the testimony of other witnesses. He was waiting for the delivery of the money.”

In 2022, Schwartz sought a lighter sentence, with his attorney arguing that he provided information to law enforcement regarding a prison stabbing at risk of his own safety, according to a hearing transcript. His attorney contended that because of this new factor, Schwartz had met the standard for a sentence modification, and that his overall changed character merited a lighter sentence. 

“There are few things more telling about a person’s character than their (willingness) to risk their own safety to do the right thing,” Schwartz’s attorney said. “Mr. Schwartz did not do that 22 years ago when he committed the crime. He has shown today that he can and he is willing to do that.”

He said that the perpetrator of the prison stabbing, David Schroeder, admitted that he intended to kill the victim because he thought he was a snitch. 

“(Schwartz) found out later that David Schroeder had found out who he was, that he had provided information to the State, that he had made threats to Mr. Schwartz based on that,” Schwartz’s attorney said. 

At the hearing, the district attorney argued that Schwartz hadn’t met the legal standard to be considered for a lighter sentence. He said that Schwartz wasn’t the only witness to the stabbing and that Schroeder took a plea deal instead of going to trial. Judge George Glonek declined to change Schwartz’s sentence. 

Dawn Dobbs

Dawn Dobbs, 59, incarcerated at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, was convicted of first degree intentional homicide (party to a crime) in Milwaukee County and sentenced July 1, 1994, to life imprisonment for killing her life partner, the father of her two sons. She has been in prison for over 32 years.

At 26 years of age, she said, she obtained a gun that a younger co-defendant used to shoot  her partner. She said it had taken her 20 years to be fully accountable for her actions instead of blaming others. She said she now took responsibility for enticing her younger co-defendants to commit the crime.

“As pathetic as these words are, I am so very sorry for the trauma, the pain and heartache that I’ve caused for each and every one of you,” she said to her victims.

Dobbs recounted various jobs she had in prison and the numerous programs she has participated in, including counseling in anger management and coping skills.

She noted one of her crowning achievements was making a suicide prevention video that is viewed in prisons and had reportedly helped to save lives.

If released, she said she would live with her sister in Jefferson, where other family members live, and said she would like to work with animals and volunteer with numerous agencies, including animal and homeless shelters.

Richard Perekovich

On Nov. 9, 2001, police found Victor Ransom dead in the parking lot outside a tavern, alongside Antonio Young, who had gunshot wounds to his right arm and right leg after gunfire  broke out while the two men were leaving the bar at closing time.. 

According to a criminal complaint, Young said he and Ransom were walking out of the tavern when he saw a man he later identified as Richard Perekovich in front of the bar. Perekovich appeared to be showing off a handgun. Young was looking away and talking with Ransom when he heard a scream.

He looked up and saw Perekovich, firing the gun. Young ran and was hit in the arm and leg, and saw Ransom lying on the ground. Perekovich was sentenced to 30 years behind bars and 10 years of supervision in the community for the shootings. 

“Although the circumstances have never been fully resolved, the fact remains that my choice to arm myself and return fire resulted in the loss of a precious life, deprived children of their father, caused the mother to suffer the loss of her son, and a young man challenged with a severe injury to his arm,” Perekovich said. 

A board member asked Perekovich to clarify what happened and who fired first. He said that he fired first out of fear as a person who approached him at his car moved for a gun. Asked whether he saw a weapon, he said he did not, but that the person had previously threatened to “put a hole” in him.  

At sentencing, Perekovich said he pleaded no-contest because he didn’t think he could persuade a jury he acted in self-defense because of how many shots he fired, according to court records. His defense counsel argued that an investigator had found independent witnesses who said that people at the crime scene were armed and firing guns. Perekovich said he believed he was defending himself and did not intend to hit anyone when he fired his gun. 

The circuit court didn’t adopt the state or Perekovich’s version of events presented at sentencing, but said that “although you tell this court that you were not intending to shoot directly at anyone, it appears that an innocent person, someone who is doing nothing more than probably saying goodnight to his friends after an evening of socializing, he, too, was probably doing nothing more than trying to go home and be with his family.”

Yatau Her

Yatau Her, 43, incarcerated at  McNaughton Correctional Center, was convicted of attempted first degree intentional homicide in Eau Claire County, and sentenced on Nov. 18, 2005 to 24 years of confinement and 15 years of extended supervision.

Prior to his attempted robbery of the grocery store, Her said, his life had been unstable after he escaped  from the California Youth Authority to Minnesota and then joined a gang. He recounted the robbery and how he panicked and shot at the store owner.

At his sentencing, he said, the victim asked why a hardworking woman who had done nothing to others would be threatened with harm.

“To answer that question, life pushed me around, and I didn’t have the confidence in my ability, nor the capability to understand how to push life back, so I took it out on people,” he said and added,  “I am ashamed of my actions.”

In 2011, while living in segregation, Her said, he had a revelation about how destructive his life had become and how he had harmed others, and he began to reflect, tried to surround himself with “productive individuals,” and invested in himself by reading self-help books and participating in programs.

He said he gained work experience and education and skills and, over the years, was allowed to move from maximum to medium to unsecured minimum housing and take part in work release.

He said he is no longer a threat to society, and is “ready for the final step of rehabilitation.”

If released, he said he would live with family in California, Oklahoma or Wisconsin.

Gov. Tony Evers is taking his final back-to-school tour of the state, visiting K-12 classrooms across Wisconsin to meet students, families and staff and tout his record as the “Education Governor.”

If you don’t happen to live in one of the 72 Wisconsin school districts that went to referendum last spring, begging local property taxpayers to cover basic costs the state is not meeting, you might get the impression from Evers’ valedictory tour that he is leaving office having solved the urgent problem of chronic underfunding of Wisconsin schools. 

“After a decade of disinvestment, Gov. Evers has spent the last almost eight years working to invest in public education at every level,” a statement released this week by the governor’s office declares. “During his time in office, Gov. Evers has enacted budgets to restore two-thirds funding for public schools for the first time in over two decades, provide the largest special education aid increase in state history, and bring per pupil aid to its highest level ever.”

Sounds like a strong record of accomplishment!

But wait, why does a lawsuit filed this year by the Wisconsin PTA, students, parents, teachers and communities across the state charge that Wisconsin “has seemingly abandoned its commitment to the education of Wisconsin’s public school children” and is violating its own constitution by failing to adequately fund public schools? 

The short answer is that Evers, along with the Republican legislative leaders who are the targets of the lawsuit, are using misleading language to pass off austerity for schools as generosity.

Take Evers’ claim about restoring the state’s long-abandoned commitment to two-thirds funding for schools. That two-thirds number is based on counting money in the state budget that schools are not allowed to spend. While the money is technically allocated for education, the state did not lift school revenue caps, so it can only be spent for property-tax relief. 

“Meeting the state’s two-thirds funding commitment doesn’t put a single new pencil in a classroom when you provide zero dollars in new spending,” explains Heather DuBois Bourenane of the Wisconsin Public Education Network, “and the current budget provided zero dollars in new spendable aid for both years of this biennium.”

Far from reaping a historic investment, students and teachers are starting the year in Wisconsin with no new money for schools. 

The state’s share of special education funding, which fell from a high of 70% in the 1970s to hover around 30% in recent years, did get a bump in the last budget, reversing a dire drop-off. But the “largest special education increase in state history” only amounted to a jump from 30 to 35% last year — considerably less than the 42% reimbursement rate state officials originally projected. 

Finally, in a sense, Evers did bring per-pupil aid to its highest level ever, but like his other claims, this is more a rhetorical victory than a concrete benefit to schools. Using his line-item veto, Evers extended school districts’ ability to raise $325 in revenue per pupil from local taxpayers for the next 400 years. This move infuriated Republicans, and they used it as a reason for not giving schools any new money in the current budget. But the $325 per pupil increase is not hard cash, it’s just revenue-raising authority granted to districts, which are allowed to raise property taxes by that amount if they choose to. Some, having exhausted the good will of local taxpayers with repeated referendum asks, have not done so. 

All in all, schools in Wisconsin are in bad financial shape, and property taxpayers are weary of filling the gap left by the state abandoning its obligation to kids. 

“The Legislature is selling kids short,” says Jeff Mandell of Law Forward, which is representing the plaintiffs in the school funding lawsuit. The Wisconsin Constitution guarantees every child an equal opportunity for a sound, basic education. But for years, the plaintiffs argue, the state has been breaking that promise.

Adams-Friendship school district, one of the parties in the lawsuit, used to have five elementary schools within its 500 square miles. Now, because of school closures due to low enrollment and shrinking budgets, it has only one K-12 school. Kids spend hours riding the bus to a single school building with aging infrastructure where many classrooms are unusable on hot days. 

Huge challenges are also facing urban districts. In Beloit last year one in eight students was homeless. 

“There is this fictitious idea that everyone has budgets, the schools just have to tighten their belts,” says Mandell. The reality is, even as the challenges schools face pile up, the state has steadily decreased funding, to the point where many now face an existential crisis.

The current lawsuit is not the first challenge to Wisconsin’s school funding formula based on the idea that the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide a basic, free education to all children. 

Back in 2000, a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected a similar argument in the Vincent v. Voight case. 

In that case, “the Court said the system is not bad enough right now to violate the constitution,” Mandell says. But since then, two full generations of kids have completed kindergarten through 12th grade, and conditions have deteriorated dramatically.

When Vincent v. Voight was decided, school revenue limits were still automatically pegged to inflation. A state law, abolished in 2003, still held that two-thirds of school funding should come from the state.  A popular program, abolished in 2018, still kept class sizes small and offered extra supports to children living in poverty to help them succeed academically.  Overall, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, school funding has not kept pace with inflation in Wisconsin since 2009, a major reversal from the early 2000s, when Wisconsin schools were among the best funded in the nation. 

“The situation keeps getting worse and worse and worse, and we’re saying the court needs to give this another look,” says Mandell.

This is where the hopeful part comes in. Like the gerrymandering lawsuit that prompted the Legislature and the governor to pass fair voting maps in Wisconsin, Mandell believes the school funding lawsuit could trigger major legislative reform. As in the gerrymandering case, “the court’s job is to tell the Legislature, ‘What you have here is not good enough,’ and then give them a short window to fix it,” Mandell says.

It’s not the court’s job to come up with a new funding formula, but if the governor and the Legislature can’t agree, it could impose its own solution.

As the November elections approach, ushering in a new Legislature and a new governor, there’s a real opportunity for change. 

“There is growing momentum and understanding of what the problem is, and what the issue is, on both sides of the aisle,” says DuBois Bourenane. 

She and the other public school advocates in her organization are deeply disappointed that the governor and the Legislature failed to hammer out a deal to give more money to schools, after dangling the idea at the end of the last session. “It’s just criminal that they’re even willing to entertain the idea of sending these kids back to school with nothing again,” she says. “We’ve got 70-plus districts going to referendum again this fall … over a third of our districts went to referendum this calendar year.” 

DuBois Bourenane agrees with Mandell that the lawsuit could spur a breakthrough. 

“I’m just glad that everybody’s talking about it,” she says, “and I hope that they’re paying very close attention to what’s actually possible if we elect people who all agree that we have to fix this broken problem.”