School districts, teachers, parents suing Legislature over state funding
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A group of school districts, teachers' unions, parents and students is suing the Legislature over a state funding formula they argue is so broken, it's unconstitutional.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Eau Claire County, argues the state's general school aid funding formula is denying children their constitutional right of "guaranteed instruction as uniform as practical."
Much of the argument revolves around the state's old standard of covering two-thirds of districts' estimated costs. The funding structure was once written into law, but it ended in 2003 under former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat.
Jeff Mandell, a general counsel at Law Forward, a progressive firm representing the plaintiffs, said it's been downhill ever since.
"That was in the law. It was in the statutes," Mandell said. "The state paid $2 for every dollar local governments paid."
The lawsuit argues districts have been set up for failure. The 105-page filing notes the state covered nearly 54% of districts' costs in the 1999-2000 school year, but by 2023-24, the state share was down to 45%.
On a virtual press conference, Necedah Schools Superintendent Tanya Kotlowski noted her district was about to have its third operating referendum go to voters in April.
"Unmet constitutional obligations shifts the burden of the financial need to local taxpayers," Kotlowski said. "On the back of referendum after referendum after referendum."
Statewide, school districts have held a record-high number of referendums, first in 2022, then again in 2024.
Necedah is one of five school districts listed as plaintiffs on the lawsuit, joining Beloit, Eau Claire, Green Bay and Adams-Friendship. Mandell said highlighting those districts and their families would demonstrate the school funding issues go far beyond Milwaukee and Madison.
"We often hear disproportionately from the state's largest cities," Mandell said. "We thought it was important to try to make sure that we're hearing from some of the other cities; that we're hearing from rural districts and trying to get a complete portrait of Wisconsin."
The current state budget, negotiated by GOP legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, did not include an increase in general state funding.
The only state increase for schools was an increase in the special education reimbursement rate, going from 33% of costs to 45% by next year. However, actual costs have exceeded the state's estimates, so Evers and lawmakers are now giving schools another $200 million for special education as part of a larger negotiation about how to use Wisconsin's projected $2.5 billion surplus.
Last month, Vos defended the decision to only increase special education reimbursements, saying that's what most educators called for during the budget hearing process in early 2025.
"We took testimony from almost 1,000 people statewide, and almost every educator said, 'Put money into special ed because what ends up happening is special ed takes money from general ed,'" Vos said. "I guess if we had to do it over again, we should've probably put it into general education, as opposed to special ed, but we did what they wanted. If we have fewer kids in school, you have to figure a way to do it in a smarter way."
Mandell said the lawsuit is about more than just a single budget. He said the plaintiffs hope the court will rule the state's funding formula is unconstitutional.
He said because changing that statute is the responsibility of the Legislature and its budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, that's why those lawmakers are specifically named as defendants and Evers isn't.
"What is it the court could do to shake or require or tell the governor he had to do? We can't figure out what that is," Mandell said. "This is an instance where the relief the plaintiffs really need needs to start in the Legislature."