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A group of Wisconsin parents, students, teachers, school districts and education advocates are suing the Legislature over the current school funding formula, arguing that the system does not meet the state鈥檚 obligation to provide educational opportunities to all students as required by the state Constitution. 

The was filed Monday evening in Eau Claire County Circuit Court by Madison-based nonprofit Law Forward and the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state鈥檚 largest teachers union.

The plaintiffs in the suit are led by the Wisconsin Parent Teacher Association and include five school districts, including Adams-Friendship Area School District, School District of Beloit, Eau Claire Area School District, Green Bay Area Public School District, Necedah Area School District, the teachers union of each respective district, eight Wisconsinites including teachers, parents, students and community members, as well as the Wisconsin Public Education Network. 

The lawsuit names the state Legislature, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), and the Joint Finance Committee and its Republican and Democratic members. 

Jeff Mandell, co-founder of Law Forward, told reporters during a press call Tuesday that schools have been doing their best to fully prepare students to be productive and active members of society but that the current funding system is making it almost impossible. 

鈥淭hese folks are not magicians. They are not Rumpelstiltskin. They cannot turn straw into gold, and we do not have what we need for our schools to thrive,鈥� Mandell said. 

Mandell noted that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has previously considered the way schools are funded in the 2000 case Vincent v. Voight. 

The Supreme Court found in the Vincent v. Voight case, which was initiated by a group of Wisconsin students, parents, teachers, school districts, school board members, citizens and the WEAC president, that the state鈥檚 funding formula was constitutional. 

The majority opinion indicated that the Legislature had articulated that an equal opportunity for a sound basic education is 鈥渢he opportunity for students to be proficient in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography and history, and for them to receive instruction in the arts and music, vocational training, social sciences, health, physical education and foreign language, in accordance with their age and aptitude.鈥� The opinion also concluded that as long as 鈥渢he Legislature is providing sufficient resources so that school districts offer students the equal opportunity for a sound basic education as required by the constitution, the state school finance system will pass constitutional muster.鈥�

Mandell said that in the 25 years since the ruling 鈥渢hings have gotten considerably worse, and we are at a point where, for many districts 鈥� they are on the verge of crisis.鈥� 

The lawsuit lays out the difference between how Wisconsin schools were funded in the  1999-2000 school year versus the 2023-2024 school year. School funding 25 years ago was comprised of 53.7% state funds, 41.6% local funds and 4.7% federal funding; in 2023-24, the mix had changed to about 45% state, 43% local and 12% federal funding.

鈥淭he fault for this crisis lies not at the feet of students, parents, families, teachers, staff, administrators, school districts, or elected board members,鈥� the lawsuit states. 鈥淭he shortcomings of our public schools are directly traceable to the Legislature鈥檚 consistent failures to ensure adequate state funding of public schools and to legislate a rational school finance system that meets constitutional mandates.鈥�

The lawsuit states that school districts across the state are 鈥渇acing financial crisis鈥� because of expiring federal funding and stagnating state dollars. 

The suit also details the state鈥檚 history of funding schools and the increasing reliance on property taxes through school referendums to try to keep up with costs. It also details the ways that the state鈥檚 school choice program, which was launched in the 1990s and has grown exponentially over the years, has reduced funding for public schools. 

Law Forward was at the helm of the 2024 lawsuit that ended with the Wisconsin Supreme Court declaring the state鈥檚 legislative maps an unconstitutional gerrymander and is in the process of the state鈥檚 Congressional maps. 

Mandell said the plaintiffs in the suit include a geographically diverse group to highlight how this is a statewide problem. He said it is possible that other districts will reach out about joining the case and they will 鈥渇igure that out as we go.鈥�

Joshua Miller, an Eau Claire Area School District parent, told reporters that 鈥渢he dire need for adequate funding has been made clear to the lawmakers, but they have refused to hear our pleas鈥� 

鈥淭he situation is sad, absurd, and it鈥檚 infuriating,鈥� he said. 鈥淲isconsin鈥檚 current school finance system is broken and this lawsuit, which I am proud to join, would be a way for the courts to force legislators to make a new system that works and actually meets the needs of the students of Wisconsin.鈥� 

Tanya Kotlowski, a plaintiff in the case and superintendent for the Necedah Area School District, said her district is going to referendum for a third time this spring to help fund its operations. In April, the school district plans to ask voters to approve a four-year operational referendum that would provide a total of $5.8 million in order to maintain the district鈥檚 current level of educational programming as well as operate and maintain the district. 

Kotolowski noted that she and other school leaders have spent a lot of time advocating on behalf of their schools to lawmakers for additional funding. During the recent state budget cycle, school funding was one of the top issues held by the budget committee.

鈥淒espite all of those efforts, the funding system has not kept up with the needs of our children and the needs of our current realities,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur local referendum, some would argue or could argue, has been 100% funding that mandated legal, constitutional obligation.鈥�

According to the lawsuit, the Necedah Area School District has directed over $6.6 million 鈥� all of its operational referendum revenue 鈥� to its special education fund over the past eight years.

Kotlowski said her district has been underfunded by $13 million for special education costs over the last decade, and that if funding had kept pace with inflation, the district wouldn鈥檛 need to go to referendum this year.

Mandell said that referendum requests used to be fairly rare and used when a school district had large projects.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing now is a system where school districts have no choice but to go to referendum regularly to try to fund basic operations to keep the lights on and to keep payroll flowing, and it鈥檚 really a tremendous problem,鈥� Mandell said. 

Referendum requests that allow schools to exceed state-imposed revenue caps through approval from voters became a part of Wisconsin鈥檚 school funding equation in the 1990s. Lawmakers implemented school revenue limit caps as part of an effort to control local property taxes. 

The revenue limits used to be tied to inflation, but that was ended in the 2009-11 state budget, leaving increases up to the decisions of state lawmakers and the governor, who have not provided predictable increases budget to budget.

The recent state budget did not invest any additional state dollars into school general aid, in part because lawmakers were upset with Evers鈥� 400-year partial veto in the prior state budget. The partial veto extended a $325 per pupil school revenue limit increase from two years to four centuries, giving, schools the authority to bring in additional dollars from state funds or property tax hikes. Without the state providing additional funding, many schools have turned to raising property taxes using the school revenue authority to help support their operational costs. 

鈥淚 understand there鈥檚 a big political debate about that veto, and about that mechanism, we don鈥檛 have a position on this. What we鈥檙e saying is that the school funding mechanism is not sufficient and is unconstitutional, even with that,鈥� Mandell said.

The state budget did provide additional funding for special education reimbursement, but recent estimates show that the amount of funding will not be enough to provide reimbursement at the promised rates of 42% and 45%. Increasing special ed funding is part of ongoing negotiations between legislative leaders and Evers. 

The lawsuit comes as the legislative session is coming to a close. 

The state Assembly adjourned for the session last week and the Senate will wrap up next month, but the only bills with a chance of becoming law are those that have already passed the Assembly. 

Even if a deal arises out of the current negotiations on property taxes and school funding, Mandell said the problem identified in the lawsuit will still exist. He noted that a proposal from Evers included $450 million towards school general aids 鈥� an amount that is $2 billion less than what schools would get if inflationary increases had continued in 2009. Mandell said Evers is not named in the suit because it is the Legislature that is chiefly responsible for appropriating funds. 

鈥淭his is not a problem that arose overnight. It has developed over decades, and it鈥檚 not a problem that will be solved overnight,鈥� Mandell said. 鈥淎ny deal that the Legislature and the governor might reach鈥� is not going to solve the problem.鈥�

Mandell said that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit  are not looking for the court to decide on a specific amount of money that the state should provide to schools, but instead want the court to 鈥渇ully explain and delve into how the finance system works, what the needs are, and to make some of those decisions.鈥�

The lawsuit asks the court for a judgement that declares the Legislature hasn鈥檛 fulfilled and cannot 鈥渟hirk鈥� its constitutional obligation to fund schools at a sufficiently high level to 鈥渆nsure that every Wisconsin student has an equal opportunity to obtain a sound basic education that equips them for their roles as citizens and enables them to succeed economically and personally in a tuition free public school where the character of instruction is as uniform as practicable.鈥� It calls for the current funding system to be ruled invalid. 

The lawsuit calls for relief that will 鈥渆stablish a schedule that will enable the Court 鈥� in the absence of a superseding state law, adopted by the Legislature and signed by the governor in a timely fashion 鈥� to adopt and implement a new school finance system that meets all relevant state constitutional guarantees.鈥� 

Mandell said, however, that it likely won鈥檛 be up to the court to decide exactly how the state should fund schools. 

鈥淭here are almost an infinite number of options for how the Legislature could do this, but what we鈥檙e asking the court to do is to look at it and say to the Legislature, not good enough鈥�. then we do expect that the Legislature and the governor will do their jobs,鈥� Mandell said. 

Mandell said that ideally a ruling would give lawmakers the opportunity to make changes in the next budget cycle. The budget process will kick off again in January 2027, after the state鈥檚 fall elections which will determine the make-up of the Senate and Assembly as well as choosing a new governor. 

If the Legislature and the governor don鈥檛 fix the problem, Mandell said, the court should step in again.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: [email protected].

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