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Navigating the State Budget’s Local Impact
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | August 18, 2025
Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of our students and communities. Your unified voice and continued conversations with legislators during the budget process helped secure the highest special education reimbursement rates in more than 30 years. This investment will make a real difference for all students, and it happened because you remained unified and persistent.
However, the work is not done. While the state budget provides important increases in special education funding that will set a new floor for the next budget, it does not include any new state aid to offset the reliance on property taxes. This means that the responsibility to fund ongoing educational and operational needs will largely fall on your local taxpayers. Of the $1.37 billion of “spendable revenue for schools,” $760 million, or 55.3% of the total, will come from local tax levy efforts. State support for public schools will be reduced by an additional $169 million over the biennium to pay for voucher schools.
What This Means for Your Community
- The state sets the school funding formula, and local districts must operate within it.
- The budget allows for a $325 per student increase in revenue limits – while it is not an inflationary increase, this ability is critical for maintaining programs and meeting rising basic costs like food, fuel, technology, transportation, and insurance.
- The state provided no increase in general aid, which results in a greater reliance on local property taxpayers.
- The state did not raise the per-pupil categorical aid ($742 pupil/year), making the $325 per-pupil revenue limit authority all the more critical.
- Potential federal education funding cuts could further increase reliance on state and local dollars.
- Maintaining and strengthening high-quality schools is directly connected to Wisconsin’s capacity to sustain and grow our economy.
Why This Matters
Every public school district will feel these changes differently based on local property values, student enrollment, and school board decisions. In some communities, the impact may be modest; in others, it may lead to significant tax increases or difficult choices about programs and staffing. A greater reliance on local taxpayers, who face differing economic realities, makes budgeting more difficult for the school district and families. These are challenging conversations, but they are necessary to ensure our students continue to have access to strong academic programs, career-oriented learning opportunities, and the resources they need to succeed. Transparent conversations are critical to building stronger community support for your district.
Lawmakers in Madison have the power to deliver on priorities most Wisconsinites share, keeping property taxes low and ensuring our public school students have the resources they need to succeed. These goals are not mutually exclusive, yet the state’s decision not to increase the general revenue available to public schools moves us in the opposite direction of both.
Stay Tuned…
I have included a basic list of supporting resources below – additional resources to support these discussions are forthcoming.
Supporting Resources:
- Wisconsin Policy Forum Report: Wisconsin’s National Per Pupil Funding Continues to Decline
- Compared to other states, Wisconsin’s per pupil funding continues a downward trend, dropping to 26th in national ranking and 9.9% less than the national average. Wisconsin was ranked 11th in 2002. Wisconsin has fallen behind Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota in funding.
- Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Legislative Fiscal Bureau K-12 Funding Increases in the 2025-27 Biennium
- Of the $1.37 billion of “spendable revenue for schools,” $760 million of it, 55.3% of the total, will come from local taxpayers through local tax levy effort (if every school board levies the full amount allowed under this budget, not accounting for referenda).
- Of the $1.37 billion of “spendable revenue for schools,” $760 million of it, 55.3% of the total, will come from local taxpayers through local tax levy effort (if every school board levies the full amount allowed under this budget, not accounting for referenda).
- Legislative Fiscal Bureau: General Aid Deduction for Vouchers
- Total payments under the choice and charter programs will increase by an estimated $274,209,600 GPR over the biennium compared to base year doubled. Of this amount, $169,875,500 will be funded through an aid reduction to pupils’ school districts of residence.”
- Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Estimated Effects of K-12 Funding Provisions for School Districts in the 2025-27 Biennium
- DPI 2025-26 July 1 Aid Estimate: 2025-26 July 1 Estimate – General Aid | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
- DPI Federal Funding: Tracking Federal Funding: The Effect on Wisconsin | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
- District by district resources, mapping, statewide impact
- DPI Wisconsin Public Schools Fact Sheet: Wisconsin at a Glance | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
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