Wisconsin Policy Forum Study Finds School Funding Decline Linked to Decline in Tax Burden

Monday, July 11th, 2022 -- 8:00 AM

(Bob Hague, WRN) A newly released study finds Wisconsin’s K-12 school funding has continued to decline, relative to other states.

The Wisconsin Policy Forum found the state's per pupil spending ranked 25th in 2020. “From 2002 to 2020, we had the third smallest increase in the nation. We were around a 49 percent increase compared to the national average that was a 75 percent increase.”

Sarah Shaw, the forum's Senior Education Policy Researcher, said that's tied to the state's decreasing tax burden over the same period. “That means that the amount that can get put towards public services like education also slows down.”

Shaw says per pupil spending ranked 25th in 2020. “In the same time period, where we fell from being 11th highest in education spending, down to 24th and now 25th in education spending, our tax burden also fell.”

Only Idaho and Indiana had smaller increases in school funding. In 2002, Wisconsin had the fifth highest tax burden in the country, and had dropped to 23rd by 2019.

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