In a state where only 8 percent of Black fourth graders read at grade level on the national NAEP exam, One City Schools is proving that number need not define Wisconsin’s future.
But on Wednesday night, the Wisconsin State Senate voted 18 -15 to defeat the $1.8 billion budget surplus deal that would have invested in our K-12 schools.
We acknowledge the work Governor Tony Evers, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos put into building a bipartisan agreement. We acknowledge what was on the table: a historic 50 percent special education reimbursement rate, $300 million in additional general school aid, statewide property tax relief, and a $16 million biennial increase for choice, independent public charter, and open enrollment students.
Even if this deal had become law, it would have been a serious missed opportunity. It failed to address our state’s 50th-place ranking among 50 states in the educational achievement of Black children, did nothing to address our state’s teacher shortage, and did nothing to support early childhood education.
What Wisconsin needs to do, and what this deal did not do:
- Fund Pandemic Recovery, Reading, and STEM. Only 8 percent of Wisconsin’s Black
fourth graders read at grade level. The 2026 Education Scorecard, released this week by
Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth, ranks Wisconsin 33rd out of 38 states for math
recovery and 30th out of 35 for reading recovery since the pandemic. Ninety-four
percent of Wisconsin students attend districts where reading achievement remains
below 2019 levels. Reading and STEM are the foundational literacies of the AI economy,
and Wisconsin is failing at both. - Fix the state’s school funding formula and provide all public schools, including
independent public charter schools, with equitable public funding. - Consolidate the state’s 421 traditional public school districts to respond to declining
birth rates and enrollment, generate real cost savings, and reinvest those savings into
our schools. - Fund innovation. The Demonstration Public School Act (AB 818 / SB 818) was not
included, and there was no investment in educational innovation in this deal. - Decouple independent public charter school funding from the state aid formula and
fund it directly from General Purpose Revenue, as Senator John Jagler and former
Representative Ellen Schutt proposed in 2023. - Fund childcare. Wisconsin’s early childhood system is in crisis. It is the foundational
infrastructure for every educational outcome that follows.
None of these things were done, and none will be done before this Legislature adjourns.
Consider what that means for One City Schools. We receive $12,369 per scholar from the state, plus approximately $2,000 in federal reimbursement. Our actual cost is $24,496 per scholar.
The Madison school district’s true per-pupil expenditure, when $264 million in excluded expenditures are added back, is approximately $29,160. We raise $3.7 million annually, which is 45 percent of our budget.
The Madison district counts 265 One City scholars who live in Madison toward its revenue limit and tax levy, even though the district does not educate them. This is not the Madison school district’s fault; the formula has to change. But it is not fair that the Madison district receives 100 percent of its revenue from public funding while we must raise 45 percent of ours privately.
Same kids, higher needs, similar costs, greater accountability, half the funding.
One of the deepest inequities is one no one is naming. Wisconsin’s independent public charter schools, which must accept every child who applies if space is available, receive less public funding per pupil than private schools in the state’s voucher and Special Needs Scholarship programs. Those private schools can decline to admit children whose needs they choose not to
serve. Private schools serving students with special needs receive $16,157 per child, with a 90 percent special education reimbursement rate. One City receives $12,369, with a reimbursement rate of 33 to 42 percent.
This is what we deliver with half the resources: 98.7th-percentile academic growth among all middle schools in Wisconsin and No. 1 in Dane County; 75.8th-percentile growth among elementary schools statewide; and two consecutive “Exceeds Expectations” ratings for both of our independent public charter schools. Our innovations extend well beyond our walls. Project
Read AI, which our scholars use daily, was recently ranked #23 among more than 20,000 EdTech companies by TIME Magazine. One City also serves as the Upper Midwest Training Hub for the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI), one of the nation’s strongest reading programs, with more than 500,000 instructional manuals in classrooms and documented
impact on the literacy skills of more than 10 million children worldwide.
And this is all we get.
The same Legislature that could not pass the Demonstration Public School Act, decouple independent public charter funding, fund reading and STEM, or fund childcare still voted 95 to 1 to appropriate $14.6 million for UW Athletics to offset other costs and fund Name-Image- Likeness (NIL) deals.
It leaves us wondering: if nearly every elected official in our state Capitol can see the value of enabling three universities to give millions of dollars to a handful of athletes who have already made it to college, why can they not find $4 million to fund hundreds of children who represent the 99 percent and will never get there without effective education strategies and adequate financial support?
Fewer than 1 percent of Wisconsin’s Black high school students achieve ACT scores competitive for admission to UW-Madison in either reading or math. The AI economy is rewriting every entry-level pathway and rewarding precisely the literacy and quantitative skills our schools are failing to develop. Thousands of children are being left behind in real time.
The 2027-29 biennial state budget will be developed beginning in January 2027 under a new Governor, Senate President, and Assembly Speaker. We are asking every candidate for those offices and every legislator who will serve in the next biennium to commit now to the Demonstration Public School Act, decoupling charter and voucher funding, a statewide investment in reading and STEM, equitable per-pupil funding for every public school child, equitable special education reimbursement, and a serious investment in childcare. These are not optional. They are the policy floor for anyone serious about the educational future of Wisconsin’s children. We will track publicly who commits and who does not.
We are not satisfied with what failed. We are not satisfied with what was on the table before it failed. We can and must do better for our children. The Legislature found $14 million for NIL deals so college athletes can profit from their image. They could not find $4 million to invest in children’s education.
Maybe our students should start practicing the 40-yard dash.
