New Bill Would Force State to Make Good on Special Education Funding Promises
Under a new bill, Wisconsin public school districts would receive the full special education reimbursement rate lawmakers pledged in the state budget.
The Keep Our Promise on Special Education Reimbursement Act would require the state to pay for special education costs at the full rates set in the budget rather than capping reimbursements when total claims exceed the budgeted amount. The former funding mechanism is known as a sum sufficient appropriation and the latter is known as sum certain appropriation. The new bill would guarantee districts receive a 42 percent reimbursement rate for the current school year and 45 percent for 2026-27, and the state would be bound to meet those percentages.
The state’s 2025–2027 biennial budget set special education reimbursement rates for public schools at 42 percent for 2025–26 and 45 percent for 2026–27. These rates fell well short of the 60 percent reimbursement proposed in Governor Evers’ budget, and the 90 percent recommended by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. On November 17, DPI released a School Finance Bulletin that notified school district officials that the reimbursement rate will be just 35 percent November through March because of the sum-certain cap. Meanwhile, unaccountable private schools in the state’s school voucher system are reimbursed by the state for 90 percent of their special education costs and are funded on sum sufficient basis.
Educators have been outraged by the news. Hundreds of WEAC members and others have contacted legislators demanding that they keep their promises to special education students and public schools.
At a time when record numbers of school districts are going to referendum just to meet basic costs, about three-fourths of the districts received less state aid this year than they did last year. In the last 25 years special education costs have increased 103 percent while special education funding has increased only 82 percent, mirroring state budget shortfalls in general school aid during the same period.
“For years, state politicians have funded public school students with disabilities at less than one-third of the rate private voucher schools receive,” WEAC President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen said. “This year, after WEAC and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly proposed a 90 percent reimbursement rate for public schools and Governor Evers made a 60 percent reimbursement compromise in his budget, the legislative majority was only willing to offer 42 percent this year and 45 percent next year. Then they did it in a way that allows them to go back on even that modest promise. The Keep Our Promise on Special Education Reimbursement Act would at least hold them to that promise.”
