A coalition of education stakeholders has filed suit seeking an order declaring Wisconsin’s school finance system is unconstitutional, arguing it fails to adequately fund students’ education.

Filed in Eau Claire County, the suit doesn’t specify what the education interests believe the state would need to invest in K-12 education to make the system constitutional. 

Attorney Jeff Mandell, who represents the plaintiffs, said the ultimate goal is for the courts to set the parameters for what lawmakers would need to put into the system to make it constitutional. He anticipated once the courts issued such an order, the Legislature would be given the opportunity to address it in the following two-year budget.

He also noted state aid to public schools is $2 billion less than it was in 2009 when adjusting for inflation.

“We do not have what we need for our schools to thrive,” Mandell said during a virtual news conference.

The 2025-27 state budget invested $17.4 billion in K-12 education. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, that will put the state’s share of public school costs at 66.3% in the first year of the biennium and 64.5% in the second.

The plaintiffs include five school districts, four teachers unions, two education advocacy organizations and eight individuals. The defendants include the Legislature, GOP leaders and members of the Joint Finance Committee.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, vowed to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.

“This complaint is another meritless attempt by liberal activists to defund the state’s highly successful school-voucher program and interfere with the Legislature’s authority to fund public schools,” Vos said late yesterday.

The office of Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.

A split state Supreme Court in 2000 upheld the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s school finance system, concluding that it effectively equalized the tax base among districts. That ruling also rejected a challenge to the spending caps that limit what districts can spend between general state aid and property taxes.

The suit filed Monday raises six claims, including that insufficient funding in the current system denies students an equal opportunity for a sound basic education and isn’t uniform as practicable across districts. It also argues the current special education reimbursement system is deficient.

It also argues that the nearly $700 million the state put into private school vouchers in the 2025-26 school year violates a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that the choice program is permitted only so long as “the State is already meeting its obligations to provide for public schools.”

The suit also argues charter schools have become an alternative public school option redirecting state money to schools that are “unaccountable to taxpayers and operate outside of the constitutionally mandated school district system.”

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The chair of the Washington House Finance Committee says a public hearing on the proposed “millionaires tax” drew the expected mix of strong support and sharp criticism, but she now says the public sign-in process itself may have been manipulated.

Rep. April Berg (D) Everett, chaired a roughly two-hour House Finance hearing and heard from backers and opponents, describing moments as “a little spicy” and saying she would have preferred “a little less vitriol.”

But she disputes that over 100,000 people signed up to participate, heavily weighted against the tax.

Berg said she was contacted ahead of the hearing by people who said their names were listed even though they did not register, or were listed under a position they did not take. She said that grew from a handful of reports into something far larger by the weekend, prompting staff to search for exact duplicates and other irregularities.

Berg said staff found more than 19,000 exact duplicate entries, and the issue “calls into question” part of the democratic process of testimony. She says lawmakers have asked the House Clerk and Attorney General to investigate any impropriety. The Snohomish County Democrat, along with most of her colleagues, approved an initiative just two years ago that called for an outright ban on future income taxes.

The “Millionaires Tax” legislation, approved by the State Senate last week, is expected to be amended by her committee, and Berg believes a vote on the House floor could take place next week. Yet, she expects, as does Governor Bob Ferguson, that there will be a legal and initiative challenge to the tax proposal.

When asked if she thought it was correct to include the income tax in the House and Senate budgets with the expectation of a challenge, Berg said, “I do,” she continued, “Folks say, hey, we don’t think this is legal. They have a right to adjudication going before our courts to argue their case.”

“At this moment, as a policy maker, as a chair of house, finance, as a legislator, I believe this bill is absolutely legal,” she said.

There were suggestions in advance of the meeting that the bill could have impacts on professional sports franchises and players. An NFL Player’s Association representative was slated to testify during the hearing, but did not appear for reasons that are unknown.

“Forty-one other states have an income tax. 41 other states have a tax similar to this on high earners in their state. I think that argument just does not hold water. That is like saying that we clearly don’t have professional sports in California, which has a much more aggressive income tax. New York has a much more aggressive income tax than us. Illinois. I mean, the list goes on,” she said. “We are the outlier at this moment. I think we’re going to be just fine recruiting very talented athletes across the board with this tax, just as those other 41 states are as well.”

Jackson Walker represented Third Coast Bank, as administrative agent and lead arranger, in connection with a senior secured credit facility for AccessParks, a leading provider of broadband services to outdoor hospitality and manufactured housing communities across the United States.

The transaction involved a delayed draw term loan facility with total commitments of up to $25 million, including incremental capacity, and will support AccessParks’ continued growth, strategic acquisitions, and refinancing of existing indebtedness.

AccessParks is a portfolio company of M/C Partners, a private equity firm focused on digital infrastructure and technology‑enabled services. The company delivers broadband and managed Wi‑Fi solutions to national parks, RV parks, and manufactured housing communities nationwide

The Jackson Walker team was led by debt finance partner Sarah Christian and associates Brooke Yarborough and Chiara Natale. The Third Coast Bank team was led by Elizabeth Falco, Tyler Shelton, Shai Thakkar, and Donna Schwark.

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