Finance
Education groups challenge constitutionality of Wisconsin’s school finance system
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.”
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* When it comes to campaign finance laws, both parties’ campaign committees have faced restrictions on how much money they could spend in coordination with candidates’ campaigns. Those limits are now effectively gone.
As MS NOW’s Jordan Rubin explained, “The Supreme Court’s GOP-appointed majority ruled for Republicans in their campaign finance challenge to restrictions on political parties spending on ads with input from the party’s candidate.”
A Punchbowl News report added that the ruling, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, “handed Republicans a massive win” and is likely to “usher in the biggest change to campaign finance law since the Citizens United decision.”
The same report went on to note that Tuesday’s high court ruling “allows for unrestricted coordination between candidates and party committees. That means committees, like the NRSC or the DCCC, can run unlimited TV ads with allied candidates. More importantly, they can also buy those ads at the much cheaper rate offered to candidates. … Tuesday’s SCOTUS ruling will also eradicate the need for independent expenditure arms at party committees.”
Republicans already enjoyed a significant financial advantage over Democrats. The Republican-appointed justices just made it easier for the GOP to capitalize on that advantage.
* In Colorado’s closely watched Democratic primaries, incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper fended off a challenge from the left, but some of his colleagues weren’t as fortune: Democratic socialist Melat Kiros ended long-serving Rep. Diana DeGette’s career in Denver’s congressional district, while state Attorney General Phil Weiser scored a major upset by defeating incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet in a gubernatorial primary.
* In the race for North Carolina’s open Senate seat, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in the latest New York Times/Siena poll, 50% to 43%, pointing to a possible pickup opportunity for Democrats.
Google Cloud and FactSet, a provider of data and artificial intelligence solutions to the financial markets, plan to jointly develop AI agents designed to assist with portfolio operations, deal advisory and corporate finance.
Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling changing certain federal campaign finance limits could make a big difference in the battle for control of Congress this fall, giving Republican candidates who have been getting outraised by opponents direct access to more party cash.
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