Gov. Tony Evers signed the state’s next two-year budget earlier this month after prolonged battles between Republicans and Democrats on funding for the University of Wisconsin System, K-12 revenue limits, child care subsidies and tax cuts.
Among the most contentious debates were shifts in funding structure and curriculum for Wisconsin’s K-12 public and private schools, including an overhaul of how Wisconsin’s youngest students learn to read. Evers used his broad partial veto power to target various aspects of K-12 and higher education and add additional funding for mental health initiatives.
Evers’ most publicized partial veto increased revenue ceilings for K-12 public school districts by $325 annually for the next 402 years. Although schools aren’t guaranteed additional funding, they are able to raise additional funds per pupil through a mix of state general aid and local property taxes up to a ceiling determined by statutory formula.
Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jill Underly told The Daily Cardinal the funding will increase curriculum spending and salaries for support staff such as bus drivers and custodians.
But Underly and other educators across Wisconsin worried the funding wasn’t enough and criticized the lack of guarantee for futurestate funding increases. Some told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they were concerned Evers’ veto was vulnerable to a legislative override and lawsuits, such as one Republican lawmakers are expected to raise with the state Supreme Court.
“If we need to raise teacher salaries or if we need to replace a building or a major project, the $325 isn't enough,” Underly said.
Out of the Capitol, into the classroom
Steve Goestch, a high school math teacher in the Pewaukee school district, appreciates that teachers “get to see an impact on a life.”
“There’s value and purpose in what you do,” he told the Cardinal.
But problems slip through the cracks, he said. With many students at varying academic levels, an educational path may fit a student but is not “designed specifically for that student.”
“We are struggling right now in figuring out ways to meet every student where they're at,” he explained.
For his part, Goestch said that increased spending can help teachers feel appreciated.
“The biggest thing is people want to feel valued, and they want to feel supported, and that can be a monetary thing,” Goetsch said.
Goetsch has been teaching in Pewaukee for a year and thought the district had done “a really nice job” making teachers feel appreciated. He previously worked in Waukesha, where he said there’s a “tremendous” amount of turnover.
Those vacant positions can create discrepancies between educational opportunities in schools, Underly said. She pointed out some schools may not have teachers for upper-level math, science or English classes, creating a disadvantage for students without those courses.
The new budget plan does not directly address the teacher shortage, according to Underly.
“Respect for teachers has been at an all time low, and it’s very difficult work. There [are] long hours, and it’s emotionally very draining,” she said. We need to do more to encourage our best and brightest to come out and become teachers.”
Evers’ ‘Year of Mental Health’
But the problems facing students aren’t just in instruction and teacher staffing, experts said.
In signing the state’s biennial budget, Evers used his partial veto to restore $30 million in funds for his “Get Kids Ahead” program, which provides schools with mental health services through community collaboration.
Evers declared 2023 the “Year of Mental Health” during his State of the State address in January, proposing more than $270 million to enhance mental health services in K-12 schools. In May, the GOP-controlled budget committee cut 38 educational investments, including mental health funding, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
Underly said the money was not “nearly as much as we needed” because mental health is the largest issue schools are seeing from the perspective of teachers, parents and students.
Educators statewide voiced concerns around untreated mental health problems, like anxiety and depression, affecting their students’ health and academic performance. Those problems are exacerbated by staffing shortages and a lack of available mental health care, whether in schools or from local providers, according to Wisconsin Watch.
A report released by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau earlier this month on K-12 funding found the $30 million would allocate $31 per student in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
“I don’t think [mental health will] necessarily change for the time being or right now because school districts have just been making do,” Underly said. “We know that [counselors are] overworked and they’re stretched. The ratio of students to counselor[s] is really high.”
While there are programs for students in rural areas to see a counselor virtually, Underly suggested schools arrange funding to hire more scouts, school counselors, social workers and psychologists to support students at school and to prevent absences from students who must miss school to attend appointments.
It’s not solely accessible counseling affecting mental health either, Underly said. She pointed out that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government administered all states with the opportunity to provide breakfast and lunch to students with no cost regardless of a child’s ability to pay.
Evers’ original budget plan would have restored pandemic-era universal free school breakfast and lunch programs, but Republican lawmakers on the state’s budget-writing committee excluded the provision in the final budget.
“That was actually really good for mental health as well as learning. You’re able to concentrate, and you’re able to be at your best self when you’re not hungry,” Underly said. “The budget does not address that, so schools are doing that on their own,” she noted.
Evers discourse with the Department of Public Instruction
Underly further collaborated with Evers on the budget to include funding for mental health as well as teacher recruitment and retention programs. Evers, who previously served as state superintendent of public instruction, used his past experience to inform his budget priorities, explained Underly, characterizing public education as one of his “biggest [budgetary] passions.”
“He was informed by our budget priorities. He ultimately adopted them all and put them forward to the Joint Finance [Committee] in his budget proposal,” she said.
But Underly stated some things Evers is “passionate” about were not included in the budget, particularly mental health resources for students.
“We really need to look into that,” she added.
Other conversations between Evers and the DPI focused on opportunity gaps between students.
Wisconsin has the largest opportunity gap between Black and white students of any state, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The U.S Department of Education’s annual “Nation’s Report Card” report found white students in Wisconsin scored 23% higher than Black students in eighth-grade math and 16% higher than their Black peers in eighth-grade reading in 2022.
“We’re hoping that the literacy piece will have a big part in helping that, but early childhood education is another critical component,” Underly said.
Goetch found that the opportunity gap is not something that can “just get solved in high school.”
“I think that’s something that needs to be looked at from a K-12 perspective, or even [a] kindergarten through college perspective,” he said. “It’s something that obviously is better if it’s been attacked throughout all the years.”
Underly sees the budget making a difference in school districts that would have otherwise been obliged to rely on a referendum. But she still hopes for increased funding in the future.
“There’s no telling what the future holds,” she said. “We don’t know where prices [will] go”
Ava Menkes is the managing editor at The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the state news editor. She has covered multiple stories about the upcoming election, healthcare and campus, and written in-depth about rural issues, legislative maps and youth voter turnout. She will be an incoming intern with Wisconsin Watch. Follow her on Twitter at @AvaMenkes.
Liam Beran is the former campus news editor for The Daily Cardinal and a third-year English major. He has written in-depth on higher-education issues and covered state news. He is a now a summer LGBTQ+ news fellow with The Nation. Follow him on Twitter at @liampberan.
