Wisconsin per-pupil spending up over past decade

(The Center Square) – Public schools in Wisconsin are spending nearly $1,000 more per-student than a decade ago, despite falling enrollment and flat test scores.

The latest spending information from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction shows public schools in the state spent $17,697 per-student in 2022. That’s down from the $18,088 in 2020, but about $1,000 more than what schools were spending in 2011.

Will Flanders with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty say those are inflation-adjusted number and show most schools in Wisconsin have plenty of money to spend.

“Wisconsin school spending since 2019 has remained relatively steady between $17,000 and $18,100 per student,” Flanders wrote in a report this week.

Some of that steady spending can be attributed to the influx of $2.3 billion in federal coronavirus money and some can be blamed on the impact of record-high inflation.

Still Flanders said the spending numbers show that even with inflation and ups-and-downs, Wisconsin schools have plenty of money to spend.

“Claims that Wisconsin schools are ‘underfunded’ fall on deaf ears when one considers that costs per student are nearly $1,000 greater than they were 12 years ago in 2009,” Flanders added.

The jump in spending also comes as statewide enrollment continues to drop.

“Public school enrollment has declined by nearly 41,000, or 4.79%,” Flanders added. “Declining enrollment in Wisconsin public schools has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic. By comparison, for the time period between 2005 and 2019, the state only saw an enrollment decline of 2.19%. In the last five years, that rate of decline has more than doubled.”

Some of those students have moved, but others have gone to choice schools.

“A significant number of Wisconsin families continue to make alternative choices when it comes to their children’s education,” Flanders explained. “Choice enrollment has grown by more than 11,000 students, with relatively steady increases each year. Over the past five years, even as public-school enrollment has declined by about 4.79%, choice enrollment has grown by about 26.7%.”

Many schools, including Madison Metropolitan Schools, are now asking voters for millions-of-dollars more this fall.

“While the last three years have seen a slight spending lag, we are still spending nearly $1,000 more per student than a decade ago after adjusting for inflation. There is simply no justification for the claim that more spending is needed in Wisconsin schools,” Flanders told The Center Square.