UW–Madison Professor Emerita Julie Underwood lent her expertise to the Capital Times recently for an article about a new report that highlights how Wisconsin’s state funding formula for special education shortchanges school districts.
According to the report from the Education Law Center, districts around the state cover a total of $1.25 billion in special education costs beyond the 30 percent of costs the state reimburses. And the gap is largest in high-poverty districts.
Underwood said that increasing the state’s spending on special education would have a significant impact.
“If you increase the state’s spending on special education through the reimbursements to school districts, it helps every child in every school district in the state,” said Underwood, a former dean of the School of Education and professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.
The report also shows that the reimbursement rate for school districts has fallen over time. Underwood attributed the drop to “simple math and neglect,” as the state has kept the amount of funding for special education somewhat flat while costs rise.
“Particularly costs for services for special education students, those costs have risen, and the number of students served has risen,” Underwood said. “They kept taking the same pot and dividing it into smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller pieces.”
Underwood noted that a bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding, which she was part of, recommended increased special education funding in 2019. However, most of the recommendations have not been taken up by the Legislature since then.
To learn more, check out the full article in the Capital Times.