Wisconsin’s State Superintendent Jill Underly is calling for over $4 billion in new spending for statewide public schools, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The proposal, part of the Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) 2025–27 budget request, would increase special education funding and align school spending limits with the rate of inflation.
The budget request also calls for all Wisconsin students to receive free school meals, additional programming for mental health and early literacy, and a $10,000 stipend for student teachers. Underly argues that the new spending would cut down on the number of districts turning to taxpayers for funding through referenda (which in 2024 represented nearly half of the state’s over 400 school districts).
In the meantime, Wisconsin concluded the fiscal year with a surplus of $4.6 billion.
