Wisconsin

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 

In  Kukor v. Grover, 436 N.W.2d 568 (1989), the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the then-current state education finance system did not violate the uniform education or equal protection provisions of the state constitution. The court observed that plaintiffs complained of inequities among school districts in the state’s system of school aid distribution but had not alleged that this system caused their districts to fall short of state educational standards.

In Vincent v. Voight, 614 N.W.2d 388 (2000), the state supreme court held that Wisconsin students have the right to “an equal opportunity for a sound basic education [which] will equip students for their roles as citizens and enable them to succeed economically and personally” and defined that right to include “the opportunity for students to be proficient in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography, and history, and . . . receive instruction in the arts and music, vocational training, social sciences, health, physical education and foreign language.” However, the court also concluded that the plaintiffs had not presented evidence that students were being denied this opportunity.

RECENT EVENTS

The Wisconsin Supreme Court announced  in June, 2024 that it will hear a challenge to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' partial veto that locked in a school funding increase for the next 400 years. 



The Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Litigation Center filed a lawsuit in April arguing the governor exceeded his authority. The group asked the high court to strike down the veto without waiting for the case to go through lower courts.

At issue is a partial veto Evers made in the state budget in July, 2023 that increased the revenue public schools can raise per student by $325 annually until 2425. Evers took language that originally applied the $325 increase for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years and vetoed the "20" and the hyphen to make the end date 2425, more than four centuries from now.

Wisconsin governors, both Republican and Democratic, have long used the broad partial veto power to reshape the state budget. It's an act of gamesmanship between the governor and Legislature, as lawmakers try to craft bills in a way that are largely immune from creative vetoes. The lawsuit contends that Evers exceeded his veto authority and his action was unconstitutional.

Evers, a former public school educator who served as the state superintendent before becoming governor in 2018, told reporters at a press conference his action would "provide school districts with predictable long-term increases for the foreseeable future."