Wisconsin schools feel pinch of proposed state budget

Steve Contorno:

State school spending has increased dramatically in the last two decades.

Following the Wisconsin Legislature's commitment in 1996 to fund two-thirds of education expenses, the average cost of state aid for each of the 800,000-plus pupils in the public school system has grown from $3,188 to $5,028 in 2010-11.

But that's just on the surface, and in reality, dollars allocated for schools often don't make it to the classroom and are based on a complex formula focused as much on providing property tax relief as educating children.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at May 10, 2011 2:59 AM
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