“Right now this is a system of winners and losers, and those on the winning side are not apt to give anything up.” – Bruce Meredith

While Wisconsin ranks high in academic performance, the state is lagging behind the region in producing college graduates and creating jobs due to flaws in the state educational funding system, according to Bruce Meredith, general counsel for the Wisconsin Education Association Council.

In a speech before the Milwaukee Rotary Club Tuesday, Meredith cited Wisconsin’s over-reliance on property taxes to pay for local education and bemoaned the state’s philosophy that all students cost the same to educate.

He estimates that about a third of state funding for education comes through local property tax, a percentage that is slated to grow in the coming years. Districts with less cash to draw from property taxes or those that feature larger numbers of higher-cost special need students tend to suffer greatly under the current system.

“Our special education funding is not keeping up with need,” said Meredith. “We can’t treat all students as if they cost the same to educate.”

Meredith indicated that poorer districts often get caught in a numbers game, with less funding leading to program cuts that eventually drive people away and lead to even less funding.

Wisconsin is consistently among the top three states in the nation for ACT scores and ranks 11th in spending on education. However, the state ranks 27th in producing college graduates, well behind regional competitors Illinois and Minnesota, indicating a disconnect between effectively educating students and producing graduates who remain in the state and contribute to the Wisconsin economy.

“We are not finishing our work,” said Meredith.

Meredith also cited Wisconsin’s high achievement gap as proof that the state’s funding system is fundamentally flawed, calling the gap “one of the largest in the nation.”

Meredith proposes increasing the amount of categorical aid toward high-need students in overburdened districts and relying less upon the property tax for educational funding, but acknowledges that such wholesale changes are unlikely.

“Right now this is a system of winners and losers, and those on the winning side are not apt to give anything up,” said Meredith.

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