Wisconsin suffered the nation’s largest funding decline in per-pupil education, according to a U.S. Department of Education report released Thursday.
The state experienced an 8.7 percent decline in per-pupil funding between 2011 and 2012. The state spent $11,233 per-pupil in 2012, down from $12,197 in 2011.
“This report is a clear indicator of how Governor Walker and the Republicans feel about the
future of Wisconsin children,” state Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, D-Middleton, said in a statement Friday. “This report demonstrates the immediate need for increased revenue authority and aid for our schools in the 2015-17 budget.”
State Superintendent Tony Evers requested roughly $13 billion to fund the state’s education system in his November budget request, a $613 million increase from his last two-year proposal.
The proposed education budget has met opposition from Republican leaders, who have criticized the proposed increase in funding as an inefficient use of taxpayer funds.
