By the numbers
Wisconsin’s state spending to help school districts pay for special education has been surging in recent years. Under the tax-and-schools deal between Gov. Tony Evers and legislative leaders, rejected in the Senate Wednesday, those appropriations would rise even further.
From 1975 to the mid-1990s, Wisconsin’s state appropriations to help districts cover special education costs were characterized by a gradual increase, with one period, 1995 to 2019, when increases slowed, with several periods when spending was held virtually constant.
Over the same time, the number of pupils served by the special education program increased dramatically, from 58,021 in 1976-77 to 128,290 in 2005-06, a 121 percent increase, before receding to 120,602 in 2018-19. The state defines such students as those who are disabled because of cognitive disabilities, hearing impairments, speech or language impairments, visual impairments, emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, learning disabilities, or significant developmental delay.