Wisconsin public schools now employ 1 adult for every 7 students, breaking the all-time record from 2025. Wisconsin public schools employ 113,171 staff in 2026. Unfortunately, Wisconsin educates just 791,794 public-school students, the fewest since 1991. Educating fewer students with more staff is a major cause of school referenda.
This information comes from the 2026 Public School Staff Reports released in May by the Department of Public Instruction, which the Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) analyzed.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Staff additions largely are not teachers. From 2020 to 2026, DPI says Wisconsin public schools lost 187 licensed staff, added 1,581 other staff, and lost 63,165 students. From 2010 to 2025, NCES says Wisconsin public schools added 973 teachers, added 11,108 non-teachers, and lost 65,381 students. Wisconsin public schools now employ 1 adult for every 7 students.
Special needs diagnoses are contributing to hiring. In 2010, 12% of Wisconsin public-school 1st graders received a disability IEP. In 2020, 15% of 1st graders did. In 2026, 19% of 1st graders did.
However, many school districts purposely have increased staffing. As IRG demonstrated in its COVID-19 aid report, some districts have passed referenda to maintain staff once supported by 1-time federal pandemic aid. Districts that did so like Eau Claire and Wauwatosa now face difficult cuts next year – arts, physical education, elementary educators – that still leave them with far more staff and far fewer students than in 2020.
When enrollment declines, adding staff suppresses teacher pay. Teacher compensation is down significantly in inflation-adjusted dollars from 2010 to 2024. But states like Iowa and South Dakota, which have kept staffing ratios stable, have raised teacher pay.
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Early Literacy Screener Map.
3,887 Madison 4 year old to third grade students scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group.
Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average k-12 tax & $pending. This despite our long term, disastrous reading results. May, 2026: 7,095 Staff for 25,003 students; $pending > $26k per student!
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”
A.B.T.: “Ain’t been taught.”
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?