Historical public education information in Wisconsin, 2011-2013

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

This page contains archived information on Wisconsin's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view Wisconsin's public education page.

The Wisconsin public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 Wisconsin had 871,105 students enrolled in a total of 2,243 schools in 462 school districts. While the national ratio of teachers to students was 1:16, in Wisconsin there were 56,245 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 15.5 students. There was roughly one administrator for every 364 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average Wisconsin spent $11,774 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it 16th highest in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 88 percent in 2012. This was the Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate reported to the United States Department of Education for all students in 2011-2012.

State agencies

See also: Wisconsin Department of Education

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is in charge of advancing public education and libraries in Wisconsin. The department is led by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Tony Evers was first elected to the position in April 2009 and re-elected in 2013.

The Department of Public Instruction is divided into six divisions: the Office of the State Superintendent, the Division for Academic Excellence, the Division for Finance and Management, the Division for Learning Support, the Division for Libraries and Technology and the Division for Student and School Success.

Regional comparison

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how Wisconsin compared to three neighboring states in 2011-2012 with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012
State	Schools	Districts	Students	Teachers	Teacher/pupil ratio	Administrator/pupil ratio	Per pupil spending
Wisconsin	2,243	462	871,105	56,245	1:15.5	1:363.9	$11,774
Illinois	4,336	1,075	2,083,097	131,777	1:15.8	1:283	$10,774
Michigan	3,550	869	1,573,537	86,997	1:18.1	1:336.2	$10,823
Minnesota	2,392	555	839,738	52,832	1:15.9	1:396.1	$10,712
United States	98,328	17,992	49,521,669	3,103,263	1:16	1:295.2	$10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a. National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12" U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Demographics

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in Wisconsin as reported in the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for 2011-2012.

Demographic information for Wisconsin's K-12 public school system, 2011-2012
Ethnicity	Students	State percentage	United States percentage**
American Indian	11,277	1.29%	1.10%
Asian	30,742	3.53%	4.68%
African American	85,495	9.81%	15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl.	665	0.08%	0.42%
Hispanic	84,561	9.71%	24.37%
White	642,176	73.72%	51.21%
Two or More	16,189	1.86%	2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

Enrollments by region type

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

During school year 2011-2012, students in Wisconsin were almost equally split by school region type, with students slightly more likely to attend rural schools than city, suburban or town schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)
State	City schools	Suburban schools	Town schools	Rural schools
Wisconsin	27.5%	24%	19.2%	29.3%
Illinois	31.3%	43.3%	10.3%	15.1%
Michigan	23.8%	40.2%	11.4%	24.6%
Minnesota	20.8%	29.4%	19.5%	30.4%
U.S. average	28.9%	34.0%	11.6%	25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD)

Academic performance

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In school year 2012-2013, Wisconsin had a higher percentage of students score at or above proficient in math and reading in fourth and eighth grades than students in Illinois and Michigan. However, Minnesota had a higher percentage than Wisconsin.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
Wisconsin	47%	40%	35%	36%
Illinois	39%	36%	34%	36%
Michigan	37%	30%	31%	33%
Minnesota	59%	47%	41%	41%
U.S. average	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the U.S.

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Wisconsin and surrounding states for 2012 and 2013.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*
State	Graduation rate, 2012		Average ACT composite, 2012		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
Wisconsin	88%	First	22.1	71%	1771	4%
Illinois	82%	Third	20.9	100%	1807	5%
Michigan	76%	Fourth	20.1	100%	1782	4%
Minnesota	78%	Fourth	22.8	74%	1780	6%
U.S. average	80%		21.1		1498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Wisconsin was lower than the national average at 2.0 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 1.9 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

Educational choice options

See also: School choice in Wisconsin

As of June 2015, school choice options in Wisconsin included: charter schools, parental choice voucher programs, private school tuition tax deductions, homeschooling, online learning, private schools and public school open enrollment policies.

Education funding and expenditures

See also: Wisconsin state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Wisconsin spent approximately 16.7 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. This was down 2.4 percentage points, a 12.5 percent decrease as a share of the budget from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 19.1 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education. Over 90 percent of Wisconsin's education revenue comes from state and local funding, with about 45 percent coming from both funds. Federal funding accounts for less than nine percent.

Comparison of financial figures for school systems
State	Percent of budget (2012)	Per pupil spending (2011)	Revenue sources (2011)
			Percent federal funds	Percent state funds	Percent local funds
Wisconsin	16.7%	$11,774	8.79%	45.83%	45.38%
Illinois	15.8%	$10,774	10.09%	32.42%	57.49%
Michigan	27.2%	$10,823	13.75%	55.03%	31.22%
Minnesota	23.8%	$10,712	7.93%	59.52%	32.55%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Revenue breakdowns

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in Wisconsin totaled approximately $11.4 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including revenue sources, for Wisconsin and surrounding states.

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	Federal revenue	State revenue	Local revenue	Total revenue
Wisconsin	$1,002,909	$5,226,954	$5,175,978	$11,405,841
Illinois	$2,895,524	$9,304,948	$16,499,969	$28,700,441
Michigan	$2,677,078	$10,710,646	$6,075,517	$19,463,241
Minnesota	$886,619	$6,657,769	$3,641,015	$11,185,403
U.S. total	$74,943,767	$267,762,416	$264,550,594	$607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=650x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Federal revenue,State revenue,Local revenue Wisconsin,8.79,45.83,45.38 Illinois,10.09,32.42,57.49 Michigan,13.75,55.03,31.22 Minnesota,13.75,55.03,31.22 U.S. total,12.34,44.09,43.56 </pbars>

Public school revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Expenditure breakdowns

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in Wisconsin totaled approximately $11.2 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including expenditure types, for Wisconsin and surrounding states.

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	General expenditures**	Capital outlay	Other***	Total expenditures
Wisconsin	$10,175,521	$541,918	$469,214	$11,186,653
Illinois	$24,525,567	$1,884,976	$1,138,206	$27,548,749
Michigan	$16,728,164	$1,334,386	$1,269,168	$19,331,718
Minnesota	$8,907,505	$1,077,969	$882,342	$10,867,816
U.S. total	$520,577,893	$52,984,139	$29,581,293	$603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools. ***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=500x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Current expenditures,Capital outlay,Other Wisconsin,90.96,4.84,4.19 Illinois,89.03,6.84,4.13 Michigan,86.53,6.90,6.57 Minnesota,81.96,9.92,8.12 U.S. total,86.31,8.78,4.90 </pbars>

Public school expenditures, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Personnel salaries

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in Wisconsin, the average salary decreased by 1.9 percent.

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)
	1999-2000	2009-2010	2011-2012	2012-2013	Percent difference
Wisconsin	$56,239	$54,721	$54,687	$55,171	-1.9%
Illinois	$63,527	$66,264	$58,595	$59,113	-6.9%
Michigan	$67,023	$61,867	$62,585	$61,560	-8.2%
Minnesota	$54,393	$55,967	$55,874	$56,268	3.4%
U.S. average	$57,133	$58,925	$56,340	$56,383	-1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

Organizations

Unions

In 2012, the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. Wisconsin ranked 18th overall, or strong, which was in the second tier of five.

Government sector lobbying

See also: Wisconsin government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization is the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

Transparency

A year after the Citizens for Responsible Government launched a transparency spending database for Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Public Schools launched its own database, which allows searches for school purchases from 2005 and on.

Studies and reports

State Budget Solutions education study

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

See also

• Public education in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin
• Education Policy in the U.S.