Disparity and Disuniformity PDF Download

Author: Kathryn Fifield
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Languages : en
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Book Description
Article X, § 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution requires that the legislature provide for the establishment of public schools, that those schools be “as uniform as is practicable,” and that they be free of charge for all children. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has interpreted “uniformity” in public instruction to mean uniform access to a “sound, basic education.” Since 1973, the Wisconsin state legislature has attempted to provide for a sound basic education across districts through a multi-tiered state aid formula which is designed to equalize tax rates amongst districts with varied tax capacity. In Vincent v. Voight, 236 Wis. 2d 588 (2000), the Wisconsin Supreme Court not only declared that a sound, basic education is a fundamental right under the Wisconsin Constitution, it tacitly endorsed what this paper calls a “minimum state investment.” This paper argues that, due to passive failures to adjust the formula given current tax capacity and deductions from state aid to fund school choice programs, the state legislature is no longer making the minimum state investment that the Supreme Court approved in Vincent. As a consequence, the burden of guaranteeing a sound, basic education has shifted to local school districts in violation of the state's constitutional duty. This shift, as well as local school districts' disuniform ability to provide a sound basic education in the absence of sufficient state aid, renders Wisconsin's school finance system unconstitutional.