3/13/2026

N. WISCONSIN -   A coalition of Wisconsin students, parents and teachers has filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Legislature, arguing the state's public school funding system is inadequate and unconstitutional. The lawsuit argues that state funding hasn't kept pace with rising education costs, forcing districts to rely heavily on local property taxes and asking voters too often to help cover basic expenses. It says the state’s worsening funding imbalance affects student performance, with fourth grade reading and math proficiency dropping significantly since 2000. Joshua Miller is a parent in the Eau Claire Area School District. He and his daughter are plaintiffs in the suit. He says Wisconsin schools have had to scrape by year after year, to survive.

                    0:10  "The dire need for adequate funding has been made clear to lawmakers, but they have refused to heed our pleas. The situation is sad, absurd and infuriating. Wisconsin's current school finance system is broken."

Rather than seeking monetary damages, the lawsuit asks an Eau Claire County court to declare that lawmakers have failed to meet their constitutional obligation to properly fund public schools and require them to fix the system.