School may be out for summer but battles over education roil nationally and in Wisconsin

Public education is undergoing severe stress tests nationally and in the state, with the Trump administration outsourcing the Department of Education’s core responsibilities to other federal agencies.

At the same time, two Wisconsin U.S. House members have joined three other Democrats to push back against the voucher program contained in H.R. 1, the Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill,” while in Wisconsin, a lawsuit moves forward alleging the Republican-led legislature is not meeting its constitutional obligations to adequately support public education in the state.

And that’s not all. In the fall, Wisconsin voters will be asked to approve or reject a constitutional amendment that the ACLU and the League of Women Voters warn could have far-reaching impacts on everything from hiring practices to how classes are taught.

It’s all part of the ongoing battles between those who believe public education is essential to give all kids a fair chance and those who believe that privatization is the answer.

More U.S. Department of Education changes

President Trump made no secret of his desire to eliminate the Department of Education, and while he can’t do so unilaterally without Congress, he has instructed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to use interagency agreements to strip the department of its functions and reduce its footprint.  

The investigation and enforcement duties of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which oversees gender and disability equity issues as well as other civil rights complaints, are being transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Critics contend that the DOJ has little experience or training in such matters and that victims in these cases will struggle to receive justice.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is taking over the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), which ensures students with disabilities receive an equitable public education. OSERS administers $15 billion annually for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Again, critics worry that HHS lacks the expertise required to oversee IDEA.

Earlier, the administration transferred the $1.7 trillion federal student loan portfolio to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  Funding for low-income schools (Title I) and career training was transferred to the U.S. Department of Labor. Over $2 billion in grants have already been canceled.

A statement from national and state disability groups said, "Congress intentionally built an education and vocational rehabilitation continuum that supports individuals with disabilities from early intervention through school, postsecondary education, and employment. Moving OSERS to HHS and OCR to DOJ dismantles this coordinated and cohesive approach and threatens decades of progress advancing educational, employment, and civil rights outcomes for students with disabilities."

In March, the National Association of Education Treasurer, Noel Candelaria, issued dire warnings about the department's dismantling.

“McMahon has never been qualified for this role,” said Candelaria, a special education teacher. “She has no meaningful experience in public education and no understanding of what it takes to help students like my students in my classroom and my own child to thrive in their public schools.”   

Wisconsin Democrats fight back

Representatives Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin joined Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (Oregon), Maxwell Frost (Florida), and Adelita Grijalva (Arizona) in introducing the Keep Public Funds in Public Schools Act, which would repeal the federal tax credit voucher program in H.R. 1. 

“In states across the country, voucher schemes undermine public schools, which serve most of America’s students, and lack oversight measures to support students, including those with disabilities, and protect taxpayer dollars from fraud,” Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN), a non-partisan advocacy coalition, said in a statement.

Public school funding lawsuit in state moving forward

In Wisconsin, Law Forward has brought a lawsuit against the state legislature. The lawsuit, filed in February, asks the court to hold the legislature accountable for “not meeting its constitutionally mandated obligation to provide all children with an equal opportunity for a sound basic education.” It asks the court to adopt a new financial system that meets the needs of districts unless the legislature and governor first enact one “in a timely fashion.”

“This is a constitutional challenge to the deficiency of the state public finance system for our schools,” said Jeff Mandell, president of Law Forward. “Despite heroic efforts that have held our schools together for as long as they’ve made it under this deficient funding, it’s not enough. These folks are not magicians.”

The case is in the pre-trial phase. Following all the back-and-forth between the defendants and the plaintiffs, the judge will hold a conference to set deadlines and a trial date.

LWV among groups urging NO vote on November constitutional amendment 

Finally, there will be three constitutional amendments on the November ballot, one of which touches on education.

That amendment would prohibit governmental entities in the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting, or public administration. 

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin caution that the impact may be far-reaching, potentially affecting remedial classes, history curricula, scholarships, and gender or ethnic courses, to name a few. The Wisconsin Constitution already prohibits discrimination. 

A “NO Vote” campaign on all three proposed amendments is being planned by many of the state’s pro-democracy groups, including the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.