An Act to amend 20.255 (2) (b), 115.882 and 118.40 (2r) (e) 2p. a. of the statutes; Relating to: general equalization aids, the reimbursement rate for special education costs, excluding special education reimbursement from certain per pupil payments, and making an appropriation. (FE)
AB1176 would increase state school aid by $445,949,400 in the 2026-27 school year through the equalization aid formula. It also changes Wisconsin’s special education reimbursement structure by making the appropriation for special education aid a sum sufficient and setting reimbursement at 60 percent of eligible costs beginning in the 2025-26 school year, after full payment of certain hospital and convalescent home costs. The bill applies to reimbursements for school districts, independent charter schools, CESAs, county children with disabilities education boards, and school age parents programs.
The bill further changes how special education aid is treated in calculating annual per-pupil payment adjustments. Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, increases in special education reimbursement would be excluded from the calculation used to adjust payments under the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Racine Parental Choice Program, statewide parental choice program, Special Needs Scholarship Program, independent charter school payments, open enrollment transfers, and certain whole-grade sharing transfers. The bill is an appropriations measure and would amend the statutes governing general school aids, special education reimbursement, and per-pupil aid calculations.
AB1176 would materially increase state spending for K-12 education and alter the statutory reimbursement formula for special education and related services. It would raise the appropriation for general school aids by nearly $446 million in 2026-27 and replace the current variable proration approach with a 60 percent reimbursement rate for eligible special education costs, subject to the bill’s priority for hospital and convalescent home costs. It would also remove special education reimbursement increases from the formula used to determine annual changes in several school choice, charter school, and open enrollment per-pupil payments, affecting how those payments grow over time.
The available context suggests the bill was generally supportive of public school funding and special education reimbursement, as reflected by its broad bipartisan-style sponsorship list and its focus on increasing aid to districts and service providers. However, the bill ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1, indicating it did not complete the legislative process despite its funding goals. No committee transcript or vote record is available here to show detailed debate or recorded support/opposition.
The main point of contention appears to be fiscal: the bill would significantly increase state aid and lock in a higher reimbursement rate for special education, which likely raised concerns about budget cost and state spending priorities. A second likely area of disagreement is the exclusion of special education reimbursement increases from per-pupil payment formulas, because that change would limit automatic increases for school choice programs, charter schools, open enrollment, and related transfer payments. Those affected parties would have an interest in preserving the current formula, while public school advocates and special education providers would likely favor the higher reimbursement and aid levels.