Court Opinion

ID: 9737721
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:33:01.96696+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:00.938771
License: Public Domain

WILLIAM A. BABLITCH, J.
¶ 125. (concurring in part, dissenting in part). This is a landmark case in the history of education for the state of Wisconsin. For the first time, this court has articulated the standard behind the constitutional guarantee to our children of an equal opportunity for education. With three justices, including this writer, joining that part of the majority opinion of Justice Crooks that articulates a constitutional standard for education, the guarantee of an equal opportunity for education finally has teeth.
¶ 126. Unfortunately, a different majority concludes that the present system meets constitutional muster. I disagree. I agree with the concurrence/dissent of Chief Justice Abrahamson that this case should be remanded for further proceedings, in light of the standard we set in the majority opinion, to determine whether the defendants have met their constitutional obligation. This record raises serious and troubling questions about our system of education that should be examined more thoroughly below.
¶ 127. Accordingly, I join paragraphs 3, 87, footnote 2, and Section II of the majority opinion, and join *657the concurrence/dissent of the Chief Justice.1 I write to more fully document the condition of education in this state as shown in the circuit court. This evidence is not in dispute.
¶ 128. This record demonstrates that various school districts suffer from woeful conditions: inadequate course offerings, an inability to raise further funds for ever-increasing educational demands from the state and federal government, and special needs that are either going unmet or are being met at the expense of regular education programs. This record further shows great financial disparities among school districts. As a result of all of this, it cannot come as a surprise that tens of thousands of children across the state fail to meet even basic competency in reading, writing, mathematics, language, science, social studies *658and the arts. These children have major gaps in knowledge and skills basic to progress. For these children, the constitutional guarantee of an education is an empty promise.
¶ 129. Despite the historic and commendable efforts by the Governor and the legislature to support public education, after reading this record one is left with the overwhelming realization that, for too many of our children, those efforts have not satisfied even a minimal constitutional guarantee of an equal opportunity for an adequate education.
¶ 130. This record should leave every citizen greatly concerned at the lack of fairness and opportunity for tens of thousands of children in our schools. For a state founded by immigrants and built with a common commitment to education for all, rich and poor alike, regardless of the accident of place of birth, this record shows that we have drifted far from the dreams of our ancestors.
¶ 131. Several distinct categories illustrate the systemic problems in education.
¶ 132. Plants and equipment. Undisputed affidavits in the record illustrate that conditions in many districts across the state are hardly conducive to education. Maintenance is deferred, if done at all. Leaks, cracks, obsolete lockers go unrepaired. Libraries are inadequately stocked. Computers, where they exist, are largely out of date. School buses are run-down and accordingly more expensive to fix. As buses dwindle, transportation of students takes more time: One district has children traveling 90 minutes, leaving home at 6:50 a.m. and arriving to school at 8:20 a.m.
¶ 133. House trailers, storage rooms, hallways, elevator shafts, and the like are used for classrooms. In one school science class is held in a trailer, but has no *659science equipment. Social studies is being taught off a cart, room to room. Special education therapy space is provided in a janitor's area; and in one school it is held in a storage room closet off the stage. Another school has school suspension served in a janitor's closet.
¶ 134. Many schools are unable to provide facilities that are accessible to people with disabilities. Playgrounds are unsafe, uninsured, and unequipped.
¶ 135. Course offerings. In many schools, course offerings are being curtailed due to needs in other educational areas. Textbooks are seriously outdated. Languages have been cutback or completely eliminated. Advanced courses in subjects such as science, math, and technology are taught on an alternate year schedule. Electives, such as family and consumer economics classes and technical education classes, have been eliminated. Career counseling in many schools is severely limited or nonexistent. Funds for training staff in computer technology are unavailable, which together with inadequate equipment make it impossible to teach basic computer skills.
¶ 136. Children with special needs. It is undisputed in the record that public schools are facing a significant increase in the number of special needs students. These students generally fall into three, sometimes overlapping, categories: Limited English Speaking (LES) students, children living in poverty, and children with disabilities. The children come to school lacking the language, social, and cultural tools many of us take for granted. These children must be taught how to learn before they can begin to learn.
¶ 137. A commonly voiced concern by numerous districts in the state is that special education programs established to meet these needs are eating up the dollars from other already limited education programs. *660The communities of Wausau and Milwaukee are striking examples of this problem.
¶ 138. Wausau has experienced a significant increase in the number of Hmong students, approximately 22 percent in the last ten years, and increasing steadily. The kindergarten enrollment is 34 percent LES students. The language problems are significant. Communications between teacher and student, and between teacher and parent, are severely limited. Accordingly, LES costs, including indirect costs, are high; but unfortunately, state reimbursement has been decreasing. Currently, the state reimburses for 25 percent of the direct LES costs, none for the indirect costs. Direct costs associated with these needs exceed $2.5 million. Indirect costs exceed $1 million. As a result, Wausau School District has had to curtail programs and staffing. It is grossly understaffed in its health services program, despite the increasing number of high needs students who have greater health requirements. Wausau has been unable to implement the state-mandated middle school foreign language program. It has been forced to make cuts with respect to staff development and teacher mentor programs. It has been unable to implement its five-year technology plan, estimating the district is spending approximately three times less on its technology budget compared with adequate technology programs in other districts.
¶ 139. Wausau is trapped in a vicious cycle. As it reduces its general program quality to make up for mandated special needs, students without special needs leave for private schools to seek the quality that public schools no longer provide. With the resulting drop in enrollment, state dollars decrease and the schools must further reduce program quality.
*661¶ 140. Milwaukee must address perhaps an even larger struggle. It is faced with a large number of high needs students. Approximately 80 percent of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Over 12,000 of their students are reported as homeless. Poverty undisputedly leads to distinct learning problems. As with Wausau, the needs of these students inevitably impact on regular educational programs.
¶ 141. Financial disparities. The record, which is undisputed, shows inter alia the following financial disparities:
1. School districts vary widely in the amount spent per pupil, ranging from $13,534 to $5301.
2. The levy rates vary widely, ranging from $4.71 to $20.63 per thousand.
3. The ability to raise dollars for every mill levied varies widely. For example, in 1996-67 Gibraltar was able to raise $1,270,000 for every mill levied; Bowler was able to raise $55,000 for every mill levied.
¶ 142. The effects of these disparities are many. To name but two:
.1. Property poor districts that tax at the same rate as property rich districts have significantly fewer dollars to spend on education. For example, the two like-size districts of Neenah and Elmbrook tax at approximately the same rate of $11.55 per thousand. However, due to the disparity of tax base, Elmbrook is able to spend $1400 more per pupil than Neenah, which amounts to over $9,000,000 more available to Elmbrook than to Neenah for educational needs.
2. In some like-size districts, which spend the same, the tax burden on the taxpayer is significantly disparate. For example, Beloit and Wauwatosa spend approximately $8500 per pupil. Yet Beloit must tax *662their taxpayers $2.17 per thousand more than Wauwa-tosa to raise the same amount of dollars.
¶ 143. The circuit court found that this evidence was undisputed. Plaintiffs assert that the system's disparities deny students in property-poor districts equal educational opportunities. Based on this record it is hard to disagree. But without a standard, the circuit court was powerless.
¶ 144. Statewide testing.
One measure of student achievement is the Wisconsin Student Assessment System (WSAS) Knowledge and Concepts Examinations at grades four, eight, and ten. Student scores were reported in four general proficiency categories: advanced, proficient, basic, and minimal performance.
¶ 145. "Advanced" means achievement beyond mastery, in depth understanding.
¶ 146. "Proficient" means competent, including mastery of the important knowledge and skills.
¶ 147. "Basic" means somewhat competent, mastery of most of the important knowledge and skill, but evidence of at least one major flaw in understanding.
¶ 148. "Minimal Performance" means limited in content, evidence of major misconceptions or gaps in knowledge and skill basic to progress.
¶ 149. The scores achieved leave serious questions as to the adequacy of education achieved by tens of thousands of children across the state.
¶ 150. Based upon this testing, in the fall of 1996 the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction estimated2 that in reading, 8 percent of the fourth graders, 15 percent of the eighth graders, and 14 percent of the tenth graders were in the "Minimal Performance Cate*663gory." Assuming approximately 60,000 students in each grade tested, 4800 fourth graders, 9000 eighth graders, and 8400 tenth graders had an education achievement that was limited in content, with major misconceptions or gaps in knowledge and skills basic to progress.
¶ 151. With respect to language and writing skills, 10 percent (that is, 6000 children) of the fourth graders, 19 percent (11,400 children) of the eighth graders, and 14 percent (8400 children) of the tenth graders had an education achievement that was limited in content, with major misconceptions or gaps in knowledge and skills basic to progress.
¶ 152. The figures are even worse in mathematics and science. For example, in mathematics 33 percent of the tenth graders (20,000 children) had an education achievement that was limited in content, with major misconceptions or gaps in knowledge and skills basic to progress.
¶ 153. This lack of educational achievement is particularly evident in the scores of children with special needs, of which there are tens of thousands of the over 800,000 students in K-12. In reading, although 74 percent of the English proficient students in fourth grade were either at the "Proficient" or "Advanced" levels, only 28 percent of the Limited English Proficient students were at those levels. Seventy-nine percent of the students without disabilities were at those levels, while only 31 percent of the disabled students were at those levels.
¶ 154. These wide disparities continue through the grades tested, and cut across mathematics, language, arts, science, and social studies.
¶ 155. It is shaming to this great state.
*664¶ 156. By a slim majority, this court today decides that the present system is constitutionally acceptable. However, if the conditions outlined above remain unattended, the system will inevitably get worse. If the legislature does nothing, the children will be back demanding their constitutional guarantee.
¶ 157. Unquestionably, the cost to fix the system is high. The cost of not fixing it will be much higher: Uneducated citizens will extract extremely high social costs in the future. As the mechanic on television says, "You can pay me now or pay me later."

 The standard we adopt today recalls the standard which I urged in my dissent 11 years ago in Kukor v. Grover, 148 Wis. 2d 469, 520-21, 436 N.W.2d 568 (1989), joined in by then-Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson and Chief Justice Nathan S. Heffernan:
[The constitutional requirement] has generally been defined as embracing broad educational opportunities needed to equip children for their roles as citizens, participants in the political system, and competitors in both the labor market and the market-place of ideas, [citations omitted].
I conclude that the mandate given by the uniformity clause in art. X, sec. S of the Wisconsin Constitution is that the state provide a character of instruction in the state schools such that all children are provided with a uniform opportunity to become equipped for their future roles as citizens, participants in the political system, and competitors both economically and intellectually. In short, the state must provide a character of instruction that allows each child an opportunity to become an educated person.
It was a standard based not on financial disparities but on the adequacy of the education provided. I read adequacy of education as the focal point of our newly adopted standard.

 These statewide estimates are based on samples developed by CTB/McGraw Hill under contract with DPI.