MONROE — On Monday, June 30, community members from Green County and surrounding areas came together at the Historic Green County Courthouse to learn more about the state budget process and its impact on the property taxes and communities affordability. 

The discussion started with Dr. Jennifer Thayer, PhD, Superintendent of the New Glarus School District, talking about the current state of school district funding and how chronic under-funding from the state has resulted in increased property taxes. She emphasized that the system is unfair in how public schools are funded and held accountable in comparison to private and voucher schools. 

For example, private and voucher schools do not have to have Department of Public Instruction (DPI) licensed teachers and are not required to participate in the Forward Exams, nor pay for and require the ACT exam is taken by every student. These exams are how schools are “graded” and are easy for the general public to look at and compare. 

Furthermore, the proposed special ed reimbursement is woefully below what it was in the 1990s as it hovers around 30% in 2025 with the state budget (now passed at 42% for 2025-26 and 45% in 2026-27). Private schools, meanwhile, are reimbursed at 90%. State Superintended Jill Underly and her deputy undersecretary provided more context about the historical funding of schools and special education as questions were asked. 

The state budget that passed provides zero additional dollars per student for the next two years for public schools, but voucher schools get an increase. 

Presenters also explained that the property tax that taxpayers pay do not go into the budget for the state funding — their property taxes are completely separate, but are impacted by the lack of fair investment at the state level. Therefore, communities with more people, more large corporations, and wealthier households are able to provide more for their public schools in comparison to smaller and more rural communities with fewer taxable households/businesses. This lack of fair balance can result in communities being hollowed out as people who have the flexibility either enroll their children in neighboring districts or they move to more vibrant communities, leaving the remaining property taxpayers paying even more for fewer services. 

After the public education question and answer wrapped up, Corrine Hendrickson, family child care provider, spoke about the necessity to increase supports for special education as the schools are responsible for children once they turn 3. Prior to that age, the county has a Birth to 3  (B-3) program. 

However, according to Hendrickson, 3-year-olds are best served in the community, including in child care programs. And when there isn’t adequate funding, the ability to meet the youngest children’s needs when they are most impactful isn’t appropriately handled. 

For example, she said, this causes children with easier to support speech needs to be unsupported until it impacts their ability to play and learn with their peers and siblings. The inability to fully meet young children’s needs causes secondary diagnosis and is more expensive for the district and negatively impacts the child’s growth and development. 

Next, Hendrickson spoke about the lack of funding for child care and the inability for parents to afford the cost of care. Child care is “extremely expensive, but the teachers and family child care providers earn poverty level wages,” she said. The reason for this is the low number of children to adults required to ensure children thrive and the teachers can meet their needs without burning out. 

“The average wage is $13 an hour for group centers and about 25,000 annually for a 50 hour work week for family child care,” Hendrickson said. “The budget did allocate the interest earned on the American Rescue Plan funds for 11 more months, but this amount is smaller and tuition will continue to rise and teachers will continue to quit as they can’t earn a living in this field.”

That impacts the ability of the early childhood educators to identify and refer children to special ed services, she said, as they are less likely to understand the process, successfully navigate the difficult conversation with a parent about the possibility their child needs support, and advocate for that child to receive the appropriate services needed in the child care program with their peers. 

“This impacts parents of children under 12 to consistently work and earn enough income to afford to live,” Hendrickson added. Fewer parents working means more people qualify for Medicaid (Badgercare), food stamps, and other forms of public assistance. “Lower income means fewer people spending money in our community and our businesses then suffer. (The) Green County economy loses  between $14-22 million annually due to the lack of child care due to household losses, business impacts, and tax revenue.”

As child care becomes more scarce and prohibitively expensive, schools have had to turn to all day 4K programs and some are even going to 3K, she said. 

“The state does not provide any money for 3K and only partially provides for 4K; meaning local property taxpayers are making up the difference.