(The Center Square) – Only 44% of Wisconsin parents are pleased with their child’s school and 13% are familiar with the school’s budgeting process, according to a new survey.
Wisconsin was ranked as the fourth-worst state nationally in terms of budget information in a state that has seen 169 out of 241 school ballot referenda pass this year at a taxpayer cost of $4.4 billion.
The survey was published by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty along with national nonpartisan school reform non-profit 50CAN. EDGE Research conducted the survey reach 403 parents and guardians of Wisconsin K-12 students and 20,090 parents and guardians of students across the U.S.
“Parents have little knowledge of school budgeting decisions, how much school districts are spending as well as how poorly many students are doing in school,” said WILL Research Director Will Flanders. “We believe these findings reflect DPI’s continued efforts to curtail accountability.”
School choice is one area where Wisconsin excels nationally with 69% of Wisconsin parents reporting that they believe they have options for their children’s education.
Only 28% of parents, however, say that they compare their school’s performance information with other schools.
Wisconsin parents also underestimated how much school spend on students with the average district spending $17,908 between state, local and federal funds and no district spending less than $12,415.
Yet 61% of Wisconsin parents estimate the schools spend less than $15,000 per student and 49% believing less than $10,000 is spent per student.