Mahadev Maitri Foundation
US Initiatives

Wisconsin

2,220 Schools455 Districts820K Students
$18,944
Avg Per-Pupil Spend
+32% nat'l
42.6%
Free Lunch Rate
-9.6pp vs nat'l
90.8%
Graduation Rate
+4.3pp vs nat'l
49/100
Opportunity Score
Moderate
⇄ Compare Wisconsin with another state
About Wisconsin Public Schools

Wisconsin's public school system operates under Act 10 (2011), Scott Walker's collective bargaining reform that stripped most public school teachers of collective bargaining rights — triggering mass protests and a recall election and fundamentally reshaping labor-management relations in districts across the state. The Milwaukee Public Schools system is the state's largest and faces persistent challenges around poverty, academic outcomes, and enrollment decline; Milwaukee also hosts one of the oldest and largest publicly-funded private school voucher programs in the nation, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (since 1990). Wisconsin's suburban communities — Waukesha, Mequon, Waunakee, Arrowhead — consistently post high academic outcomes. The state uses the Forward Exam and ACT (grade 11) for accountability and participates in NAEP.

State Snapshot
State BoardWisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction
AssessmentForward Exam / ACT (grade 11)
Compulsory Ages6–18
School CalendarSchool year typically begins after Labor Day; state law sets a September 1 earliest start for most districts
Total Enrollment819,987
Public Schools2,220
Largest District
Milwaukee School District
68K students
Highest Per-Pupil
Norris School District
$149,200/student
Top Graduation Rate
Hortonville Area School District
99.5% grad rate
School Districts (455)
Per-pupil spending in Wisconsin ranges from $8,695 to $149,200 across districts with available data. State avg: $18,944.
DistrictSchoolsStudentsPer-PupilGrad RateFree LunchOpp.
Large Districts — 10,000+ Students
Milwaukee School District15668K$20,171↑6%75.2%↓17%82.4%↑94%39
Madison Metropolitan School District5425K$20,303↑7%84.9%↓6%45.7%↑7%45
Kenosha School District4319K$15,612↓18%88.1%55.1%↑29%39
Green Bay Area Public School District4319K$18,20387.5%60.6%↑42%46
Racine Unified School District2616K$19,54878.5%↓14%61.5%↑45%40
Appleton Area School District3815K$14,757↓22%85.7%↓6%43.3%42
Waukesha School District2712K$14,620↓23%89.6%37.3%↓12%51
Eau Claire Area School District2411K$15,744↓17%89.6%36.6%↓14%47
Medium Districts — 1,000–9,999 Students
Janesville School District239,537$15,994↓16%93.0%54.8%↑29%46
Sheboygan Area School District259,477$15,938↓16%86.7%52.9%↑24%41
Oshkosh Area School District229,149$18,68891.9%44.5%56
Wausau School District207,899$16,097↓15%89.6%44.2%51
Elmbrook School District107,781$14,850↓22%96.9%↑7%8.4%↓80%53
Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District127,263$19,902↑5%94.9%17.8%↓58%60
West Allis-West Milwaukee School District197,095$16,804↓11%88.2%63.7%↑50%53
Stevens Point Area Public School District176,991$18,66794.4%37.6%↓12%43
Wauwatosa School District176,935$15,937↓16%90.8%20.9%↓51%47
Fond du Lac School District156,603$19,911↑5%89.0%46.4%↑9%—
Sun Prairie Area School District146,536$23,308↑23%92.5%30.2%↓29%50
Neenah Joint School District146,527$22,158↑17%92.0%31.6%↓26%42
Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District116,510$16,088↓15%97.0%↑7%33.4%↓22%—
D C Everest Area School District136,000$16,073↓15%98.0%↑8%35.3%↓17%50
La Crosse School District205,992$18,34192.0%47.6%↑12%57
Verona Area School District125,827$15,515↓18%95.0%25.9%↓39%47
Howard-Suamico School District95,781$16,880↓11%94.0%20.9%↓51%51
West Bend School District125,736$15,190↓20%91.1%29.8%↓30%48
McFarland School District95,484$13,288↓30%77.0%↓15%40.5%48
Hudson School District105,377$14,986↓21%96.0%↑6%13.5%↓68%—
Beloit School District145,165$20,109↑6%93.1%72.1%↑69%45
Kimberly Area School District95,132$12,653↓33%98.0%↑8%16.6%↓61%52
Hamilton School District85,106$14,138↓25%98.0%↑8%12.9%↓70%53
Oconomowoc Area School District85,015$15,955↓16%97.0%↑7%17.4%↓59%46
Mukwonago School District95,009$13,349↓30%98.0%↑8%12.9%↓70%49
Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District94,783$15,375↓19%92.0%37.1%↓13%51
Franklin Public School District84,781$14,459↓24%98.0%↑8%17.7%↓58%49
Muskego-Norway School District64,767$14,415↓24%97.0%↑7%9.0%↓79%50
Manitowoc School District114,726$16,160↓15%86.5%48.1%↑13%50
Wisconsin Rapids School District124,678$18,96391.5%49.5%↑16%43
De Pere School District64,555$12,775↓33%96.0%↑6%20.9%↓51%55
Waunakee Community School District74,408$14,942↓21%97.0%↑7%7.7%↓82%—
Hortonville Area School District84,258$16,629↓12%99.5%↑10%14.2%↓67%53
New Berlin School District64,256$14,985↓21%97.7%↑8%14.2%↓67%54
Superior School District94,155$16,287↓14%88.0%47.6%↑12%47
De Forest Area School District74,147$25,325↑34%92.0%17.0%↓60%—
Oregon School District84,114$15,676↓17%96.0%↑6%14.3%↓66%47
Kaukauna Area School District74,057$15,647↓17%95.0%24.9%↓42%56
Medford Area Public School District53,963$10,949↓42%86.5%39.2%↓8%46
Menomonee Falls School District63,914$15,341↓19%99.5%↑10%19.1%↓55%50
Germantown School District63,903$16,953↓11%97.0%↑7%14.4%↓66%57
Holmen School District73,879$15,676↓17%98.0%↑8%25.2%↓41%—
Showing 50 of 455
Frequently Asked Questions
Data sourced from NCES Common Core of Data, EDFacts, and Opportunity Atlas. Figures reflect the most recent available federal dataset (2021-22 / 2022-23). Learn more about our data sources.