Welcome to the Fair Aid Coalition
The Fair Aid Coalition (FAC) was established in 1981 to ensure that all Wisconsin public school students, regardless of where they live, receive some state school aid support. Coalition membership is comprised mostly of lake area, K-8, Union High School, and suburban school districts.
The current FAC priority is the establishment of a $1,000 per pupil general aid guarantee to address the continual loss of state aid in no equalization aid and primary equalization aid only school districts. The lack of state school aid support means that these districts are disproportionately reliant on the fiscal capacity of local property taxpayers to ensure access to educational opportunity, contrary to the statutory purpose of general aid.
More often than other districts, no equalization aid and primary equalization aid only public schools have been forced to cut programs and staff or go to the voters with a referendum in hopes of maintaining existing programs. The dilemma is particularly acute in small, lake area school districts that have been facing declining enrollments over a prolonged period and find they have few places left to make cuts should a referendum not pass.
According to the Wisconsin Legislative Council, the provision of a minimum general aid funding floor in addition to the constitutionally required educational opportunity floor would increase the uniformity of the state school funding system.
The coalition also works to support increases in categorical aid, especially high cost transportation and special education to help ensure access to quality educational opportunity for students.