District Spotlight
Beloit's Absence Rate Reversed Course, Getting Worse Again
After two years of improvement, Beloit's chronic absenteeism jumped 4.6 points to 42.7% in 2025 while the state continued recovering.
Wisconsin
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Wisconsin, grounded in Wisconsin Department of Education data.
Wisconsin's Only Long-Run Growth Region Has Declined Since 2020
CESA 2 gained 5,793 students from 2006 to 2025, but five consecutive annual declines have changed the region's planning questions.
Every Racial Absence Gap Widened After COVID
All six racial chronic absenteeism gaps versus white students widened between 2019 and 2025 in Wisconsin, led by Native American and Pacific Islander students.
Wisconsin Had 76 Kindergarten Students per 100 Grade-12 Students in 2025
Wisconsin reported 50,990 kindergarten students and 67,049 grade-12 students in 2025, a cross-sectional ratio of 76.0 per 100.
English Learners Saw the Steepest Attendance Decline of Any Subgroup
LEP students in Wisconsin went from 15.1% chronic absence in 2019 to 25.6% in 2025, the largest excess of any subgroup, with the LEP-overall gap quadrupling.
More Coverage
Absence
More Than One in Four Seniors Miss Too Much School
Wisconsin's chronic absenteeism climbs steadily from 3rd grade through 12th, with 27% of seniors (17,014 students) chronically absent in 2025.
Equity
The Poverty Attendance Gap Grew by 4.4 Points Since the Pandemic
Wisconsin's chronic absenteeism gap by income widened from 16.3 to 20.7 points since 2019, with nearly 1 in 3 lower-income students now chronically absent.
Special Populations
1 in 7: Wisconsin's Special Ed Share Hits a Record
Wisconsin's special education share hit 14.7% in 2025, crossing the 1-in-7 threshold at an all-time high even as total enrollment fell.
District Spotlight
Madison's Chronic Absenteeism Rate Tripled in a Decade
Madison Metropolitan's chronic rate went from 7.1% in 2011 to 29.6% in 2025, a tripling that began before COVID and shows no sign of returning to baseline.
Demographics
Multiracial Students Tripled in Wisconsin, and They're Still Growing
Multiracial enrollment tripled from 13,197 to 44,968 in 14 years, making it Wisconsin's fastest-growing demographic by a wide margin.
Charter Schools
Wisconsin's Charter Schools Have Nearly Double the Chronic Absenteeism Rate
Charter schools in Wisconsin have a weighted chronic absenteeism rate of 30.6% versus 16.9% for traditional districts, a gap that nearly doubled since 2019.
Enrollment
Two in Five Wisconsin Districts Hit All-Time Low
174 of 446 Wisconsin school districts recorded their lowest enrollment ever in 2025-26, including nine of the state's 10 largest.
Equity
Three in Five Native American Students in Wisconsin Are in Class. The Districts Working to Lift That Number.
Native American students in Wisconsin show a 38.9% chronic absence rate against a state average of 17.3%, with tribal nations leading culturally responsive responses.
Special Populations
Wisconsin's English Learner Population Grew 43% While Schools Shrank
Wisconsin's English learner population grew 43% to 55,772 while total enrollment fell 8%, reshaping staffing and funding demands across 384 districts.
District Spotlight
Racine's Recovery Has Stalled at 36.5%
Racine Unified's chronic absenteeism rate held flat at 36.5% in 2025, unchanged from the prior year, as the state's fifth-largest district faces compounding enrollment loss and attendance challenges.
