equity
The Black-White Attendance Gap Widened 5.5 Points Since the Pandemic
Black students in Wisconsin face a 46.3% chronic absence rate compared to 10.8% for white students — a 35.5-point gap that has widened since before COVID.
Wisconsin Education News & Data
school-choice
COVID Gave Wisconsin Charters a 7,500-Student Boost They Never Gave Back
Charter enrollment surged 17.5% during the pandemic, driven almost entirely by virtual schools. Four years later, the sector has kept those gains.
district-spotlight
Nearly Half of Milwaukee Students Are Chronically Absent
Milwaukee's 46.2% chronic absenteeism rate means 28,355 students miss too much school — 22% of all chronically absent students statewide.
enrollment
Wisconsin Lost 8,121 Students in a Single Year — and It Wasn't Even the Worst Recent Drop
Wisconsin lost 8,121 public school students in 2024-25, its second-largest non-COVID drop. Combined with last year's 8,802 loss, the two-year decline rivals the pandemic year itself.
chronic_absenteeism
Wisconsin's Attendance Recovery Just Hit a Wall
After cutting chronic absenteeism by 3.2 points in 2023, Wisconsin's improvement shrank to just 0.4 points in 2025 — leaving 130,131 students still missing too much school.
demographics
150,000 Fewer White Students in 19 Years
Wisconsin lost 150,475 white students since 2006, a 22.1% decline that dwarfs the state's total enrollment loss of 67,640.
district-spotlight
Milwaukee Has Lost One in Four Students
MPS enrollment has fallen 28.6% since 2006, shedding 26,219 students while the state declined just 7.7%. A $46 million budget gap is forcing 260 job cuts.
enrollment
Wisconsin Hits an All-Time Low: 805,881 Students
Wisconsin public school enrollment fell to 805,881 in 2025-26, an all-time low capping a decade of unbroken decline that has erased nearly 70,000 students.
enrollment
Wisconsin Publishes 2025-26 Enrollment Data
DPI releases 2025-26 enrollment data showing 805,881 students statewide — down 8,121, continuing a decade of unbroken decline.