Wisconsin’s History as a Public Schools Education Leader

Slice of Wisconsin: Tracing the roots of some impressive early innovations shaping the public education system in the Badgers State

The kids are back in class! But if the subject is “school,” let’s learn about Wisconsin’s history as a public education leader. You may be surprised to learn the Badgers State has been a trailblazer in what’s also called the free school movement.

Long before any organized school systems were in place, small groups of parents hired someone to teach their children for just a few hours each day.

By 1791, these efforts led to the establishment of one of the state’s first official parent-supported schools in the Green Bay area. As the community grew, so did the need for more education. A larger school was built on the west shore of the Fox River in Fort Howard.

Church-funded Indian Mission schools began appearing around the Fox Valley in 1822. And the first school funded by all community members who pooled their resources together opened in Kaukauna.

But state historian John Gurda explains, some of the buildings used as classrooms, weren’t the best.

“It could be old, dilapidated, unpainted, and half unglazed without a playground or any shade,” Gurda says. “And it may not have any kind of retreat for the performance of nature’s most private and necessary offices. In other words, there wasn’t even an outhouse.”

An early survey shows when Wisconsin organized as a Territory in 1836, there were about a dozen schools with a total enrollment of 500 students. But by 1849, the Wisconsin Historical Society indicates more than 3,200 children were attending classes across the state and for at least a few hours a day.

At the same time, in Watertown, Wisconsin, about 50 miles west/northwest of Milwaukee, Margarethe Schurz was pioneering what would become the first kindergarten in the country. Schurz learned about kindergarten while in Germany, where the concept was already established. She started a small class in her home. But by 1856, her home-based kindergarten had grown so large she had to move to a bigger space. Today, that very building is a museum on Charles Street in the city of Watertown, preserving her legacy.

Back in Green Bay, John Jacob Astor contributed land on Howe Street, where the first city-owned school in the state was built. In 1879, the Wisconsin legislature passed an attendance law. It required all children between the ages of seven and 15 to receive at least 12 weeks of classroom education.

“I think the real breakthroughs happened after World War II,” Gurda says. “As the quality of life improved, education became a huge part of that. The system was also envisioned as a kindergarten through college system, and all publicly funded. It’s when expectations really soared.”

So, where does Wisconsin’s school system stand today?

A recent study ranks the state’s public education system as the fifth best in the country. WalletHub’s survey focused on quality and safety in public schools across every state, considering factors like student-to-teacher ratios, test scores, and school safety plans. Our neighboring states don’t fare as well, with Illinois ranking just outside the top 10.

Another new survey by World Population Review lists Wisconsin as one of just six states with a high school graduation rate above 90%.

The state’s pioneering efforts in public education, illustrates how Wisconsin’s early innovations continue to make it a national leader in the quality of its schools.