Racine Unified officials cite gains on state report card, credit early‑literacy work and attendance; warn of budget gap

Racine Unified School District officials on a district podcast said the district’s latest state report card shows measurable gains driven by early‑grade reading instruction, improved attendance and growing graduation rates, while also warning that statewide funding that has failed to keep pace with inflation threatens that momentum.

District leaders described the report card as a summative, federally required accountability tool that factors achievement, growth, subgroup performance and on‑track progress toward graduation. “When students can read, they then can access the curricular materials and experiences in the rest of their programming,” said Soren Gajewski, Racine Unified superintendent.

District officials said the most at‑risk students and third graders posted notable growth on state assessments this year, and…