Recent election results were split for school districts seeking voter approval for spending. The votes themselves are nothing new. School districts in Wisconsin have a longstanding habit of putting referendums before voters every couple years.
But we don’t like one of the trends emerging. Districts are increasingly asking voters for money to cover operational expenses rather than large capital projects.
In 2008-09, the Eau Claire School District had a revenue limit of $103.8 million. In the 2023-24 school year, the limit was $124.6 million. That’s about a 20% increase. Keeping up with inflation, though, would require an increase closer to 44%.
That’s a concern. Public institutions are hardly immune to the effects of inflation. If nothing else, schools have quite a fuel bill to cover just getting students to and from classes.
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Voters largely seem understanding of such efforts. A total of 93 referendums were on the ballot earlier this month, and 56 passed. That’s 6 out of every 10. The biggest was, unsurprisingly, in Milwaukee, where voters signed off on a referendum with a $252 million price tag. In all, Wisconsin districts asked voters for more than $1.4 billion.
The state record for school referendums is 166 in a single year. That was in 2022, when about 81% passed. This year is well on the way to topping that total given that we still have elections in August and November, which will see their share of referendums.
State Superintendent Jill Underly pointed to the number of referendums as proof schools aren’t getting enough funding from the state. We’re not sure it’s proof, but it does make a compelling case that something is off.
The current approach was established in the early 1990s. This was back when dial-up internet was the peak of technology for most. The sheer scale of societal change over the intervening three decades warrants another look at tweaks to the funding mechanisms.
Some districts haven’t had a lot of change over those years. They’re roughly the same size as they were, with no major alterations to the community. We’d bet those are the exception, though.
There are districts in Wisconsin that were in distinct small communities in the early 90s that have been swallowed by expanding metro areas since then. What were fields and farms are now unbroken infrastructure. Does it make sense that their funding remains tied to a description that’s no longer applicable?
Legislators aren’t wrong when they point to the reality that most Wisconsin school districts are seeing a decrease in enrollment. We don’t see that as an excuse for inertia, though. If anything, those changes also argue for revisiting the approach used to fund school districts.
Funding formulae and similar items should be reviewed from time to time. The world isn’t static and the approaches used in one time are likely to be outdated a few decades down the road. That’s just reality.
We’re not calling for major changes at this point. We don’t have enough data to make an intelligent suggestion on what should or shouldn’t change. We doubt legislators do, either. What we are calling for is a systematic review of how Wisconsin funds schools and what changes might make the process more effective.
Something definitely appears off. The responsible thing for our elected leaders to do is to take a good look and make changes if they’re needed. It’s a necessary step for Wisconsin’s students, and it should not have been left for this long.
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