More Than 100 Wisconsin School Districts Seeking More Funding Through Referendums
Educators say Legislature not adequately funding public schools.
Madison East High School Andrea Anderson/WPR
Voters in more than 100 school districts across Wisconsin will be asked to approve school referendums on Nov. 5, with educators saying the state Legislature is not adequately funding public education.
This will be the third election cycle this year with large numbers of districts asking taxpayers to approve increased funding for schools, totaling about $6 billion across the state.
The November ballot includes 139 total referenda with 58 questions related to debt and 81 seeking recurring and non-recurring operating funds.
Approval for February and April referendums was only 60 percent — the lowest ever, indicating voter fatigue appears to have set in.
In Wauwatosa, an affluent suburb of Milwaukee, the school district is asking voters to approve two funding requests: a $64.4 million operational increase and a $60 million increase to repair aging school buildings.
If both measures are approved, it would mean about a $600 a year tax increase on a $300,000 home, according to the district.
Across the community voters have signs in their yard supporting and disavowing the proposals.
Superintendent Demond Means said Wauwatosa is a prime example of a “purple community.”
School districts are funded by a mix of taxpayer dollars, state aid and federal aid. In Wauwatosa, about 44 percent of the district’s budget is paid for by tax dollars, 34 percent is paid for by state aid and 4 percent comes from federal aid, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
“ I believe that even the people who say ‘no’ to a referendum do want good schools,” Means said. “ They do want to make sure that kids are receiving the services that they want. It just disappoints me that the Legislature has placed communities in such a divisive, tension filled environment because it’s unnecessary. They have the funds to stop this, and they’ve just refused to do so.”
A business in the Wauwatosa Village has a “Vote No” sign about the upcoming school referendum. Corrinne Hess/WPR
The 2023-25 state budget included an annual funding increase for public schools of $325 per student to the state-imposed limit on revenues districts can receive in school aids and local property taxes combined.
While this provides some relief, school districts say it didn’t catch them up from a freeze in state revenue caps in the previous two-year budget, or the declining enrollment many public school districts are experiencing.
State Superintendent Jill Underly is calling on Legislators to use a portion of the surplus to fund public education.
“The news that Wisconsin has a budget surplus of more than $4.5 billion comes at a time when too many of our school districts across the state are forced to go to referendum just to keep the lights on and our teachers in the classroom,” Underly said in a statement. “Our legislature has woefully underfunded public education to the detriment of our kids and communities.”
Madison voters will be asked to consider both city and school-related property tax levies next month.
The Madison Metropolitan School District has two referendum questions on the November ballot totaling more than $600 million.
The first, for $100 million, would help the school district cover its operating costs. The second, for $507 million, would renovate and replace aging buildings.
The school referendums would be “unprecedented in size and scope in district history,” according to an analysis from the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Superintendent Joe Gothard said the district does not have time to wait for “courageous” lawmakers to pass the required bills to properly fund school districts.
“Taxpayers are stressed, inflation has impacted just about everything from personal finances and households to business and most certainly school districts,” Gothard said. “I’m concerned that without any change, the taxpayers are going to be looked at time after time to do the work that our state lawmakers are required to do.”
More than 100 Wisconsin school districts asking voters to approve referendums was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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People in the districts that are pushing these referendums need to make sure that these proposals have accountability to actually improve the outcomes for students and not just spend more money.
What isn’t mentioned in this article is the $125,000,000 school tax referendum in Wauwatosa to “modernize aging schools” that was passed just 6 years ago. Property tax payers in Tosa will be saddled with that cost for another 14 years, and now we are being asked for another $124,000,000 increase. That total amount is broken into a $60M Capital cost for all deferred maintenance across multiple schools to be spread over a 20-year period, and another $64M Operational cost for funding operational expenses, including salaries, benefits, and instructional and co-curricular programming, to be spread through the 2028-29 school year. You can guess what will happen again in 2028 or 2029 when this funding runs out.
It is obvious that state funding of school districts has not kept up with inflation, with the added hurdle that virtually anything that needs additional funding that functions within the boundaries of Milwaukee County is going to be penalized by the childish and punitive rulings of the Robin Vos – led state legislature.
As a resident and taxpayer of Wauwatosa for the past 32 years I have willingly paid my fair share toward keeping the academic needs of my city schools high. I will likely vote YES on the Capital Improvement referendum, but since the state has already been overpaid to the tune of $4.5B and can’t seem to figure out HOW to spend it, I will be voting NO on the Operational Improvement referendum. The district needs to fight that fight with the people in Madison, instead of holding their hands out and begging taxpayers again.
Budget shortfalls seem to be the socially accepted norm these days. And few (if any) consequences’. Milwaukee, Glendale/River Hills, Wauwatosa…. I mean, what part of budget don’t these people running the systems understand? A few thousand dollars off budget, and we might be able to understand that mistakes happen. But MILLIONS $$$$$$$? But that’s okay. Because they will ask for more money and say ” but its for the children” so how can you give and give and give?
“need to make sure that these proposals have accountability”
You mean just like the schools using public funds to teach religion?
Tosa gramps and julia are the very people responsible for this foolish spending and now will be forced to live with their poor choices in life. In the end we get what we deserve 🙂