The Madison school district is just one of 122 school districts across the state going to referendum this fall to ask taxpayers to help plug its budget gap. There were 103 school districts with referendums on the ballot in April as well. Why so many? It’s pretty simple: Our system of funding public education is outdated, and the state Legislature has failed to fund it properly.
Historically Wisconsin has been known as an innovator in public education. We were the first state to have kindergarten and have been leaders in special education services. We ranked high on many measures of achievement and funding. Unfortunately, those days are gone. In 2002 we were 11th in the nation in per pupil funding, according to annual school finance data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau; in 2021, we were 25th. We have fallen below the national average on funding and outcome measures as well as having huge equity gaps.
How did we get here?
Our school finance system was enacted in 1973 and has never been overhauled, though there have been some modifications. As a result it’s an incredibly complicated, opaque system.
In 1993 the Legislature added “revenue limits” — functionally, spending limits — to the system, freezing the amount a school district could spend on a per pupil basis. These revenue limits can only be increased by the Legislature itself or by a referendum at the local level.
Until 2008, the Legislature enacted regular inflationary increases. Since then, there have been cuts and none of the increases enacted have been full inflationary adjustments. Across the state, when adjusted for inflation, districts are now spending $3,200 less per student than they did in 2010 because of this system. Even if a district has the capacity to raise more money due to increases in property values, it cannot spend that additional money without an increase to its revenue limit. This system forces school districts to go to referendum frequently to increase their per pupil revenue limits.
At the same time resources have declined, political division has grown. Public education has become a deeply divisive partisan issue. We are split along ideological lines and take those battle line divisions out on the children. We are not unique in this situation. The culture wars have been fought using schools as the battleground across the nation. One battle tactic is to starve public schools of resources.
In 2017 the Republican-controlled Legislature acknowledged that the state’s schools were hurting, creating a Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding. It had representation from across the state and included a broad range of political views, conservatives and progressives. It included elected officials, practicing public school administrators, and members of the public; I was a member. We held hearings, taking testimony across the state. It really was a hopeful opportunity to identify problems and find solutions in a bipartisan way.
One memorable moment from the testimony was when a national expert (there always has to be a national expert), Zahava Stadler from EdBuild, was testifying about state funding for English language learning services. She informed those in the full hearing room at the Capitol that Wisconsin was last in the nation for state funding of these services and called it “pitiful.” You could have heard a pin drop. What a shameful experience.
Good recommendations were issued. Among them was to provide additional targeted funding for high need students such as multilingual learners, those with disabilities or with economic disadvantage, and to revise the funding formula, building in regular inflationary increases to per pupil spending limits.
Unfortunately, we have only seen a couple minor recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Commission adopted so far, the ones that were budget-friendly.
That means, among other things, that the state continues to shortchange our public schools on the cost of special education. Education for students with disabilities is a federal requirement as well as the right thing to do. The state’s funding for special education has not kept pace with the need over the years, leaving local school districts to foot the bill. Currently the state reimburses local school districts about 33 cents of every dollar they spend on special education. (Private schools that receive special education vouchers from the state, however, get 90 cents of every dollar spent.)
This gap in funding for public schools is nearly $1.25 billion cumulatively in the state. Every district takes money out of their general fund to meet the needs of their students with disabilities. This reduces funds available for programs for all students, cutting programs and services.
At the same time, students’ needs continue to increase. Growing safety, technology, mental health, and nutritional needs all put additional pressure on school districts’ budgets. Nor can we ignore the damage COVID brought to our schools. Many students have fallen behind and schools face mounting pressures to serve them.
I believe the Legislature’s real purpose for underfunding public schools is to make citizens blame local school districts for tax increases, rather than taking the responsibility themselves. Since 2010 lawmakers have invested in private schools at the expense of our public schools even though they have a state constitutional responsibility to provide a system of public education and are sitting on a large budget surplus and rainy day fund.
There are two Madison school referendums on the Nov. 5 budget, one for facilities and one for operations. The operating budget referendum, which would allow the district to raise $100 million in property taxes by 2028, would help pay for teacher salaries and programs, among other things. The capital budget referendum would permit the district to raise up to $507 million for facility improvements and repairs.
The creation and funding of public schools is not an option — it is a responsibility placed on the Legislature by the Wisconsin Constitution. It is also a moral obligation, to our children and their future and to our community.
Julie Underwood, J.D., Ph.D. is dean emerita in UW-Madison’s School of Education and a member of the campaign committee for Strong Schools, Strong Community, a group working in support of Madison’s school referendums.
