(C) Wisconsin Watch
This story was originally published by Wisconsin Watch and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Wisconsin schools have highest number of referendums in 21 years [1]
['Olivia Herken', 'Amber Arnold', 'State Journal', 'Oregon School District', 'Lacy Landre', 'John Hart']
Date: 2022-11
As school districts across Wisconsin struggle to navigate a cocktail of funding issues, more districts are turning to voters to maintain operations and to meet capital needs.
Statewide, there have been 166 school referendums this year, including 81 coming up on the Nov. 8 ballot. That’s the highest number of referendums since 2001, when there were 167.
School officials blame stagnant education funding from the state Legislature, which, rather than increasing school funding in the 2021-23 biennial budget, relied on federal COVID-19 relief dollars for schools to fill in most gaps.
But most of that federal funding is running out, and many districts are heading toward a financial cliff, needing to find new funding sources or make sharp cuts.
“Now the shift has begun to move away from the Legislature to the local taxpayers,” Mount Horeb School District Superintendent Steve Salerno said. His district is asking voters to permanently exceed its revenue limit by $4.82 million a year for operational costs starting next school year.
An economy complicated by a pandemic and inflation isn’t helping schools’ financial situation.
The “disconnect” between rising costs and frozen state funding “is the primary driver of this operational referendum question,” said Steve Summers, executive director of operations for the Waunakee School District.
Fifty-nine school districts, including eight in Dane County, are asking voters to approve referendums this fall.
“That’s a lot of places that are deciding that the current limits are not adequate for their needs,” said Dan Rossmiller, director of government relations for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.
Of the 81 questions on the ballot (some districts are voting on more than one referendum), 39 are capital referendums, which fund construction and maintenance projects.
More than half, though — 42 — are operational referendums to fund things like staffing and utility bills.
If all of those 42 pass, up to $360 million in new spending will be authorized just to fund operations at schools, according to Ari Brown, a senior research associate with the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Including the referendums held earlier this year, Rossmiller said there will be 92 total operational referendums in 2022, the highest number in a decade.
“A decade ago, we were coming out of the Great Recession,” Rossmiller said. “And I think now it’s because the Legislature has not adjusted revenue limits.”
Differing visions
Education funding is just one piece of the long, tense saga between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-led state Legislature.
Republicans gutted most of Evers’ proposed school funding from his last two budgets.
“Throwing even more money at the problem will not fix it,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said in September 2021. “Evaluating curriculum, academic testing and allowing parents to be a part of the conversation are real solutions Legislative Republicans will continue to fight for in the classroom.”
Last month, Evers rolled out his plan to increase school funding by $2 billion if he’s reelected. GOP lawmakers criticized the proposal and said Wisconsin needs to do more to ensure that parents have more choice and influence in their children’s education.
Although school districts’ costs have gone up over the last two years, the amount of revenue districts can use in their budgets has not. The Legislature limits how much school districts can collect in state aid and property taxes.
According to data from WASB, the state’s allowable per-pupil spending has consistently lagged with annual inflationary adjustments since 2008.
In a recent study on education funding in Wisconsin, the Education Law Center, a Pennsylvania nonprofit, found the state’s gross domestic product increased by 13% from 2008 to 2018, while state and local investment in K-12 education decreased by 1%.
School districts now are turning to property taxpayers to increase funding, through various types of referendums.
Typically, a capital referendum asks voters to allow a school district to borrow more money. Operational referendums ask voters to exceed revenue limits set by the state Legislature.
With a non-recurring referendum, school districts ask to exceed those limits for a certain number of years. A recurring referendum asks voters to exceed the limits permanently.
More school districts are turning to the permanent option as they see a bleak outlook for the fate of state education funding.
Waunakee has two referendums on the ballot this fall, a $175 million capital referendum to construct new elementary and middle schools and tackle districtwide renovations, and a $10 million non-recurring referendum for attracting and retaining staff, as well as maintaining facilities and programs.
The disconnect between funding and expenses is hitting rural communities particularly hard. In many cases, they’re being hit with both declining enrollment and fewer resources than larger schools. Of the referendums on the ballot this fall, 31 are in rural school districts, accounting for about $307.8 million in funding requests.
Rural districts with lower-income populations find it harder to decide to go to referendum.
“Our people can’t shoulder a big burden in taxes,” North Crawford School District Administrator Brandon Munson said. The small, rural school district in Crawford County has a $4.5 million capital referendum and a $900,000 operational referendum on the ballot next month.
“This is, it’s kind of a ‘last straw’ type of thing,” Munson said. “We feel like as a district we’ve done everything we can do at this point, and now we just need a little extra help from the community.”
The $12.6 million operational referendum at the similarly small and rural Adams-Friendship School District also has a lot riding on it.
“For us, and for most rural school districts that are experiencing declining enrollment, we have less and less because everyone functions under revenue limits in the state of Wisconsin,” said district Administrator Tom Wermuth.
Because of that, Wermuth said, most rural school districts are “headed toward just surviving referendum to referendum” unless the state funding formula is changed.
“We had to go to referendum,” he said. “Otherwise, we start eliminating programs and options for our students. And it will be devastating over time if we don’t receive this funding. We’ll be heading toward insolvency. Or the only thing we’ll provide our students is a really basic education with no co-curricular athletics or activities. We’ll have no resources to work with whatsoever.”
Complex economy
Rossmiller said the current economics mean “schools have an urgent and compelling case for more funding help from the state.”
Schools around the state are struggling to attract and maintain staff. As the number of teachers shrinks, it’s becoming more difficult to remain competitive for wages. Finding support staff — such as custodians, food workers or paraprofessionals — also has been a struggle.
Many districts aren’t going to referendum this fall to expand, but just to maintain what they have.
“This is the first year that we have offered jobs to people and they have turned us down because they are earning more in other districts,” Oregon School District Superintendent Leslie Bergstrom said. “And we want to reverse that trend.”
Oregon is asking voters to allow the district to permanently exceed its revenue limit by $11.4 million a year. The operational referendum is intended to maintain staffing and retain positions that were added during the pandemic with relief funds, like mental health and academic support.
“They’re having an important impact, those positions, on our students, and we’d like to keep them,” Bergstrom said.
Despite several “really great hires” in recent years at Mount Horeb, Salerno said, “we’re really beginning to fall down here in terms of attracting candidates.”
The district is struggling to compete with wages in the private sector, he said, and called the search for support staff “desperate” at this point.
Mount Horeb is worried about the competition in Dane County alone. About half of the county’s school districts are going to referendum in November, and if one fails, it could mean that competition grows steeper.
“If they’re successful and we’re not, I fear we’re quickly going to become the have-nots and the others will become the haves. And that’s not right for kids,” Salerno said.
North Crawford is similarly trying to maintain current operations. With its two referendums, the district hopes to make updates to its 31-year-old building and stay competitive with staffing in a rural area that doesn’t attract a lot of candidates.
In rural school districts, especially in southwest Wisconsin, any turnover has become a “high need” position, Munson said. When he first started as a principal in the district 16 years ago, he said, it wasn’t unusual to see 50 to 60 applicants for a job opening.
“Now if we get 10, we’re celebrating that,” Munson said. And with each one comes the risk that they’re getting a better offer from somewhere else.
While many districts are focused on maintaining operations, there are still several eyeing improvements to their facilities. As Brown put it, the “big dollars” are still in capital referendums for the fall, which total more than $1.7 billion of potential new levying, including three that are asking for more than $100 million.
The La Crosse School District has the largest referendum in the state this fall, asking voters to approve nearly $195 million to consolidate its two high schools due to declining enrollment and aging facilities.
The Waunakee School District needs to make facilities updates, too, but for the opposite reason. The district has gained about 1,000 students in the last 15 years. Its middle school is already over capacity, and four classes are meeting in portable units outside of the traditional school building.
Pandemic, inflation
School officials are worried.
Some say the approval of their referendums is critical for them to move forward with quality operations — but they’re asking community members, who themselves are feeling the economic pinch, to increase their own taxes.
Communities have generally been approving referendums at higher rates over the last decade, according to Brown, who said that a majority of referendums have passed since 2010. Since 2012, at least 60% of referendums have passed each year.
In 2018, a record 89.7%, or 140 out of 156, referendums passed. That same year, more than nine out of every 10 operating referendums passed.
In 2021, passage rates dipped to the lowest since 2011, at 60.6%, but they have since bounced back this year. Just over 81% of the 85 referendums already held this year have passed.
But economic conditions have changed a lot since April, and experts are closely watching results of the 81 referendums this fall.
“Voters may be more reluctant to authorize new taxes on themselves in a time when the cost of living has noticeably gone up,” Brown said. “But the high rate of passage so far this year tells me that might not be as big of an issue when it comes to K-12 schools.”
In Oregon, voters’ decision is coming down to whether they think the plan is worth higher taxes.
“I strongly support the referendum to increase school funding,” said Andy Martinez, whose daughter is in second grade. “I understand that will increase my taxes, but that increase seems like a small price to pay to maintain or improve the quality of the Oregon schools.”
Melissa Kingsley said she’s supporting the referendum because “teachers, admin and staff deserve it.” Jason Levine similarly said he was willing to invest in school funding “even if it means paying more than I feel is most just.”
Some Oregon residents who oppose the referendum doubt it would have a big impact. Some question whether they’ve been given full and accurate information.
“Many village of Oregon residents can’t afford this referendum, especially with all other current inflationary pressures,” Joshua King said. “But they should at least have the complete picture of the tax burden about to hit them so they can make the best decision.”
King said the referendum has become a “complex and very emotionally charged topic.”
“I’m against it,” Evy Collins said. “I’m not against people having better wages. I worked all my life, most of it as a single mother after (my) husband died of cancer. I know struggles. I always had to make do with what I had, and I still do today as a retired person. Why should our property taxes continue to go up and the propaganda that it’s for ‘the kids’ make me go for it? It’s not for the kids or better education. I’m voting no.”
The November referendums are appearing on the ballot alongside some higher-turnout elections, including the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races.
It’s not clear, though, how higher turnouts affect referendums. In the last decade, referendums have passed at slightly higher rates in even-numbered years when bigger elections are held, compared to odd-numbered years, Brown said. But he emphasized that other factors could be at play.
“Higher turnout historically has tended to bring out more Democratic voters, and that has been seen as a potential benefit for supporters of school referenda,” Wisconsin Policy Forum Research Director Jason Stein said. “However, very lower-turnout elections may also favor (referendums) if supporters of it are motivated to get out and vote and others aren’t. So, it’s not always straightforward.”
Rossmiller said regardless of the outcome, the number of referendums tells a story.
“I certainly hope the current trend will continue,” he said. “I really think the whole thing points to the need for the Legislature to seriously take a closer look at providing more money for schools.”
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://madison.com/news/local/education/local_schools/wisconsin-schools-have-highest-number-of-referendums-in-21-years/article_2b02663c-819e-5bc6-a6a8-0c51205ebb49.html#tracking-source=home-top-story
Published and (C) by Wisconsin Watch
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0 Intl.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/wisconsinwatch/
