Cash-strapped Wisconsin schools ask for record tax hikes, wearying voters

More than 20% of Wisconsin school districts have turned to voters for additional funding – proposing referenda questions at the highest rate in three decades, analysts say.

“2024 actually was a record, at least for the years that we have on record since 1990,” Mark Sommerhauser, communications director and policy researcher for the Wisconsin Policy Forum, told WMTV 15 News.

Over 80 of the state’s 386 districts have asked their local communities to increase school spending this spring, although voters have shown signs of increasing reluctance to support their requests.

“Over the last six or seven years, we have seen somewhat of a decrease in the rate at which these referenda are approved,” Sommerhauser said. 

State, federal aid decreasing 

Schools nationwide have been reeling from the removal of federal COVID-19 pandemic funding, which has contributed to additional requests for financial support. 

“Special pandemic-era aid ended at the end of 2024,” said Andrew Reschovsky, professor emeritus of public affairs and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So school districts are really facing a world where they no longer have this federal aid, but in almost all cases they still face problems of learning losses.” 

Reschovsky also blamed the state’s current funding formula, arguing it didn’t consider elements such as income level, disabilities and rural locations among students. 

“Those sort of factors are not part of our what are called general aid formula in Wisconsin,” he said. “In most other states, they are integral to the main funding formula.” 

The funding shortfall comes during increased concerns over changing academic standards, which include lowering the cut points on the state’s school report card in the 2020-21 and 2023-24 school years. 

A recent bill by State Sen. John Jagler, R-Watertown, and Rep. Bob Wittke, R-Caledonia, would align the standards of grades 3-8 with those set by the National Assessment of Education Progress, among other changes. 

“We need to reinstate our high academic standards and strive for excellence on behalf of the students and families we serve,” Jagler said in a statement. “These changes were made behind closed doors in advance and revealed only when the test scores were announced. Not surprisingly, the massive uptick in artificial performance gains was confusing at best and misleading at worst.” 

Will Flanders, research director of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, criticized the state’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) over these alterations in academic standards. 

“The bill represents a critical step in restoring the ability of parents, policymakers, and taxpayers to assess how well Wisconsin’s schools are doing across the public, charter, and private voucher sectors,” Flanders said. “Make no mistake – since 2020, DPI has essentially changed the definition of success to mislead the public about stagnating academic performance in Wisconsin schools.”