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| Legislative News |
Legislative Co-chairs: |
| SSWAA Representative – Jacqie Harding |
School Funding Lobby Day: April 11, 2007 Issue: Article X, section 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution as interpreted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Vincent v. Voight (2000), requires the state to provide each child with an “equal opportunity for a sound basic education.” However, the current system of funding public K-12 education in Wisconsin is inadequate and in need of significant reform. Many districts have faced crippling budget deficits in recent years, resulting in many negative consequences for Wisconsin students, including increased class sizes with overcrowded classrooms, eliminating and reducing elective courses, putting off building repairs, and reducing school staff. In some districts, the budget deficits are so significant that the districts themselves are in danger of closing. The most dramatic example was the Florence County School District where the school board voted to dissolve the district because of insufficient revenue to provide quality education. While school districts generally hold student support services (including school social workers, school nursing services, guidance counselors, and school psychologists) in high regard, under the budget constraints these services are often among the first to be reduced or eliminated. The current formula for funding public education is very complicated … so much so that many school administrators and boards have difficulty understanding it. One way funding formula has been described is like a three-legged stool…with one leg being the state revenue caps, another the Qualified Economic Offer (QEO), and the third leg state aid to school districts. A change in any one of these areas would create an unbalanced stool. Therefore, comprehensive change is needed. Because the cost of funding public education is so closely associated with local property taxes, the public often views any attempt to reform the system as an attempt to raise property taxes. How did we get to this point in Wisconsin? Since 1993, school districts in Wisconsin have been under revenue restraints, known as revenue caps. Revenue caps limit how much districts can raise from local taxpayers without seeking a referendum. Since the imposition of revenue caps, school districts have been allowed a revenue increase averaging about 2.3% per year. At the same time, the Qualified Economic Offer (QEO) states that districts need to boost teacher’s combined salaries and benefits at least 3.8% annually to avoid arbitration. A good deal of this cost has been eaten up through the rapidly rising health care costs. The bottom line is that, since established 14 years ago, revenue caps have grown at a slower pace than the cost of operating schools, forcing districts to cut budgets and seek referendums to maintain their current levels of service. In many school districts, the gap between revenue and expenditures continues to grow annually, requiring ever deepening cuts. In addition, state aid to schools is based upon per pupil costs and enrollment, which vary from district to district. Generally, districts in higher economic areas or in areas with an increasing student population receive significantly more money than districts in lower economic areas or in areas with declining enrollment. Any attempt to equalize the funding formula across the state is met with resistance from districts that receive more money per student. Any measures to correct this situation would be politically explosive, unless districts that receive higher levels of funding per student would be guaranteed no reduction in this area. Thus far, there has not been a viable long-term or short-term solution. What is needed is a two-pronged approach … one that increases school funding at the present time, and another that seeks comprehensive school funding reform in the near future. In the short term, what is needed is an increase in categorical aid, to fund special education, bilingual programs, SAGE, English Language Learners, and further support for districts with a significant population of students in poverty. Governor Doyle appears to support some short-term corrective measures in the next budget cycle. For example, he has proposed increases in categorical aid to schools for special education, some relief to school with declining enrollment, and a measure that would remove the cost of transporting students from the revenue caps. In the long term, the current system that prohibits schools from adequately meeting their expenditures must change. This is unlikely to happen as long as the corrective measures are directly attached to property taxes. There are currently two measures that are gaining some attention in the legislature. One measure is a joint assembly resolution calling for changes to the state’s public school funding formula, to be enacted by July 1, 2009. Authored by Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, the resolution includes four components for a new school financing system: (1) funding levels based on the actual cost of what is needed to provide children with a sound education and to operate effective schools and classrooms rather than based on arbitrary per pupil spending levels; (2) ensuring sufficient state resources to satisfy state and federal mandates and to prepare all children, regardless of their circumstances, for citizenship and for post-secondary education, employment, or service to their country; (3) provide additional resources and flexibility sufficient to meet special circumstances, such as non-English speaking students and students from low-income households, as well as district issues such as large geographic size, low population density, low family income, and significant changes in enrollment; (4) a call for a combination of state funds and a reduced level of local property taxes, derived and distributed in a manner equitable to all taxpayers regardless of local property wealth and income. The Special Committee on Review of State School Aid Formula co-chaired by Sen. Luther Olson has made recommendations regarding several issues including transportation, declining enrollment and low-spending districts. These recommendations closely mirror Governor Doyle’s current budget initiatives. In addition, the Special Committee supports flexibility options for revenue limits and grant programs. Position: NASW-WI and WSSWA (Wisconsin Association of School Social Workers) support legislation that alleviates the current short-term budget deficits experienced by many school districts in the state, and a long-term comprehensive overhaul of the funding of K-12 public education in Wisconsin. Since this is a non-partisan issue, the hope is that all stakeholders (parents, school boards, school administrators, property tax payers, and legislators) will work together in support of these measures. Recommendation:
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