Wisconsin funds its schools unlike any other state. Is it time to rewrite the state's funding formula?
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- No other state funds its K-12 schools the way Wisconsin does, and there's hope an influx of new faces at the state Capitol in January will lead to a new funding formula.
Currently, Wisconsin's school funding system is a combination of several different aid sources. The base is revenue limits introduced in 1993, which are the combined totals of state aid and local property taxes each school district is allowed to spend.
"It wasn't based on need or property wealth or how responsible a district was being," Quinton Klabon, senior research director with the conservative Institute for Reforming Government, said. "It's just kind of random and lopsided."
There has been bipartisan concern over the school funding formula but not consensus on what should replace it. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers told CBS 58 last week during an interview in De Pere the formula is very confusing, which creates challenges in trying to address it.
Evers said he tried to adjust the formula during his time as state superintendent prior to being elected governor in 2018.
"All I know is it's so complex that even people that spend all the time thinking about it get it wrong," Evers said. "And so, if I had any way of dealing with this, it would be make it simpler."
Over the years, Wisconsin has attempted to smooth out the formula's edges by adding more forms of targeted aid: per pupil, special needs, transportation and rural funding. Evers said the process has ultimately caused more questions and confusion.
That confusion was evident Tuesday night at a meeting of the finance committee for the Milwaukee Public Schools board.
Superintendent Brenda Cassellius noted the district still had a $10 million deficit it needed to close and added she recently learned paying off that deficit all at once could have negative side effects under the formula.
"It could actually impact our state aid," Cassellius told the committee. "I think it's called revenue limits? Shared costs, and so I don't fully understand the Wisconsin formula just yet."
Wisconsin on an island
According to a review done by the now-closed nonprofit, EdBuild, Wisconsin is the only state to have a school funding system primarily based on a bunch of different programs.
"We have kind of bastardized it because, 'We're gonna take care of this issue now, and by doing that, this issue is gonna be left open,'" Evers said. "We have to simplify it because there's just no way."
The end result has been hundreds of Wisconsin school districts going to referendum in recent years to seek additional funds. According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPi), 73 districts will put a total of 78 referendum questions on voters' ballots statewide in November.
One of those districts is Brown Deer, which will seek approval for both $35 million in bonds and $14 million in additional tax levies spread out over the span of five years through the 2030-31 school year.
"Across diverse geographic regions and student populations, recent announcements of upcoming fall referendums demonstrate the challenges facing school communities statewide," Brown Deer Superintendent Katrice Cotton said. "Ultimately, inadequate funding formulas impact overall school effectiveness and student performance, forcing districts to rely heavily on local support to sustain necessary building improvements and school programming.”
One proposed new formula
Klabon has proposed a simplified formula. Each district would receive $14,000 per student without exception. On top of that, districts would get an additional $3,000 per student who qualifies for the free and reduced lunch program.
The state would cover 50% of districts' special education costs, which would be an increase from the 42% reimbursement rate currently in place. There would also be a 0.7% maximum property tax rate.
Using a sports analogy, Klabon said it would be similar to instituting both a salary cap and a salary floor.
The cap would come in the form of requiring local taxpayers to cover the entire cost of an approved referendum.
Currently, when a district has a referendum approved, it also receives additional state dollars, which come at the expense of other districts if the Legislature isn't increasing overall K-12 funding.
"There are ways to solve this problem that don't pit districts against one another," Klabon said. "That doesn't help kids, and that's ultimately what this is about."