Meanwhile, public school enrollment is declining across the state, further eroding district revenue under a funding formula that is largely dictated by the number of students enrolled in district schools.
Add in inflation and districts are in a pickle, according to Sara Shaw, a senior researcher with the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a nonpartisan policy research group.
“What districts find now is that not only do they have those greater needs that they want to be able to put more resources towards, they also have their normal operating costs — from salaries to transportation to supplies — all of the usual costs of doing business are skyrocketing,” Shaw said.