Let’s Do Something Radical on Property Taxes
Here’s a modest idea: what if we took schools off the property tax? I mean entirely.
Doing that would address multiple problems while creating one big new one.
First, the good news. Here are the problems it would address.
High property taxes. Wisconsin has the 10th highest property taxes in the nation and schools make up 44% of them.
The cost of housing. The cost of living is the biggest issue right now (well, maybe next to data centers and AI) and housing is a big part of that. Governments are tying themselves in knots trying to address it, all the while ignoring the obvious thing they could do to bring housing costs down: cut property taxes. By this one sweeping act we would significantly reduce monthly mortgage and escrow payments, putting owner occupied housing in reach for more Wisconsinites. And we would put some downward pressure on rents, at least theoretically allowing renters to save for a down payment on a home. Since home ownership is the way most families create generational wealth this should be a policy priority.
Inequities in education. School districts that are able to pass referendums are doing fine. In Madison the school board has so much money flowing in from its record $609 million in referendums passed in 2024 that it’s building a brand new bigger $100 million school building to replace one that is only half full now with a projection for even smaller enrollment in the future. On the other hand, districts with stingier (or smarter) taxpayers are struggling just to make ends meet. School funding based on referenda is bad public policy.
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“Did you know my school was bad like this when you decided to put me here?” she asked.
Madison’s district, despite an elite university pipeline, hypereducated leadership, and a shiny, new strategic plan, suffers the same frailties as Milwaukee’s: basement performance, backbreaking spending. But while Milwaukee is pulling out of its tailspin due to courageouschoices from the top, Madison is ponderously ambling to nowhere. Just ask the locals. “You need the marketing, and you need the product,” as a parent told a reporter. “I’m missing the product.”
2025-2026 Madison 4k-3rd grade Early Literacy Screener report: The bar moves faster than the kids.
Joe Gothard, Becky Kundert and Sonia Spencer Remarks on Madison’s K-12 Literacy Crisis.
2026-2027 Madison K-12 $pending continues to grow, fueled by a 9.7% (!) property tax increase. Total spending will be at least $706,000,000 for 25,003 students, or $28,236 per student.
May 2026 Madison School District Presentation: 7,095 adults for 25,003 students (3.52 students per adult!)
2024-2025 Early Literacy Screener Map.
Map: Foundations of Reading Results: 2015–2024
Where have all the students gone?
3,887 Madison 4 year old to third grade students scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group.
Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average k-12 tax & $pending. This despite our long term, disastrous reading results. May, 2026: 7,095 Staff for 25,003 students; $pending > $26k per student!
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic.
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?
China’s PhD Glut Drives Top Graduates to High School Teaching Jobs
