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Search Results for: 2024 referendum

Madison tax & $pending growth and November 2024 referendum rhetoric

Dave Zweifel: I remember writing a column a couple of years after the pool opened chiding a group of Madison alders who, during budget deliberations, were upset that the pool’s admission charges didn’t cover 100% of its annual costs. My column declared that a city that had just been given a first-class swimming pool for […]

Notes on planned Madison tax & $pending increase 2024 Referendum(s)

Abbey Machtig: Past spending decisions combined with current revenue estimates leave the district with an estimated $40 million shortfall, Assistant Superintendent of Financial Services Bob Soldner told the Wisconsin State Journal. District could renovate, build new schools The district appears to be leaning toward building several new schools with potential referendum dollars rather than renovating […]

Influence and the 2024 Milwaukee K-12 Tax & $pending increase referendum

Rory Linnane: When Milwaukee Public Schools turned to city voters for more funding in 2020, it was smooth sailing. The dynamics are different this year as the district asks voters for more funding April 2. The 2020 referendum passed with 78% of the vote, providing the district with up to $87 million in annual funds as […]

K-12 Tax & $pending Climate: referendums and housing costs

Liam Beran: As part of her answer, Pellebon said that “‘affordable housing’ is not affordable.” The audience of around 40 people erupted into applause. The reaction at the Sept. 19 forum reflects just how expensive and inaccessible housing has become in Dane County, Wisconsin’s second-largest county. The county’s severe housing shortage has forced action from a state flagship university […]

“On four previous operating referendums, Madison voters opted to raise their school property taxes in perpetuity, so those tax increases never expire”

Abbey Machtig: Of those 13 successful referendums, Madison residents still are paying for five of them. If voters approve two proposals from the district in November that together total $607 million, that number would jump to seven. Voters already have authorized the district to increase its spending limit by $72 millionthrough recurring, operating referendums approved during […]

“More referendum money would pay for an estimated $15 million increase in health care costs” (no mention of total spending or changes over time)

Abbey Machtig: More referendum money would pay for an estimated $15 million increase in health care costs, and for new teaching and mental health staff. An additional pay increase for district employees also is tied to the operating referendum. The district and Madison Teachers Inc. already agreed to a 2.06% wage increase, in addition to […]

K-12 Tax & Spending Climate: Wisconsin Property Tax Growth amidst November Referendums

Wisconsin Policy Forum Gross property tax levies approved in 2023 by local taxing jurisdictions in Wisconsin increased by 4.6% statewide, which exceeded inflation and was the largest increase since 2007. —- Madison offers voters a $607,000,000 tax & spending increase on the November ballot… Close some Madison schools, and a no on the November Referendums […]

K-12 Tax & $pending climate: Madison’s 2 no votes on the November referendum

David Blaska summary: Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases via referendum this fall.

Notes on the upcoming $607,000,000 (!) Madison k-12 tax & $pending increase referendum – achievement?

Abbey Machtig: The district administered a survey and held a series of input meetings earlier this year, which indicated mixed opinions from the public on referendums for this fall. That was before the School Board voted to place the questions on the ballot, and before the district shared the exact dollar amounts of the proposals and the […]

Commentary on Madison’s tax & $pending increase referendums

Abbey Machtig: The two referendums total $607 million, making them the second-largest request of voters by a school district in state history. It comes in behind Racine’s $1 billion school referendum, which passed in 2020 by only five votes Lucas Robinson and Gayle Worland “Residents in Madison are likely looking at a higher cost of living across […]

K-12 tax, $pending & referendum climate: Seniors Who Work Can Pay Tax Rates of 70%

CTUP: The Democrats are mighty nervous about Trump’s latest idea to stop the unfair taxation of Social Security benefits. Why? Because it turns out the policy is popular with voters over the age of 65. Unleash Prosperity’s lead piece in Fox Business this weekend notes that seniors who continue to work after they’re eligible for […]

Why Didn’t DPI Inform Voters Before $252 Million Referendum?

Jessica McBride & Jim Piwowarczyk State School Superintendent Jill Underly’s executive director, the powerful leftist ex=campaign operative Sachin Chheda, donated to the committee working to push through a $252 million Milwaukee Public Schools referendum at the same time DPI was failing to tell the public that the district had not turned in key financial data as far […]

K-12 Tax & $pending Climate: Madison has never put such a referendum on the ballot before,

Allison Garfield: The 2024 operating budget — which mostly goes toward staff salaries and benefits — totaled $405.4 million. Adding on to that seems like reckless spending to Randy Bruegman, a former fire chief in California who moved to Madison in 2018. The city’s focus “should be on identifying areas where cuts can be made,” […]

Wisconsin’s Referendum Process Results in Misleading Tax Increases, Leaves Voters in the Dark

WILL: The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) released its latest report, Piercing the Fog: Shedding Light on School District Referenda in Wisconsin, which uncovers various transparency problems with Wisconsin’s referendum process that costs taxpayers millions of dollars every single year. The report also calls for significant reform to Wisconsin’s referendum process to give […]

Notes on Tax & $pending k-12 Referendums

Corrinne Hess: Wisconsin voters were asked to approve more than 100 school district referendums in February and April. But with an approval rate of only 60 percent, voter fatigue appears to have set in.  Voter approval rates of school district referendums hovered around 50 percent for most of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Starting […]

What is Madison’s response towards the Milwaukee K-12 referendum passing?

WTMJ: @WTMJSteve was joined by @SenStroebel and @JacobJCurtis and they discussed the response. Listen to the full Political Power Hour: wtmj.com/political-powe… —- More.

What The Milwaukee k-12 tax & $pending Referendum Could Cost You…

WILL: Recently, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) proposed a $252 million annual referendum that will raise taxes on those in the city in perpetuity. The question will be put to voters on the April 2 ballot. The district claims that, without the passage of the referendum, a 13% cut in schools and a 26% cut in central office […]

Notes on the Milwaukee K-12 Tax and $pending increase referendum

Rory Linnane: At the same time, the biggest reason funding for MPS has dropped, the report says, is that MPS doesn’t have as many students as it used to. That’s partly because there are fewer children in the city, and partly because of the growth of non-MPS schools, like independent charter schools and private schools […]

Rejecting this referendum is not a rejection of public schools; it is a call for long-needed accountability.

John Schlifske Imagine that there is a barber or salon where you’ve been going to get your hair cut for years. However, over time the quality of the haircut has been declining. A few years ago, the owner told you he was increasing prices so that he could invest in his store and do a better job. You […]

“Districts seeing a 10% decline in enrollment, for example, are almost two times more likely to go to referendum than districts with rising enrollments”

Abbey Machtig: The Madison School District is in the middle of two referendums approved by voters in 2020. The $317 million capital referendum has gone toward building a new elementary school and funding significant high-school renovations. The smaller operating referendum gave the district an additional $33 million to work with over four years. Despite this […]

Notes on Madison’s $581M 2023-2024 K-12 Budget; property tax increases

Scott Girard In total, the 2023-24 preliminary budget spends $581 million. The board will vote on a final budget in October after enrollment is finalized. The budget includes a deficit of $15 million for this year, but $11.5 million in ongoing costs are covered by one-time federal COVID-19 relief money that won’t be available next fall […]

7.13.2020 Madison School District Fall Referendum Presentation Deck

Administration PDF: Proposed Question 1: Shall the Madison Metropolitan School District, Dane County, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $6,000,000 for 2020-2021 school year; by an additional $8,000,000 (for a total $14,000,000) for 2021-2022 school year; by an additional $9,000,000 (for a total of $23,000,000) for […]

Madison School District projects loss of 1,100 students over next five years expected, yet 2020 referendum planning continues

Scott Gerard: Between now and the 2024-25 school year, the district will lose another 1,347 students, according to district projections. Since the 2011-12 school year when MMSD added 4-year-old kindergarten, the district has always had at least 26,000 students. Projections show it will drop below that in 2024-25 for the first time since. Projections from Vandewalle […]

Notes on k-12 administrative cost disease

Matthew Wielicki: The first step in fixing our public schools… is getting rid of the administrative class. “so the point is it was an existence proof, that there’s this entire universe of alternative cost structures that is out there” Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases […]

First test of the Wisconsin 3 cueing ban. Parent files with DPI for the use of Reading Recovery.

Nadia Scharf: The Unified School District of De Pere is under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction after board member Melissa Niffenegger accused the district’s reading curriculum and its director of curriculum and instruction, Kathy Van Pay, of violating Wisconsin law. “That is retaliation. You are retaliating against the board for disagreeing with […]

“The idea is to pretend that someone is listening, even if they’re from out of town and well paid to do so”

David Blaska: The canary in the coal mine has already died when a city’s schools are in decay. So we must double down on school choice, aided by vouchers that allow the state’s school district contribution to follow the student to the school of his/her family’s choice. Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government […]

Foundation for Madison Public Schools

I noticed these signs placed on the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds Saturday, 28 September 2024 and wondered who was behind their printing and placement (along with whether such partisan activity can be placed on taxpayer funded facilities)? One week later, two employees of the Foundation for Madison Public Schools (8 total employees according to them) […]

Milwaukee District can’t afford to keep its school buildings with enrollment decline (meanwhile, Madison’s wants to build… )

Corrinne Hess: But over three decades, the number of district buildings decreased by only 3.9 percent, despite a 29.1 percent drop over that period in MPS’ full-time enrollment, the policy forum found.  “The overall trend suggests that the current number of publicly supported school buildings in the city may not be sustainable over the next […]

School choice and the taxpayer funded Madison School Board

David Blaska: ——- Much more on Paul Vallas. The taxpayer funded Madison School Board aborted the proposed Madison Preparatory Academy IB charter school in 2011… Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases via referendum this fall. Madison taxpayers of long supported far above average K – 12 spending. The data clearly indicate […]

“The irresponsibility of this (Madison School Board) is just hard to get your head around”

Dave Cieslewicz The district used temporary COVID relief funds to pay for 110 permanent positions that they knew they couldn’t afford once the federal money went away. Now, they’re asking voters to pick up the tab. And if they don’t, will they cut the positions? No, they’ll pay for them out of reserves (see above). […]

This Hartford Public High School grad can’t read. Here’s how it happened.

Jessika Harkay: When 19-year-old Aleysha Ortiz told Hartford City Council members in May that the public school system stole her education, she had to memorize her speech. Ortiz, who was a senior at Hartford Public High School at the time, wrote the speech using the talk-to-text function on her phone. She listened to it repeatedly […]

What did redistributed federal taxpayer Covid funds accomplish?

Will Flanders: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government shelled out $189.5 billion to school districts across the country via Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding. Wisconsin was no exception. Across three rounds of ESSER funding, the state and school districts received more than $2.4 billion dollars. Despite federal requirements that ESSER money be used to […]

“Doing this will be all but impossible in the short run in academia”

Dave Cieslewicz: And, again, on that score school districts like Madison, which obsess over race, have made zero progress in closing the racial achievement gap. Why do liberals cling so tightly to a system that delivers no results?  A color blind society was once, not so long ago, the liberal position on the matter. But […]

More Bad Management From Madison Schools

Dave Cieslewicz: This week there’s more. It turns out that the district is running a $3 million deficit in its food service program, which is double the $1.5 million gap it had last year. And the district’s response? They’ve got a plan to get back to even — by 2033.  Really? This is an organization that plans […]

Arguments that Wisconsin schools are underfunded fall flat. Data shows otherwise.

Will Flanders & Shannon Whitworth: In a recent op-ed published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona articulated a series of criticisms about school choice in Wisconsin, opting instead to defend a failed status quo of one-size-fits-all education. His arguments lean heavily on national talking points commonly used by opponents of school […]

Notes on Madison Teacher Compensation Changes

Abbey Machtig: After months of negotiations, the Madison School District has tentatively agreed to a 2.06% pay increase for teachers and staff, with an additional 2.06% tacked on if a $100 million operating referendum passes in November.  The initial increase would be more than the wage freeze originally proposed by district officials in March, but it’s only […]

As a no-confidence vote against Woke (Madison) school board!

David Blaska: Blaska’s Bottom Line: Dave C. says voting NO is actually the progressive thing to do! Now if we could just find someone more electable than Blaska to run for school board next Spring. Close some Madison schools, and a no on the November Referendums

Taxpayer funded education Secretary Cardona’s anti school choice rhetoric (Madison: $23 to 28k per student)

Miguel Cardona: This vision matters because students enrolled in well-funded public schools get a better shot at quality instruction and additional support—including tutoring and after-school programming. They get better access to nutrition assistance, mental health services, and learning environments that embrace who they are. It is this vision, when fully realized, that will allow every […]

K-12 tax & $pending climate: inflation 101

🚨 The best 2 minute summary by a politician I’ve ever heard on how to fix inflation. ‼️pic.twitter.com/NIQ57cCFQV — The ₿itcoin Therapist (@TheBTCTherapist) August 31, 2024 Notes and links on the well funded Madison School District’s $607,000,000 November tax & $pending increase referendum along with the City of Madison’s vote on the same.

Wauwatosa schools’ $4,000,000 budget error

Alec Johnson: New Wauwatosa School District chief financial officer Scot Ecker said in a report to the School Board’s finance and resource committee that there was an over $4 million error in budgeting for the 2024-25 school year. This comes as district voters prepare to vote in November on a referendum seeking tens of millions […]

K-12 Tax & $pending climate: U.S. Treasuries not the safe bet they once were, research says

Ann Saphir and Howard Schneider: “In this environment, large-scale asset purchases by central banks in response to a large government spending increase have undesirable public finance implications,” they wrote. “These purchases, which provide temporary price support, destroy value for taxpayers but subsidize bondholders” and may also encourage governments to overestimate their true fiscal capacity, they wrote. ——- […]

With 2 property tax hikes on Madison ballots, city leaders add another

By Allison Garfield The mayor said the referendum is “the only budgetary path in 2025 that protects our values as a community, while we work to address the chronic underfunding of local governments at the state level.” “I’m glad the council agreed that putting that issue to the voters is the right thing to do,” […]

K-13 tax & $pending climate: Illinois facing growing housing crisis as property taxes continue to increase

Glenn Minnis Illinois now ranks as the least affordable state for housing in the Midwest, with 1 in 3 households paying more than 30% of their income for housing as property taxes continue to rise. —— Madison’s taxpayer funded k-12 system has a huge fall referendum on the November ballot….

“declined to comment on the process used to hire Terrell”

Abbey Machtig: Rebecca Greco, a librarian who worked at the school when Terrell was hired, said she does not recall any engagement with staff prior to the hiring of Terrell as principal. Greco also served on the site-based leadership team but now works as a librarian in a different school district. She said the district […]

Chicago Teachers Union seeks to reduce property tax bill for West Loop headquarters

Paris Schutz The Chicago Teachers Union Foundation is seeking to significantly reduce the property tax bill for its West Loop headquarters, according to documents from the Cook County Assessor’s Office obtained by FOX 32 Chicago. The Assessor recently reappraised the value of the CTU’s building, estimating its fair market value at $19 million. However, the CTU is […]

“Milwaukee ranks relatively high in total revenue per student compared to other large districts nationally” – Madison is higher, yet

Sara R. Shaw, Robert Rauh, Jeff Schmidt, Jason Stein and Rob Henken: We can show that by looking at the overall operating funds available to the district from local, state, and federal sources. Using a metric developed for the Forum’s School DataTool, we found that MPS had operating spending in the 2022 school year of […]

“the upgrades would “provide a modern educational experience.”

The district is asking voters for the money as funding from federal pandemic aid and a 2020 referendum are set to expire. If voters also approve of the district’s other referendum on the November ballot — a $100 million request to help fund day-to-day expenses — district officials estimate the owner of an average-value home in Madison […]

K-12 Tax & $pending Climate: 39% of Americans worry they can’t pay the bills

Matt Egan: Nearly four in ten (39%) of US adults say they worry most or all of the time that their family’s income won’t be enough to meet expenses, according to a new CNN poll. That’s up from 28% who expressed those concerns in December 2021, and it’s similar to the numbers seen during the Great […]

Tiny and terrifying: Why some feel threatened by Wisconsin’s parental choice programs

Patrick Mcilheran: In Madison, where the possibility of school choice arrived 23 years after Milwaukee, there are six private schools in the choice program that Smith calls “vouchers,” and those six schools enrolled 655 choice students in the school year just ended. The Madison Metropolitan School District, in comparison, has about 25,000 students. Big ask Perhaps Madison […]

Milwaukee scandal hurts all Wisconsin students

Barbara Dittrich Representative Barbara Dittrich (R – Oconomowoc) issued the following statement regarding the MPS fiscal scandal and its impact on local school districts: “Aside from the fact that the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) leadership have deceived the public and hurt some of Wisconsin’s most underprivileged students, there is […]

“Second, the latest revelation underscores the incompetence of the board”

John Schlifske: The recent news that Milwaukee Public Schools failed to file a required financial report to the state Department of Public Instruction, that its past reports were missing data or inaccurate, and that it might have to payback millions in funds to the state is just another proof point underscoring the need for substantial governance reform. This lays open two […]

“If both measures pass, that means the average tax bill for Madison residents could increase by $2,030 by 2028”

Abbey Machtig: The estimated tax impact for residents is as follows: Operational referendum: 2024-25 — $316.72 increase; 2025-26 — $315.49 increase; 2026-27 — $209.1 increase; 2027-28 — $208.28 increase; total: $1,049.58 increase in property tax bill over the next four years. Facilities referendum: 2025-26 — $327.47 increase; 2026-27 — $328.83 increase; 2027-28 — $326.20 increase; […]

E.U. Censorship Laws Mostly Suppress Legal Speech

JD Tuccille: Among those who think the United States is an unseemly cesspool of unrestrained opinions voiced by those people, Europe is often touted as an alternative for speech regulation. European Union law, following in the footsteps of national legislation, imposes enforceable duties on private platforms to purge “hate speech” and “disinformation”—or else. But free speech advocates […]

More redistributed taxpayer funds for Milwaukee, less for other WI cities

Dale Kooyenga: An unreported story is that the infamous MPS Referendum results in $48M in WI Taxpayer money being redirected from non-MPS districts to MPS. Here are some of the revenue reductions these districts will realize: Appleton$1.6M, Madison $2.3M, Racine $2M, @ElmbrookSchools $673k, Commentary. —— Much more on the “infamous 2024 Milwaukee K-12 tax & […]

The empire strikes back on “sold a story”

Quinton Klabon Nancy Carlsson-Paige, former Lesley University education professor/Matt Damon’s mom from that 1 Reason video: “I could barely stand [Sold A Story]…full of false information, misconceptions, and distortions of 3-cueing. She didn’t even understand it.” More from Dr. Tim Slekar: Mary Kate McCoy: We’re concerned about equity in education. You will never achieve equity […]

Notes on Reforming the taxpayer supported Milwaukee Public Schools

WILL: Last night’s Milwaukee Public Schools board meeting highlighted that what previously seemed to be a silent majority, the parents and teachers of MPS, are no longer staying silent. The district’s recent failures to properly report financial datato DPI and its incompetence in running the Headstart program could cost the district hundreds of millions of dollars, which has […]

Note on Milwaukee K-12 Governance

James Causey: Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Keith Posley should be terminated over the district’s failure to submit financial reports to the state, but the repercussions should not end there. MPS needs more than a new superintendent, it urgently needs a mayoral takeover. For far too long, the school system has been a breeding ground for failure, with countless students falling through […]

“I asked @WisconsinDPI why they didn’t inform the public months ago about MPS’s failure to disclose financial data…..”

JR Ross Thread: “Deputy State Superintendent John Johnson wrote MPS will likely see a “significant” reduction in state general aid payments for the 2024-25 school year due to errors the district reported for 2022-23 shared costs” Two of the reports were due eight months ago, and the district is in danger of missing out on […]

Cutting Off Your Foot to Spite the Children: Carmen Eviction Would Harm MPS Bottom Line as Well as Kids

WILL: The state’s largest public school district, Milwaukee Public Schools, continues with its financial woes. Despite the narrow approval of a massive $252 million referendum just last month, Milwaukee Public Schools recently announced that substantial cuts to their budget will be required. These cuts could include over 280 staffing positions including nearly 150 teacher filled using pandemic-era […]

Commentary on Redistributed tax dollars and k-12 special education funding

Rory Linnane: Researchers have found a variety of reasons why students from lower-income families, and students of color, are more likely to need special education services. As a result of racist housing policies and governmental neglect, many children have been exposed to lead in their water or paint, live in food deserts and deal with other environmental stressors that affect […]

K-12 Governance at the taxpayer funded Milwaukee School District

Rory Linnane: Carr, who was elected in 2021, said she expected that the complaints were likely about her because of disagreements she has had with other board members and administrators. Carr has been critical of MPS leadership and opposed the April 2 referendum that raised the district’s taxing authority. “They haven’t officially named me, but I am […]

“The more touchpoints you have with the Milwaukee Public Schools, the more likely you were to vote against the measure”

Dale Kooyenga: Just four years ago, MPS passed an $87 million measure with nearly 80 percent of the vote. That measure saw little to no formal opposition. As polls closed and results started pouring in on April 2, it became clear, a decision by the electorate on the $252 million Milwaukee Public Schools’ referendum, would be tighter than many […]

Piercing the Fog: Shedding Light on School District Referenda in Wisconsin

WILL The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) released its latest report, Piercing the Fog: Shedding Light on School District Referenda in Wisconsin, which uncovers various transparency problems with Wisconsin’s referendum process that costs taxpayers millions of dollars every single year. The report also calls for significant reform to Wisconsin’s referendum process to give […]

Instead of cutting taxes this year the Milwaukee Board of School Directors voted to increase its Fund 80 levy by $77.7 million. 

Corrinne Hess: Fund 80 is a special fund for non-classroom activities that serve the entire community including adult education, recreation and day care services.  By increasing the fund, the district’s total tax levy is $320 million this year.  MPS officials told the Policy Forum that over $40 million of the Fund 80 increase will be […]

K-12 tax & $pending climate: US salaries are falling. Employers say compensation is just ‘resetting’

By Alex Christian: Salaries for new roles are stagnating – and in some cases, falling. Some employers may be looking to cut costs, but the lack of wage growth may be a matter of post-pandemic correction. The mass US layoffs of the past few years are continuing. In 2024 alone, thousands of workers across many […]

“At some point, don’t you have to say ‘No’?”

Mark Lisheron: How in good conscience, former Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent Bill Andrekopoulos wonders, can the school district ask taxpayers for $252 million without considering closing a single school? The district’s School Support Referendum website can tell you why district leaders say the money is needed and, generally, how and when the money would be used. The […]

The (big) void in Madison’s k-12 Governance

Years ago, a former Madison Superintendent lamented the lack of business community substantive engagement in our well funded k-12 system. Has anything changed? 2024 brings another year of uncontested Madison School board elections. Madison has another new Superintendent – Joe Gothard– due to start soon. Meanwhile: A scorecard. More on Madison’s well funded K-12 system. Accountability? […]

Notes on Madison K-12 $pending and tax increases amidst declining enrollment; achievement?

Abbey Machtig and Dean Mosiman: the district had to pull $28 million from its general education fund to cover the extra expenses. The city, which has a growing population and a $405.4 million general fund operating budget for 2024, and the school district, which has a $591 million budget for the 2023-24 school year, both […]

Notes on Milwaukee k-12 spending, staffing and enrollment

Patrick Mcilheran Wisconsin’s largest school district is planning to ask its voters to approve a $252 million annual increase in its revenue — and, consequently, spending — in an upcoming referendum. That district, Milwaukee Public Schools, has seen a sharp increase in spending in the two most recent years of state data after nearly a […]

Abortion, life and politics

Harm Venhuizen “I continue to believe that having ‘we the people’ decide the profound moral issue of abortion is the only way to find a reasonable consensus that most people will accept,” Johnson said in a statement Wednesday. “One of the benefits of a one-time, single-issue referendum would be the education and discussion that would […]

The Teachers Union Counterattack

Wall Street Journal: No victory is permanent in politics, especially not against the entrenched power of teachers unions. In the latest demonstration, the National Education Association is dumping money into Nebraska to reverse the state’s modest school choice program. Nebraska’s Legislature this year created K-12 scholarships worth about $5,000 each with an initial cap of […]

$pending more amidst declining enrollment (no mention of spending growth over the years, now > $25k/student

Scott Girard But the board also took a big leap of faith, one that will likely require the help of the Madison community, once again, with another operating referendum in fall 2024. It could be the third straight presidential election in which the Madison Metropolitan School District asks voters for more spending authority above state […]

Notes on taxpayer funded building expansion amidst enrollment declines in Madison; academics?

Olivia Herken: Memorial’s new music wing is among several projects made possible in November 2020, when voters in the Madison School District approved a $317 million capital referendum to build a new elementary school and fund significant high-school renovations. Construction started around the district in 2022, and now all those plans are yielding real, tangible changes. All […]

Report: K-12 school property tax payments will rise statewide

Scott Girard: Those totals don’t include the Madison Metropolitan School District or Milwaukee Public Schools, both of which passed operational referendums in 2020 that continue to allow them to surpass the revenue limit. Both districts are among those that are increasing their total tax levies and contributing to the statewide rise, WPF notes. “Property tax levies increased […]

School districts are wasting COVID relief funds

Ryan Lanier: In one of the most stunning examples of relief fund abuse, the Whitewater, Wis., school board voted to allocate 80 percent of its $2 million Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant toward the construction of synthetic turf fields for football, baseball, and softball. When asked why the funds should be used for athletic fields […]

Five Ways the Milwaukee Public Schools’ Budget Reveals the District’s Backward Priorities

Libby Sobic: 1. The recent referendum will not be enough to prevent serious fiscal issues in the next five years. Milwaukee voters approved an $87 million annual operational referendum in April. Despite an existing annual budget of over $1 billion and the recent referendum, MPS (Milwaukee Public Schools) is still projected to have a $139.4 […]

Beloit schools prepare for possible changes Beloit School District working on nine improvement projects this summer

Margo Spann:

With the future of school funding still up in the air at the Capitol some local districts are making sure they’re prepared for changes that could have them competing for state money and students.
Tuesday’s ground breaking at Todd Elementary School is one of nine projects the Beloit School District will be working on this summer.
“We are so proud of what we’re doing above and beyond the new buildings,” says Superintendent Steve McNeal.
McNeal says approval of a $70 million referendum is evidence families in the district still have confidence in their public schools.
“We’re a state model in RTI, the Response to Intervention, we’re a state model in how we coach our teachers, we have shown tremendous gains academically so we’re very proud and we’ll compare to anybody,” says McNeal.
The redevelopment is in part to compete with possible changes in state funding, McNeal says.