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Issue Paper SnapshotRevenue Controls |
In 1993, the Legislature passed Wisconsin Act 16, commonly known as revenue controls, which essentially froze school spending at 1992 levels. Act 16 included a provision allowing districts to increase their spending by a calculated amount; the amount in 1998-99 was $209 per pupil per year.
Act 16 was passed to hold down property-tax increases by limiting the total amount of money a school district is entitled to receive in state aids and from local property-tax levies.
To compensate for revenue lost from these limitations, the Legislature, in 1995, agreed to pay 66.7 percent of total state and local school costs. But, in reality, the state pays about 54 percent of school costs, well below the two-thirds claimed. The difference (12.7 percent) is used for property-tax relief, not school funding.
The law was initially passed as a temporary method of controlling property taxes. The revenue limits were supposed to be evaluated after five years, but that process was short circuited when the Legislature made the caps permanent without evaluating their impact on schools and children.
Talking Issues
It is not necessary to be an expert on school finance to discuss revenue controls with others. Focus on the effects of revenue controls rather than on the mechanics of how they work. To help you do this, use the Great Schools message of Quality, Involvement, Support as an outline for discussing revenue controls.
School Quality Eroded by Revenue Controls
- A joint survey by WEAC and the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA) showed that almost half of Wisconsin school districts are deferring maintenance on school buildings. Over the last five years, approximately half the districts reported delaying purchase of computers and other technology. One-third have increased class sizes, and nearly 100 percent have made at least one cut in programs for students.
- The state’s micro-management of school districts has resulted in conflicting policies that narrow the curriculum. One state policy raised standards and required performance testing in five academic areas; another reduced fiscal support through revenue controls. The result: a budget shortfall that forces districts to cut programs. When budget cuts are called for, districts will eliminate “nonessential” courses and programs, such as health education and remedial programs for students.
Community Involvement Needed in School Decisions
Parents, teachers, school employees, administrators, and school boards need to be involved in major decisions that impact students.
- An involved community will organize to fight for a district’s right to keep up with increases in its fixed costs. Revenue controls prevent districts from doing so.
- An involved community will vigorously oppose the especially punitive effect of revenue controls on districts with stable or declining enrollments. These districts lose revenue and consequently have less money to operate on than they had the previous year, although their fixed costs remain basically the same. This problem is bound to worsen as enrollments are predicted to decline statewide beginning in 2000.
Support Local Public Schools by Reasserting Community Authority
By supporting local public schools, communities create a favorable climate for public officials committed to creating and maintaining Great Schools.
- Revenue controls deprive local communities of their authority to create and maintain the schools they want.
- Revenue controls are based on student enrollment. They ignore districts’ actual expenses, the learning needs of students, and economic circumstances.
WEAC Position
The Wisconsin Education Association Council supports property-tax relief. However, revenue controls are the wrong way to accomplish this goal. The entire system of school finance needs to be overhauled. Wisconsin students should not be made to pay for property-tax relief. We risk our future socially and economically by doing so.
For More Information
OnWEAC's Resource Page on Revenue Controls
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction - www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dfm/sfma/revlimex.html
Legislative Fiscal Bureau - www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb
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