Analysis by Russ Allen, PhD
Data entry by Cindy Jensen
WEAC Campus for Teaching & Learning

In order to control school costs and reduce property taxes, Wisconsin Act 16 was passed in 1993. This legislation capped the amount of revenue that school districts could raise from one year to the next. The revenue controls were to last for a five-year period (1993-98); however, there were significant changes made in the 1995-97 state budget. The revenue controls were made permanent, and the per-pupil increases from one year to the next were set at a fixed dollar amount (for example, $200 per pupil in 1995-96, $206 in 1996-97, and $216 in 2000-2001). In 1995, the State of Wisconsin also committed to two-thirds funding of the total costs of public education statewide.

Since 1994, the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA) and the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) have surveyed school superintendents to learn how the revenue caps are affecting programs and services offered by school districts. This is the seventh consecutive study.

The response rates of superintendents consistently have been high: 79% in 1994, 77% in 1995, 70% in 1996, 72% in 1997, 74% in 1998, and 75% in 1999. This year's response rate, 64%, is lower and may be the result of two factors: (1) the 1999-2000 questionnaire is nearly twice as long as previous ones, and (2) in 1999-2000, superintendents were asked if they would be willing to share their responses with the general public.

The districts participating in the seven studies are not identical; however, superintendents from the same group of districts have tended to be much the same during the past seven years.