Searching for Equity
Revenue caps worsen school funding disparities
By Barb Brady
WEAC Press Secretary
Milwaukee Public Schools dealt with overcrowding by converting basements
and cloakrooms into classrooms.
The Superior School District lacks enough teachers' aides, guidance
counselors and psychologists and has no social workers or at-risk or
gifted and talented program coordinators.
Beloit schools cut a variety of educational programs.
"These districts and many others are suffering because of the
state's school financing system," said WEAC Legal Counsel Bruce
Meredith. "The school aid formula, the imposition of revenue caps
and a complicated three-tiered funding system are denying equal learning
opportunities for many children in Wisconsin simply because of where
they live."
Many districts are losing state aid, or not receiving as much as they
would have under the previous funding formula, forcing painful decisions
that directly affect children's learning opportunities, Meredith said.
Many can't raise enough revenue to properly fund educational programs.
"The most recent changes to the system were designed to facilitate
property tax relief and not to provide equal educational opportunities
for Wisconsin children," Meredith said. "This manipulation
has resulted in the state being unable to fulfill its constitutional
requirement to provide equal educational opportunities for every child.
The system does not recognize that children have different needs, which
may require some districts to spend more than others to educate equal
numbers of children.
"As long as the government makes property tax relief a higher
priority than our children's education, Wisconsin's school funding system
will not be fair," said Meredith. "Property tax relief is
an important goal; however, we believe our children's needs and education
should come first."
Along with the school funding formula, state-imposed revenue caps are
creating inequalities in educational opportunities for Wisconsin children.
"Revenue caps place arbitrarily limits on the revenues districts
can raise," Meredith said. "As long as revenue caps are in
place, many communities will not be allowed to provide top-quality programs
for children.
"Children are paying the price of unfair and arbitrary state policies
which force districts to delay building repairs and maintenance, delay
purchasing textbooks and computers, and cut or eliminate important programs,"
he said. "Children will suffer as their buildings become unsafe,
their classes too large, and they are denied access to the Information
Superhighway because their schools can't afford computers or software.
"Equal educational opportunity is one of the cornerstones of our
democracy. Public schools educate everyone — no matter what their
personal circumstances or socio-economic status. America's founders
realized the importance of an educated populace where all citizens are
given the opportunity to succeed. Our public school system is what makes
our country great."
WEAC has joined a suit brought by more than 100 school districts challenging
the state's system of financing education.
WEAC is calling for an equitable school financing formula that would
do the following:
- Provide equal educational opportunities for all students.
- Make the property tax more fair.
- Recognize students have different needs, which may require more
spending for some districts.
- Guarantee that every child is provided the opportunity to be prepared
for employment, continuing education and productive lives.
- Reward efficiency in school operations while ensuring poorer districts
are able to provide equal educational opportunities.
"Wisconsin's public schools are among the best in the nation,
but the financing inequities and revenue caps put our schools at risk,"
Meredith said. "Most of our students, like their schools, are successful.
We must build on what we know works so that every child in every community
will leave school prepared for life and the jobs of the future."
How does the new school aid formula hurt poorer districts?
Here's how the Institute for Wisconsin's Future describes the issue:
- School Aid Formula: The new "equalization" aid
formulas have been changed to benefit wealthier districts, redistributing
more than $19 million from districts of moderate and low property
wealth to the 35 wealthiest districts in the state.
- School Levy Tax Credit: Districts with high property values
and low tax rates receive higher amounts of per pupil school levy
tax credit than districts with low property wealth and higher tax
rates. As a result, wealthier districts receive a greater benefit
from the tax credit. The additional allocation of $150 million to
school levy credits in the 1995 legislation moved resources toward
tax relief for wealthy districts in contradiction to the goal of equalization.
Posted April 28, 1997