School spending up, but not enough

We have heard plenty of stories about Wisconsin schools having to deal with reduced funding by the state. Turns out it isn’t exactly true. The non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau this week released a report finding that state funding for public schools has actually gone up slightly in the past few years. The report finds that state support for schools last year covered 62.7% of the cost of educating our children. That is up slightly from 62.3% in 2014, and 62% in 2013. But the state should do more. Wisconsin used to promise school districts the state would cover two-thirds of the cost of education, but that went out the window during tight budget times a dozen years ago. In the years since, we have seen a marked increase in the number of Wisconsin school districts turning to voters in the form of a referendum seeking permission to exceed state imposed levy limits. That means higher property taxes to pay for what the state will not. Yet those referendums have been overwhelmingly approved, signaling voters value education, and believe paying for it is a good use of their tax money. The state should further increase its commitment to funding public education, and they could do that without raising an additional dollar in tax revenue. If Wisconsin abandoned the voucher system, paying for students to attend private schools at taxpayer expense, we could once again fund at least two-thirds of the cost. That would be money well spent.