This year, a record number of school district referendums appeared on ballots, asking voters to approve an increase in property taxes as state aid continues to fall behind inflation. Out of the 421 Wisconsin school districts, at least 192 posed referendum questions for their residents asking for a total of $5.9 billion for school funding. In total, 241 school referendums were asked throughout the year, 138 occurring in the August primary and Nov. 5 election and 103 during the February primary and April general election.
Unofficial election results found that voters from 145 districts approved 169 of these ballot questions, resulting in the approval of a record total of $4.4 billion in new funds for school districts, $3.3 billion of which will come from debt.
Wisconsin public schools are faced with declining enrollment because of a drop in birth rates, leading to closures and consolidations as schools try to reduce costs. Since budgets are decided based on student enrollment, a decrease in students results in reduced funding.
Wisconsin State Superintendent Jill Underly said taxpayers should not be “disproportionately” asked to fund basic school operations and called for greater state funding for K-12 education during the announcement of her budget proposal Nov. 11.
“We need to fix Wisconsin's outdated School Finance system, which is based in part on decade old formulas that were never intended to adequately fund schools,” Underly said. “The deficits which have ensued have caused more and more districts to rely on referendums to make ends meet.”
To reduce school referendums on ballots, Underly has requested more than $3 billion in additional funding from Gov. Tony Evers and Republican lawmakers to support the needs of students, staff and schools. Her budget proposal includes raising the state reimbursement rate for special education from its current rate of 32% to 75% in Fiscal Year 2026 and 90% by Fiscal Year 2027.
The state currently provides schools with less than one third of the necessary funding needed for these legally mandated services, forcing schools to make cuts in student programming to cover these costs, according to Underly.
Her proposal will begin with increasing per-pupil revenue limits by $425 in Fiscal Year 2026 and indexing future revenue limits to inflation. To limit property tax increases, the plan will increase state general aid. These adjustments will cap property tax increases at an average of 1.5% over the biennium.
Revenue limits determine how much funding Wisconsin public schools receive from property taxes and state aid as well as how much schools can spend. The proposal will also expand per-pupil categorical aid programs by $100 over the next two fiscal years and will provide a 20% bump for students living in poverty.
Additionally, Underly’s plan outlines funding for universal school meals, teacher recruitment and retention, enhancing mental health services and improving literacy resources. Altogether, the total investment to Wisconsin K-12 schools will reach $4 billion over the next two years.
“The bottom line is, if we want our communities and our state to move forward, we can and must invest in public education,” said Underly in an announcement. “It really is that simple.”
In the past, Republicans have rejected increased state funding for Wisconsin public schools. Evers will introduce the 2025-27 executive budget early next year.
