Shouldn't we fund public schools vs having constant referenda?

I wanted to catch up on another trend that happened at Wisconsin ballot boxes this November - the increasing amount of school referenda throughout the state that voters approved of.

In addition to the former teacher they chose to be their new governor, Wisconsin voters around the state also chose to raise their own taxes to keep their public schools running.

Wisconsin taxpayers voted to pour at least $1.3 billion more into their local public schools on Tuesday, raising their own property taxes in most cases to pay for it and making 2018 another record year for school district referendums.

Capping an election cycle in which education issues dominated the governor's race, voters approved 77 referendums by school districts asking to borrow money for capital projects or exceed their state-mandated revenue limits to maintain or expand programming. They rejected just five, totaling almost $44 million.

All 23 ballot questions passed in southeastern Wisconsin, totaling $556 million, according to an analysis of data reported by the Department of Public Instruction. Those included a $124.9 million ask by the Wauwatosa School District — the second largest referendum Tuesday — which is expected to raise property taxes on a $250,000 home by $470 a year for the next two decades.

Wisconsin Public Radio also had a on the numerous referenda, mostly concentrating on the large number of smaller, rural districts that felt they had little option but to ask the voters for more funding in order to survive.

According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the increase in rural districts asking for funding help is generally tied to decreases in enrollment. But the state's competitive education landscape could also be playing a role in the increased number of referendums, according to Dan Rossmiller, the director of government relations for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

Options like open enrollment and the state's voucher program give students options outside of their school district.

"Districts are finding that they're having to make certain improvements to be more competitive in that competitive environment and keep those students where they currently are," Rossmiller said.

I don’t buy Rossmiller's argument at all. These aren’t college dorms that get spiffier to attract students. The referenda is often going into everyday classrooms and other facilities that are falling apart, along with paying bills to keep the lights on. I think it's more a reflection of 8 years of defunding and devaluing public education by the ALEC-GOP crew that has been running things at the State Capitol.

Where vouchers play into this equation is because of the ALEC/GOP funding mechanism that literally takes away money from the public school district where the voucher student lives, even if the student has never attended a day of classes in public school. I note that Wauwatosa is the Milwaukee suburb that seems to have turned hardest toward Democrats in the last few years, because they know that the voucher scam is wrecking their community's schools and quality of life, while raising their own property taxes in the process.

And all of these factors matter when it comes to keeping their community vibrant and worth living in, which explains why SOS (Save Our Schools) was a common sign I saw in Wauwatosa yards as I increasingly headed to Milwaukee in September and October for the Brewers' playoff run.

This seems like something Governor-elect Evers should fix in his first budget, along with reiterating his call for looser revenue caps, which will lessen the need to go to referendum in the first place. And perhaps we should use some of the $1.6 billion+ in tax dollars that we spend on writeoffs for property taxes associated, and put that money into the classroom and the buildings instead.

Lastly, WisGOPs have spent the last several years trying to starve K-12 public schools into submission. Maybe it's time to reverse that trend and start cutting off these voucher schools from the taxpayer teat. After all, if they believe in competition and "survival of the fittest", maybe they should stop getting so much of our money and get by on their rich benefactors and tuition that can be written off on rich people's taxes.