School finances should be indexed to prices

Wisconsin needs to add an inflation adjustor to its school aid formulas.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel recently reported on how belts have gotten tighter for some of the state’s bigger school districts.

Arecent article states, “The Green Bay School Board has voted to close three schools. The Wauwatosa School District is considering closing two elementary schools. Other districts have had to take this step in recent years, including Waukesha, West Allis and Cudahy.”

As Wisconsin’s bigger and more affluent school districts are finally beginning to feel the negative impacts of decades of lack due to politically-motivated, fiscal shortsightedness, perhaps Wisconsin political leaders will wake up to the need that above all else, schools require stability when it comes to funding.

About 30 years ago, the state legislature with the support of then-Gov. Tommy Thompson imposed spending caps on local school districts. At the time, the biggest worry was that rising property taxes would drive people from their homes. The cynical reality is that the move had more to do with reducing taxes on wealthy people’s recreational and vacation property than with looking out for the little guy.

Regardless of why the caps and state funding formulas were put in place, the impact has been to force districts into making tough decisions about building upkeep, improvements and staffing levels. In many cases this has had a direct impact on the education of students across the state.

While there are those who would celebrate this as forcing governments to live within their means, much like households have to do, the reality is that this has led to a downward spiral of deferred maintenance. Schools, like every other government, business and household, have been hit in recent years by a sharp spike in inflation. This is not something that was envisioned by lawmakers, especially those who have spent most of their adult lives in an era when inflation was largely flat.

Compounding this is the political gamesmanship of Republican legislative leaders to not increase school funding in the 2021-2023 state budget and instead telling districts to balance their budgets on one-time federal grant money — money that runs out this year.

As predicted, districts that kept their budgets afloat with that one-time cash are diving headfirst off the fiscal cliff. While changes in state law passed as part of last summer’s state budget process have helped, the underlying problem still remains.

While everyone appreciates the imperative to keep property taxes as stable as possible for the state’s residents, there needs to be adjustments made to reflect rising costs such as during the post-pandemic period of inflation, or in light of ever-rising costs for wages and benefits to attract and retain staff in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

The state funding formula needs to be indexed to inflation to allow the governments to adjust to changing economic conditions.

The Tribune-Record-Gleaner editorial board consists of publisher Kris O’Leary and Star News editor Brian Wilson.