Support Public Education

Support the True Cost of Public Education

Congratulations to the new members of the West Bend School Board. Now comes the hard part, actually governing. Fulfilling campaign promises to bring increased transparency and accountability to district financial operations, giving teachers a greater voice in how and what they teach and the rest will be easy compared to the much larger issues of securing adequate funding, state imposed limits on local control of funding and local resistance to increased taxes.

Currently, our public school funding comes from a mix of state and federal funds and local property tax revenues, all of which change from year to year as the political winds blow in Madison and Washington. Locally, public school funding is complimented by a foundation that raises funds for things the district needs, private donations from local businesses (Stuff the Bus and McTeacher Nights), fundraisers by individual school Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs), GoFundMe pages and contributions by individual teachers to their own classrooms. I have been unable to find an accounting of the last four. They are not part of the district's budgeting process. 

Local funding is further complicated by the open enrollment funding drain and voucher payments required by school choice legislation. If a West Bend District parent chooses to enroll her child in a neighboring district's public school, that student's portion of the state aid our district receives follows the student to his new district. Currently, West Bend pays much more to other districts than it receives with students who open enroll into our schools. If a West Bend parent chooses to enroll his child in a voucher eligible private school, our district pays that school a substantial amount through the voucher system. 

Our school board has little to no control over any of these funding mechanisms. It already levies the maximum allowed by law on local property taxpayers because we get penalized by the state if we under levy through reduced state aid in subsequent years. What is left to Wisconsin school boards that want to increase spending are two types of referenda, operational and capital. Operational referenda can be one time or recurring and fund day to day district operations. Capital referenda allow district to issue bonds to raise money to build new schools or renovate old ones. West Bend has had three capital referenda in the last decade. It has never tried to pass an operational referendum to add new or bring back lost educational programs, increase educator salaries, reduce class sizes or provide for other ongoing expenses.

Even though district costs have increased along with everything else such as transportation, food, utilities, insurance, legal fees and administrative costs, revenues from outside sources has gone down or remained flat for a long time. Act 10 was supposed to help by reigning in teacher salaries and healthcare costs, but those savings vanished into other inflationary pressures and declining revenues.

Our new board will have its work cut out for it and must start by educating the community on the importance of public education to the future of the Republic and the survival of our local way of life. Many have lost sight of the impact public schools have on local property values and economic vitality. Great schools make communities attractive to young families and the businesses looking for new employees. Bad schools, not so much. When public schools are allowed to fail, and that is a choice, businesses leave and communities fail. Even if you do not have school age children, supporting public education is an great investment in your community's future.

Dealing with the true costs of properly educating our kids will require examination of the PTO fundraisers, private business donations and individual teacher contributions to their classrooms and students. How much is involved, where do these funds come from, what are they used for and how should we incorporate these needs into the budgeting process? What are the hidden costs involved? These are just as important as state funding questions to our commitment to adequate funding.

Two examples come to mind, one corporate and one personal. McTeacher nights take place in local McDonald's with teachers serving fast food to students and parents lured their by their presence and a desire to donate. The restaurants give a portion of their profits back to the schools. The Los Angeles Unified School District just opted out of this program because it did not want teachers promoting unhealthy food choices. Should we follow that example? Local teachers provide food and supplies to needy students in their classes who have fallen through the social safety net. Should they feel the need to do that or should those needs be recognized and funded through the district's. budget?

The new school board will have to grapple with these thorny issues as it addresses how we choose to educate those who will become responsible for our future. Let them choose wisely.