(The Center Square) – Voters across Wisconsin now have a bit more information on the nearly quarter-billion dollars in school referendum questions they will see on ballots next month.
The Institute for Reforming Government on Tuesday released its School Referenda Transparency Tool.
“Funding schools sufficiently is important, but taxpayers deserve clear information about district spending and staffing trends when considering new referenda,” IRG’s Quinton Klabon said. “IRG’s tool provides simple, helpful information for anyone seeking to understand this April’s proposals.”
The tool lists all 74 school referendum questions on the April ballot. They total $225 million.
The tool breaks down the cost of the proposed tax increase through 2033, as well as whether the referendum is for building new buildings, maintaining old buildings, or paying day-to-day bills.
The institute also tracks how many students each school district asking for money has added, and how many employees they have added.
“Taxpayers now have clear, consolidated information in one place, helping inform them about local school referenda,” the institute said.
The institute is also sharing its latest school funding report. That report details the final $1.4 billion in federal COVID-19 funding. It questions whether local schools are “investing wisely.”
“After sending $860 million to help Wisconsin public schools manage through spring 2021, Congress sent a final $1.49 billion to get students back on track,” the report writes. “The goal? Do whatever it takes to catch kids up by September 2024. The problem? No one knows how schools have directed it or not directed it … until now.”
That report allows parents to look at how schools spent their COVID-19 money, breaking it down by category like student spending, teacher spending, mental health spending, and transportation spending.
The institute says the goal is to give Wisconsin taxpayers a fuller view of how much money is headed to their local schools. It comes as Gov. Tony Evers continues to insist that the state needs to spend money on public schools, and as a lawsuit over school funding in the state begins its likely journey to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The Institute for Reforming Government says its “main focus will be to remove the onerous barriers and red tape separating the individual from an efficient and functioning government.”
