(The Center Square) – There is another warning about school finances in Wisconsin, but it has nothing to do with taxes.
The Institute for Reforming Government released a report that shows almost every Wisconsin county is seeing fewer students this year. Only four counties added students, but even those saw just a few more students.
“Wisconsin lost 14,087 students this year, 1.7% of enrollment,” the report notes. “Sixty-eight of 72 counties lost students. Florence added zero students, Richland added three, Burnett added four, and Dane added 198 due to gaining hundreds of virtual students. No Wisconsin region was a bright spot.”
The IRG report states that this kind of student loss is rare. In fact, there are only three other school years where almost every county in the state lost students.
But IRG’s report is not just a head count. It is a warning.
“Losing students forces tough choices on the educators looking out for our kids and the taxpayers funding our schools,” IRG’s Quinton Klabon said. “Wisconsinites must attract families and businesses to our great state, or we will never escape the cycle of referenda and layoffs.”
Wisconsin’s school aid is student-based, meaning when schools lose students, they also lose state dollars.
Earlier this week, IRG released a tracking tool for the 74 local schools asking for $225 million in local referendum questions this year. Many of those schools say they need more money from local taxpayers to make-up for the state aid they have lost because of a drop in enrollment.
IRG’s new report also provides a snapshot of how schools across the state are doing in other areas.
“Students are attending school more often, getting suspended less, graduating high school more often, and enrolling in college more often. However, schools have reached “a new normal” below pre-pandemic performance,” IRG added.
That snapshot includes:
● Attendance rose to 92.6%, up 0.2%. Black and Indigenous students improved significantly…However, attendance has not recovered from pandemic policies, when Wisconsin regularly reached 95.0% attendance.
● Suspension rates fell 0.2%, the equivalent of 1,468 fewer suspensions statewide.
● High school graduation rates reached a modern high of 92.3%. All groups graduated more across income, racial, special needs, and native language designations. However, Wisconsin continues to struggle against other states on graduation rates.
● College enrollment rose slightly, with roughly one half of graduates enrolling in 2- or 4-year universities.
