Fair Funding for Our Future: State Superintendent Tony Evers’ Budget Plan
The School Finance Network (SFN) has announced its endorsement of State Superintendent Tony Evers’ budget: Fair Funding for Our Future. Evers’ plan calls for changes in the way the state funds schools by creating a base level of funding, directing dollars to where they are needed most and working to
protect both students and property taxpayers.
The purpose of this page is to provide additonal information about the state superintendent's budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
The following frequently asked questions are meant to provide additional general information about the plan.
Q) What is “Fair Funding for Our Future”?
Fair Funding for Our Future is the name given to State Superintendent Tony Evers’ school finance reform plan. The plan addresses some of the most critical problems with the current school funding system and proposes changes to help ensure the quality of our schools, protect taxpayers, and provide a greater level of transparency by assuring state aid goes directly to schools.
This plan is realistic and ready, providing solutions that are good education policy and public policy, as well as politically viable. It is a powerful first step that makes long overdue changes to the funding formula, maximizes existing resources, and sets the stage for greater state support in future years.
Q) Why are changes needed to the way in which we fund our schools?
Across our state, schools are struggling. Many have been forced to lay off staff and cut programs. Others are under pressure to determine how to address aging facilities and how to ensure that students receive the quality education they need for success in the future. To be sure, the tradition of excellence in Wisconsin education is at risk.
There are many reasons why the current school funding system simply does not work for our students and schools:
- ---It counts the School Levy Tax Credit as “state support for schools,” when none of those dollars go directly to schools or help educate a single child in any Wisconsin public school.
- ---It relies only on property wealth and does not account for income as a factor in ability to pay for schools. Thus, districts with high property values but low per-capita income fare poorly.
- ---There is no minimum funding per-student in Wisconsin, and dozens of districts get little or no general school aid. Many districts face unpredictability due to possible loss of significant amounts of state general aid from year to year.
Q: How does the “Fair Funding” plan address these problems?
The plan reforms Wisconsin’s school funding system by:
---Guaranteeing a minimum amount of state general equalization aid for every student ($3,000), providing vital resources to school districts that currently receive little or no state aid.
---Incorporating a poverty-factor into the formula (20%), accounting for families’ ability to pay, and not just their property value.
---Ending the school funding shell game by redirecting the School Levy Tax Credit, which does not directly pay for one child to be educated, into general school aids, increasing transparency and directing state support back into the classroom.
---Making technical formula changes that strengthen rural, declining enrollment, and negatively aided districts by increasing the secondary cost ceiling and special adjustment aid level;.
---Establishing predictable growth in state aids (the greater of 2% or CPI), creating a more sustainable and well-aligned funding structure.
---Maintaining the current growth in revenue limits ( $200 per pupil), delaying new revenue limit exemptions, and requesting reasonable investments in general aid (2% in FY12 and 4% in FY13) to provide a modest increase in school spending while protecting taxpayers.
---Consolidating categorical aids around our areas of greatest need, increasing accountability and maximizing resources in difficult economic times.
Q) Which school districts would receive funding under the plan? Would this reduce the amount of money that my district receives?
Under the Fair Funding for Our Future plan, all school districts would see an increase in their state general equalization aid.
Q) But this plan would move the School Levy Tax Credit (SLTC) into general school aids. Won’t those communities that currently benefit from the credit lose under this plan?
When the impact of moving the SLTC is taken into account, all districts would see increased or equal total state aid (general aids and levy credits) for schools. Under the plan, 93% of school districts would see an increase in total state aid (394 of 425), and the remaining 7% would receive the same amount through a hold harmless provision in the plan.
Most districts in communities that currently benefit more from the SLTC than the state’s general equalization aid formula would be positively impacted by the Fair Funding reforms, particularly the minimum aid per student and the income weighting component. For those districts that may still be negatively impacted, the plan includes a $7 million hold harmless provision, so no Wisconsin school district would receive less total state aid (general aid and levy credits) than it does now.
Q) Will taxes increase?
This plan holds the line on property taxes. In the first year of the plan, gross statewide school property taxes are estimated to decrease by more than 18% -- more than when the state instituted the two-thirds funding commitment in the 1990s. In net terms (i.e. when the impact of the SLTC is considered), net statewide school property taxes are estimated to be held at around 0%.
Q) How can the state superintendent ask for an increase in state aid given the significant state budget deficit?
This plan is about establishing priorities. Especially during these difficult economic times, it is extremely important for Wisconsin to have highly educated students who are prepared to compete on the world stage. In this way, ensuring that our state has quality public schools is more critical than simply continuing the Wisconsin public school tradition. It is a matter of guaranteeing our future economic success.
The plan does call for additional investment in education, but it is the smallest K-12 budget request in nearly a decade, in both percentage and real dollar terms. Moreover, in making the right investments, the state is able to protect schools and taxpayers over the long term.
Q) How would this impact spending caps (i.e. revenue limits)?
This year, under state law, districts are allowed to increase their spending by $200 per pupil. The state superintendent’s plan maintains the $200 per-pupil increase in the first year of the next biennium, and increases it by the Consumer Price Index in the second year. Additionally, this plan postpones until 2013-14 several revenue limit exemptions that could have greatly increased local school tax levies. These efforts would provide districts with a modest increase in their spending during difficult economic times, while helping to hold the line on property taxes across the state.
Q) Does the use of School Levy Tax Credit dollars in the formula include both the regular School Levy Tax Credit and the First Dollar Credit, thus eliminating both programs?
Under this plan, the School Levy Tax Credit and the First Dollar Credit would be included as state general equalization aid to schools in 2012-13.
Q) Are categorical aids being affected?
Given the difficult economic times, the plan includes the increased funding necessary to maintain the current (FY11) reimbursement levels in our highest need areas:
---Special Education
---High Cost Special Education
---Bilingual/Bicultural Education
---SAGE
---School Breakfast
Under this plan, eleven of 32 state tax-funded categorical aid programs would be consolidated in an effort to more fully leverage existing funds in difficult economic times and create more of a desired impact on student outcomes.
The plan calls for the following:
---Consolidating Grants for Mentors into a redesigned Peer Review and Mentoring program to support teacher effectiveness.
---Establishing a new census-based bilingual aid for children not currently served in a required program to better meet our constitutional obligations
---Creating a new aid to support college and career-readiness tests and student benchmark assessments
The plan also includes a new “Every Child a Graduate” $20 million categorical aid program, funded through the consolidation of 10 existing categorical aids. The new program would offer a competitive, multi-year grant aimed at increasing graduation rates and reducing dropout rates. It would be targeted toward districts with persistent graduation and/or dropout issues (i.e. lowest 5%). To be eligible, districts must perform a needs assessment and agree to state-determined assurances. In exchange for greater accountability to a few key indicators, such as student attendance, credit deficiency/grades, and suspension, districts would have the flexibility to propose whatever graduation improvement strategy they deem most appropriate. However, grant awards would incorporate a variable funding model, where funding is increased or decreased based on whether a district meets or misses these “on track” indicators.
