The state's teachers union and council of administrators released survey results this week that say "state-imposed education revenue caps are wreaking havoc" on schools and "worsening over time." In an annual survey, state school superintendents say revenue caps increase class sizes, decrease school safety and harm public education.
The survey is used to promote the elimination of revenue caps, which were enacted in 2005 and continued in the most recent budget. The implied correlation is that the more money spent, the better the schools.
"Wisconsin's schools have done miraculous things to try to maintain their quality in the face of the caps," said Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators. "But the failure to invest in our schools' and our students' future has caught up with us."
However, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonpartisan organization of state legislators, notes that there have been dramatic increases in the amount of educational resources spent on primary and secondary education in Wisconsin during the past two decades. Expenditures have risen to an all-time high of $10,364 per pupil in Wisconsin, the ALEC notes.
In its Report Card on American Education, the ALEC "has found no direct correlation between conventional measures of education inputs, such as expenditures per pupil and teacher salaries, and educational outputs, such as average scores on standardized tests." Student performance in Wisconsin, the ALEC notes, has improved only slightly during the period of increased spending. Wisconsin ranked 13th in the national education survey.
WEAC President Mary Bell specifically referred to revenue caps' effect of causing increased class sizes. "Small class sizes and safe schools are essential parts of the formula" of great schools, Bell said.
Yet the ALEC report again found no correlation between class sizes and student performance. "Class sizes in Wisconsin today are 12 percent smaller than they were 20 years ago, yet of the 10 states that experienced the greatest decreases, only one (Vermont) is found among the highest performing states in the rankings," the ALEC said.
Even if money spent actually did impact the quality of education, are revenue caps the reason for school budget squeezes? In small part, sure. But the rising cost of benefits, salaries and unfunded mandates likely plays a much larger role.
Caps on revenue increases - which had been 2 percent annually until Gov. Jim Doyle used his "Frankenstein veto" power to increase it to nearly 4 percent this year - do not prohibit school districts from collecting more revenue. They just force the districts to ask voters to approve greater revenues first.
Yes, school referendums can be painful processes. But there are plenty of recent examples locally of voters' willingness to allow more tax dollars to be collected when they believe a request is merited and there is open communication with the school district. Such processes increase both the district's accountability and community involvement.
For that reason alone, revenue caps should remain.
There also is the factor of the cap's effect on taxes. According to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, net levies of local governments have increased an average of 2.8 percent during the era of revenue caps. In the five years before limits were in place, the average increase was 5.8 percent. WISTAX also says the cap has led to a decrease in property taxes as a share of personal income. According to WISTAX, net property tax levies fell from 4.35 percent of total income in 2004-05 to 4.21 percent in 2006-07.
For state taxpayers already overburdened, and during these tough economic times, the state should be focused on limiting taxes - not finding ways to increase them.
And school personnel, for better or worse, must continue to find ways to work better and efficiently without expecting a bottomless pit of taxpayer resources.
The survey is used to promote the elimination of revenue caps, which were enacted in 2005 and continued in the most recent budget. The implied correlation is that the more money spent, the better the schools.
"Wisconsin's schools have done miraculous things to try to maintain their quality in the face of the caps," said Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators. "But the failure to invest in our schools' and our students' future has caught up with us."
However, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonpartisan organization of state legislators, notes that there have been dramatic increases in the amount of educational resources spent on primary and secondary education in Wisconsin during the past two decades. Expenditures have risen to an all-time high of $10,364 per pupil in Wisconsin, the ALEC notes.
In its Report Card on American Education, the ALEC "has found no direct correlation between conventional measures of education inputs, such as expenditures per pupil and teacher salaries, and educational outputs, such as average scores on standardized tests." Student performance in Wisconsin, the ALEC notes, has improved only slightly during the period of increased spending. Wisconsin ranked 13th in the national education survey.
WEAC President Mary Bell specifically referred to revenue caps' effect of causing increased class sizes. "Small class sizes and safe schools are essential parts of the formula" of great schools, Bell said.
Yet the ALEC report again found no correlation between class sizes and student performance. "Class sizes in Wisconsin today are 12 percent smaller than they were 20 years ago, yet of the 10 states that experienced the greatest decreases, only one (Vermont) is found among the highest performing states in the rankings," the ALEC said.
Even if money spent actually did impact the quality of education, are revenue caps the reason for school budget squeezes? In small part, sure. But the rising cost of benefits, salaries and unfunded mandates likely plays a much larger role.
Caps on revenue increases - which had been 2 percent annually until Gov. Jim Doyle used his "Frankenstein veto" power to increase it to nearly 4 percent this year - do not prohibit school districts from collecting more revenue. They just force the districts to ask voters to approve greater revenues first.
Yes, school referendums can be painful processes. But there are plenty of recent examples locally of voters' willingness to allow more tax dollars to be collected when they believe a request is merited and there is open communication with the school district. Such processes increase both the district's accountability and community involvement.
For that reason alone, revenue caps should remain.
There also is the factor of the cap's effect on taxes. According to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, net levies of local governments have increased an average of 2.8 percent during the era of revenue caps. In the five years before limits were in place, the average increase was 5.8 percent. WISTAX also says the cap has led to a decrease in property taxes as a share of personal income. According to WISTAX, net property tax levies fell from 4.35 percent of total income in 2004-05 to 4.21 percent in 2006-07.
For state taxpayers already overburdened, and during these tough economic times, the state should be focused on limiting taxes - not finding ways to increase them.
And school personnel, for better or worse, must continue to find ways to work better and efficiently without expecting a bottomless pit of taxpayer resources.
