School Crossings: School Funding Needs a Boost

By Joe Zydowsky, SDMA District Administrator

Superintendents in the five largest school districts in Wisconsin issued a plea this week to state lawmakers calling for school funding relief now. As noted in their message, Wisconsin families are struggling. Across Madison, Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine, Green Bay, and in smaller communities like Menomonie, families in Wisconsin are paying more for groceries, utilities, and health insurance. The School District of the Menomonie Area faces those same pressures. We are paying more to feed students, heat and power our schools, retain high quality staff, and cover rising insurance and healthcare costs. Like families, the SDMA is impacted by increasing expenses due to inflation.

That is why the most recent state budget was such a profound disappointment. When the state had a $4 billion surplus, we expected lawmakers to recognize the shared financial strain facing families and public schools. Instead, Wisconsin’s K–12 public school students received a $0 increase in general state aid and local property taxes went up. At the same time, a promised increase in critical funding for students with disabilities came up short. The SDMA is projected to transfer more than $4 million annually from the general fund to subsidize the underfunded costs of legally mandated services in the special education program.

Last week, Governor Tony Evers proposed $1.3 billion in state funding to provide property tax relief and stabilize school funding. However, legislative leaders have indicated they will not support this proposal unless the Governor’s “400 years” veto is overturned. That veto, which guaranteed modest long-term per-pupil increases (about 2.86%), demonstrated support for public education, but it is now being used as a political obstacle rather than a path forward.

Wisconsin urgently needs a bipartisan compromise on school funding. The current stalemate leaves public school districts unable to plan responsibly and pushes local communities to shoulder costs that the state should be sharing. A proven solution already exists. Under former Governor Tommy Thompson, Wisconsin provided annual per-pupil funding increases tied to the cost of living, providing schools with predictable, sustainable support. Those adjustments were eliminated in 2009 during the recession, and despite years of economic recovery, they have never been restored.

The consequences of inadequate funding have been severe and long-lasting. Without cost-of-living adjustments, districts across the state have been forced to rely on operational referendums, reduce staff, consolidate schools, delay building maintenance, and cut programs. When the operational referendum in Menomonie failed in 2024, the SDMA reduced expenses by eliminating the French program, cutting building-level technology support, deferring capital maintenance funding, and changing our employee’s health insurance plan. Closing Downsville Elementary School helped balance this year’s budget, but inadequate state funding will result in even bigger deficits in the years ahead. 

These measures are not sustainable and, over time, directly harm students and the infrastructure investments already made by our community. Had cost-of-living increases remained in place, the SDMA’s revenue limit would be much higher, and we would not be faced with the choice of making deep cuts or needing to ask voters for additional support through a referendum. 

As noted in Chart 1, the revenue allowed by the state for the SDMA during the 2025-26 school year is $1,235 per student less than the inflationary index, and $2,001 per student less than the statewide average. With 3,363 students, SDMA’s revenue for this year is $4.15 million short of inflation and $6.73 million less than the statewide average.

The school funding formula may be complex, but one truth is simple: when state support goes down or stagnates, property taxes go up. This is not a school district spending problem. It is a legislative funding choice. Compounding this issue for taxpayers in Menomonie is the extra $1.3 million placed on the school tax levy to fund the cost of private school vouchers in our community.

As a state, we risk shortchanging not only our students but Wisconsin’s future economic prosperity. Past generations benefitted from strong public schools, highly qualified teachers, and well kept facilities. Every one of us wants better for our kids today, and yet without adequate funding, we will give them less. They deserve better. 

Lawmakers can do what is right by their constituents, Wisconsin families, and our public schools by investing this historic surplus in our children. Students are receiving less while taxpayers are paying more—and it does not have to be this way. The future of Wisconsin’s public schools depends on responsible, consistent state funding. The time is now. As a parent, taxpayer, and superintendent of the School District of the Menomonie Area, I respectfully ask on behalf of over 3,000 students that the state invest in their future now. They can't wait. 

Should school families or community stakeholders have any questions, concerns, or suggestions about finances in the SDMA, I invite you to visit me at the Administrative Service Center on Pine Avenue, or contact me at 715-232-1642. More information about our schools can be found on the school district website (www.sdmaonline.com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/menomonie.schools).

*This article was modeled after the work of Superintendent Dr. Joe Gothard, Madison Metropolitan School District, Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius, Milwaukee Public Schools, Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Weiss, Kenosha Unified School District, Superintendent Soren Gajewski, Racine Unified School District, and Superintendent Vicki Bayer, Green Bay Area Public School District.