MADISON—Wisconsin public school spending rose 4.6% in 2004-05, the largest increase since 2001-02 (5.7%). Spending on instructional support for such items as staff training, library services and athletics rose 7.7%. Expenditures for instruction and for building and grounds were both up 4.8%. This is one of the important findings from the newly released SchoolFacts05, an annual publication of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX). SchoolFacts offers a variety of spending, revenue and test-score information for every school district in the state.

Spending per student rose 4.8%, slightly faster than the total because enrollments in the state’s public schools fell 0.3% in 2004-05 to 869,961. In 2004-05, Wisconsin school districts budgeted to spend $10,367 per student, or $477 more than the year before. The majority of expenditures were for instructional costs, which climbed 5.0% to $6,068 per student. Expenditures for instructional salaries and benefits ($5,428) rose 4.6%, higher than the annual average of 3.9% during the previous five years. Per student expenditures for transportation ($408, +2.5%) and administration ($785, +3.8%) increased at below-average rates, WISTAX noted. WISTAX is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to public-policy research and citizen education.

The spending increase was somewhat surprising because revenues from the state were budgeted to increase only 0.5%. Most of the spending increase was funded through property taxes, which were up 7.2%.

Indeed, WISTAX researchers noted that seven districts had property tax increases of more than 40%: Granton Area, Ithaca, Lena, Rio, Seneca, Washington-Caldwell (K-8) and Wilmot (UHS). All but Washington-Caldwell passed referenda to exceed their revenue limits for building or operating expenses. Because Washington-Caldwell’s state equalization aids declined 12.0% last year, the district funded its revenue limit with increased property taxes. Eleven districts raised their levies between 20% and 40%, and another 36 had levy increases of at least 15%.

Some of the spending may have been funded by drawing down district fund balances. School districts generally use fund balances to avoid cash-flow problems due to the timing of state aid and property tax payments, and for emergency expenditures. Districts are increasingly using balances to fund ongoing spending. Between 2002-03 and 2003-04, 117 districts, or 27.5%, had a decline in their fund balances. In 2004-05, 203 districts budgeted for a smaller fund balance than in 2003-04. The number of districts with a fund balance of less than 10% of 2004-05 expenditures (2004-05 statewide average = 13.6%) rose to 103 from 78 the year before.

One of the reasons for the above-average spending increase was additional staffing. In 2004-05, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees rose 0.6% to 105,062. The 649-person increase came mainly from support staff (up 253 to 33,138) and teachers (up 131 to 59,525). The number of specialists rose 115 to 5,980, while administrators were down 13 to 3,514. This is the third consecutive year that the number of administrators has fallen statewide.

WISTAX researchers pointed out that statewide FTE student counts have been leveling off since the late 1990’s and have now declined for two consecutive years. Since 1995-96, the number of districts with declining enrollments has generally been rising. However, the number of declining-enrollment districts fell in 2004-05 to 239 from 256. Further, the number with at least three consecutive years of falling student counts dropped to 98 from 112 the year before. In 1995-96, only 10 districts were in that category.

Butternut and South Shore, in northern Wisconsin, have been hit particularly hard. In 2004-05, their memberships were down more than 40% from their post-1990 peaks (Butternut in 1991 and South Shore in 1992). Sixteen other districts had 2004-05 memberships that were more than 25% less than their recent peaks. Only 91 of the state’s 425 (Norris is excluded from SchoolFacts05 analysis) school districts, or 21.4%, had 2004-05 student counts that were post-1990 peaks.

With total enrollments falling and the number of teachers rising slightly, the statewide average student-teacher ratio declined. In 2004-05, there were 14.6 students for each FTE teacher statewide. According to WISTAX, that was slightly less than the 14.7 last year, but higher than in 2001-02 (14.5) and 2002-03 (14.4).

SchoolFacts is the largest published collection of Wisconsin school district data. The 164-page book contains information on school district demographics, test scores, revenues, spending, staffing and much more. SchoolFacts05 also contains summary data by cooperative educational service agency (CESA) and by district size. In addition, supplemental reports by athletic conference or for a customized group of districts can be purchased from WISTAX. Printing of SchoolFacts05 was underwritten by a grant from Sentry Insurance Foundation, Inc., the charitable arm of Sentry Insurance a Mutual Company, Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

SchoolFacts05 can be ordered by writing the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, 401 North Lawn Ave., Madison, WI 53704-5033, by calling 608.241.9789 or by visiting www.wistax.org. The price per copy is $29.95, plus tax. Discounts are available for purchases of five or more. o