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"Our Schools are Stretched to their Limits"
Fresh off her re-election, Wisconsin’s state superintendent is once again asking for more money.
Superintendent Jill Underly on Thursday said Tuesday’s wave of local school referendum questions shows a need for more money from the state.
“Our schools are stretched to their limits, being asked to do more with fewer resources,” Underly said in a statement. “This is a challenge that affects every corner of Wisconsin. To make up for state underfunding, districts are increasingly turning to local communities to raise property taxes, which is simply not sustainable. The upcoming state budget must be the turning point.”
The Department of Public Instruction’s school referendum tracker shows 56 of the 95 tax hike questions on the April ballot passed. Voters rejected another 38.
Underly said local schools are going to voters more and more to deal with ”long-standing needs and chronic underfunding.”
But Wisconsin is spending more on public education now than ever before.
The current state budget spends $17.5 billion on the Department of Public Instruction.
Underly has asked to take that to $22.2 billion. Gov. Evers has said Underly’s budget request is too large. He too wants to spend more on public schools, but he only wants to go to $21.2 billion.
Underly has made a habit out of asking for more money for public schools.
She made the same request last year, and again the year before when lawmakers were discussing the previous two-year state budget.
Underly asked for more money again Wednesday, at the first public budget hearing in Kaukauna.
“As state superintendent, elected by the people just yesterday, I urge the committee to listen to the voices of Wisconsinites - they want investment in public education,” Underly said.
Republican lawmakers, who will write the state budget, have not yet said how they intend to spend on schools in the state, but they’ve been clear it won’t be nearly as much as Underly wants.
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