Record Number Of School Referendums In Election

Advocates for Wisconsin’s public schools have been sounding the alarm for years that funding for education was about to hit a fiscal cliff of sorts. Now that federal pandemic relief funding has expired, many districts in the state have or are about to ask for more money from local taxpayers to continue to pay for teachers and facilities. On Tuesday, 140 referendum questions from over  120 school districts in Wisconsin will be seeking a collective $4.2 billion for facility projects, operations, and in some cases, consolidation efforts. The number of districts and questions on ballots next week are both records.  All told, between both the spring primary and election in 2024, districts sought $1.67 billion in additional local taxes to pay for school services, teachers, and facilities. Added to that is nearly $4.28 billion in the fall primary and election for a 2024 total of $5.95 billion in referendum requests by public school districts in Wisconsin.