Wisconsin Farmer’s Union Convention January 24, 2015 Jerry Fiene, WiRSA Executive Director Strong Schools, Strong Communities

Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance (WiRSA) Unique Organization Only group to solely represent RURAL INTERESTS Only group to have all components of public education sitting down together to make decisions o Board members o Administrators o Teachers o CESAs o Post-secondary Only group where the singular focus is equal opportunities for rural children Unique Organization Only group to solely represent RURAL INTERESTS Only group to have all components of public education sitting down together to make decisions o Board members o Administrators o Teachers o CESAs o Post-secondary Only group where the singular focus is equal opportunities for rural children Established 2010

WiRSA Purpose To work collaboratively to solve issues pertinent to rural schools and communities To build a clearinghouse of research and educational best practices for rural schools To advocate for rural schools and communities at the local, state and federal level To focus on children first To work collaboratively to solve issues pertinent to rural schools and communities To build a clearinghouse of research and educational best practices for rural schools To advocate for rural schools and communities at the local, state and federal level To focus on children first

WiRSA Membership & Accomplishments Current membership o 120 school districts o 10 CESAs o 11 institutions of higher education o 15 associate members o 19 individuals Major accomplishments o Established positive working relationship with legislators, DPI, other education-related and rural-focused organizations o Strong communication system built around website, electronic newsletter, member mail lists o Building a repository of rural best practice o Significant input and influence on the budget and legislative processes Current membership o 120 school districts o 10 CESAs o 11 institutions of higher education o 15 associate members o 19 individuals Major accomplishments o Established positive working relationship with legislators, DPI, other education-related and rural-focused organizations o Strong communication system built around website, electronic newsletter, member mail lists o Building a repository of rural best practice o Significant input and influence on the budget and legislative processes

Wisconsin Out of 425 school districts in Wisconsin, approximately 2/3 are rural Rural districts cover an average of 170 square miles, which is 50% more than non-rural districts Rural districts have an average of 650 students or less than 5 students per square mile o 36 districts have less than 2 students per square mile

Wisconsin, cont. 96% of districts with less than 1,000 students are rural Nearly all rural school districts are declining in enrollment o A 7% average decline in enrollment over 10 years for rural school districts compares to an average of 3% decline in non-rural districts o Rural districts’ revenues rose 26% in last 10 years compared to 39% for non- rural districts Rural school districts are dramatically increasing in poverty

Poverty is Growing in WI… Change in Free & Reduced Lunch ( ) Source: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. School Finance Maps. In many rural districts, more than half the students are eligible for free-and- reduced lunch. Wisconsin FRL Rate Doubles 2001: 21% 2012: 43%

School Funding Basics (Simplified) Sources of Revenue: State Equalization Aid (tied to local property values) & local property taxes up to the district’s revenue limit o Comprises 85+% of total revenue State Categorical Aids (Transportation, Sparsity, Special Education, SAGE, etc.) Federal Categorical Aids (Title I, IDEA (Special Ed), Technology, etc.) Local dues & fees Debt Service & Community Service (if applicable)

What is the Revenue Limit & How is it Determined Revenue limits implemented in Revenue limits were designed to restrict the amount of revenue a school district can raise through local property taxes and general school aids annually on a per-pupil basis Very few and limited exemptions to revenue limit REVENUE LIMIT – GENERAL STATE AID = PROPERTY TAX LEVY (Equalization, High Poverty)

What is the Revenue Limit & How is it Determined, cont. Revenue limit is calculated based on prior year per pupil base limit plus any allowable (designated in biennial budget) increases to the base multiplied by the district’s three-year rolling pupil membership average In recent years, the allowable increase has been very minimal and in the biennial budget, it was a decrease of $550 per student Declining enrollments further decrease the revenue limit over time In , 80% of the school districts had a revenue limit of $9,050 to $10,900 per student

Referenda to Exceed Revenue Limits Districts can raise additional revenue through property taxes by going to referendum o Referendum to issue debt (building or remodeling) o Referendum to exceed the revenue limit Recurring – additional revenue limit authority is permanently added to the base Non-recurring – additional revenue limit authority is temporarily added to district’s base for a specified number of years

Referenda to Exceed Revenue Limits, cont. There have been nearly 1,000 referenda to exceed the revenue limit over the past 15 years o Some are to fund additional costs of operating new schools o Most are to maintain existing programs Over 80% of referenda to exceed revenue limits to maintain existing programs are held in rural school districts Many rural school districts are becoming referendum dependent in order to exist

What Makes Rural School Districts Great Above average in student achievement Significantly above average in graduation rates Higher participation in extra-curricular activities which positively influence attendance and achievement School district functions much more like a community instead of a bureaucracy

What Makes Rural School Districts Great, cont. Typically, the school district is one of the largest employers in the community which contributes positively to the local economy Greater parental involvement School is the social hub for the community

What are the Issues/Challenges Facing Rural Schools Continuous decline in enrollment o In 10 years, 123 districts declined at least 10%, 51 declined more than 20% and 5 declined more than 35% Declining enrollment combined with recent reductions or minimal increases to the allowable per pupil expenditure in the revenue limit formula has resulted in a decreasing revenue limit for many rural districts o 44 rural districts had a lower revenue limit in 2013 than they had in 2003

What are the Issues/Challenges Facing Rural Schools, cont. In rural school districts, the lack of economies of scale, sparsity and fixed costs (insurance, utilities) prevents districts from proportionately reducing costs to match flat or declining revenue limits Most rural districts have had no choice but to either cut deeply into student opportunities (foreign language, AP classes, career & technical education, art, music, library, guidance, reading specialist, etc.) or pass a referendum to exceed the revenue limit

What are the Issues/Challenges Facing Rural Schools, cont. Recent years have taken a toll on administrative services, support services, building maintenance and technology infrastructure in rural districts Teacher/administrator recruitment and retention is an emerging issue for rural schools o Increased part-time positions leads to greater turnover o Since 2010, there has been a significant decrease in under- graduates enrolled in teacher training programs o 85% of education graduates in 2009 planned to teach until retirement compared to 39% of education graduates in 2013 o Salary disparity between rural and non-rural school districts is significantly increasing

What are the Issues/Challenges Facing Rural Schools, cont. High transportation costs in rural districts diverts money from classroom instruction o 75 rural districts with less than 3.6 students per square mile exceeds the average transportation costs for all remaining districts by 50% or $225,000 for a district of 750 students 200 school districts have fewer than 8 students per square mile, 100 less than 4 students per square mile and 36 less than 2 students per square mile

What are the Issues/Challenges Facing Rural Schools, cont. Sparsity and geography results in many rural school districts spending more than $800 per student in transportation costs State transportation aids cover less than 10% of the total costs As a result, rural school districts have less revenue per student to put into the classroom

What are the Issues/Challenges Facing Rural Schools, cont. Reduced support for special education from both the state and federal government has reduced the resources available for regular school programs for all students Lack of adequate bandwidth prevents many rural communities from growing and attracting business and rural schools from taking advantage of effective application of technology o 40% of the state’s rural population does not receive high- speed Internet service o Technology infrastructure in most rural schools needs to be updated

What Does the Future Hold Private school vouchers have been expanded (with caps) statewide draining resources from public education Proposals are being made to remove caps and increase financial support for private school vouchers – What will this mean for public school support? Currently, 1.5% of every property owner’s school tax dollar is being used to support independent charter schools in Milwaukee (legislation will again be proposed to expand independent charters statewide)

What Does the Future Hold Without significant modifications to Wisconsin’s School Finance System, more programs and student opportunities will have to be eliminated in rural public school districts Without significant modifications to Wisconsin’s School Finance System, the future of many more rural school districts will likely be tied to a “Referendum to Exceed the Revenue Limit”

Most Kids Attend Public School Total Enrollment ( ) Public Schools: 875,000 Private Schools: 120,000 Source: Department of Public Instruction. Public School Enrollment Data Private School Enrollment Data

Charter Schools & Independent (2r) Charters Schools In , Wisconsin had:  242 charters* schools with  47,600 students. Charters are public schools that are generally authorized by the local school board. However, Milwaukee and Racine have independent charter schools that are created by: UW – Milwaukee (12) City of Milwaukee (10) UW – Parkside (1) Milwaukee Area Technical College (0) The 23 Independent (2r) charter schools enroll 8,400 students, but are funded differently. Independent charter schools are 100% state funded (no property tax), but only receive $7,925 per-pupil ($8,075 in 14-15). However, this state funding is created by withholding ≈1.4% of every district’s general aid and redirecting it to the independent charters. Local districts then can increase their property taxes to make up the difference – essentially raising property taxes statewide. * This includes instrumentality, non-instrumentality, independent and virtual charter schools. Source: Department of Public Instruction. Charter Schools in Wisconsin.

Voucher Programs Started Small, But Have Grown Over Time In 1998, the State Supreme Court ruled that religious schools could participate in the voucher program. In , the Voucher Program cost ≈ $734,000 In , the Voucher Program will cost: ≈ $212,000,000 Source: Department of Public Instruction. Private School Choice Programs - Facts & Figures.

Most Students in Voucher Schools are Publicly-Funded Milwaukee PCP average: 79% Racine PCP average: 44% Wisconsin PCP average: 4% All PCP schools average:64% The % of voucher-funded students in participating schools (particularly K-8 schools) tends to grow over time. Source: Department of Public Instruction. Private School Choice Programs - Facts & Figures.

…And Most Statewide Voucher Students Come From Private Schools Statewide Choice Program Applications: 3/4ths of the students were already enrolled in private schools Source: Department of Public Instruction. Private School Choice Programs - Facts & Figures.

Appleton - 2Madison - 1 Beloit & Janesville - 1Manitowoc - 2 Bonduel - 1Marshfield - 1 Chippewa Falls - 1Menasha & Neenah - 1 Eau Claire & Altoona - 1Oshkosh - 1 Fond du Lac - 2Plymouth - 1 Green Bay & De Pere - 4Stevens Point & Plover - 1 Kenosha - 2Wausau & Rothschild - 1 LaCrosse & Onalaska - 1Wisconsin Rapids - 2 Most Statewide Voucher Schools are Located in Larger Communities

A Voucher in Every Backpack? What would universal vouchers with public school funding parity cost? Let’s do the math… Total additional (marginal) cost for universal vouchers: $ 1,007,003,200 ($1 billion) Source: Department of Public Instruction State Budget Information. Note: calculations are updated to determine marginal, rather than total program costs.

Speaker’s Task Force on Rural Schools Established by Speaker Robin Voss in September 2013 Eight rural Republican representatives and four rural Democratic representatives appointed to Task Force led by Rep. Rob Swearingen, Rhinelander and Vice-Chair Rep. Fred Clark, Baraboo Conducted 12 rural school site visits and held 6 public hearings across the state with invited and public testimony

Speaker’s Task Force on Rural Schools, cont. Reports issued in May 2014 (posted on WiRSA website) o o eport%205.7.pdf Reports of findings substantiated the significant issues facing rural schools o Chair Report made 17 recommendations for remedy o Vice-Chair Report made 14 recommendations for remedy All testimonies are posted on the WiRSA website:

Speaker’s Task Force on Rural Schools, cont. WiRSA testimony outlined several solutions that were included in the Task Force recommendations (posted on WiRSA website ) o TEACH II funding for technology support and expansion in rural schools o Expansion of Sparsity Aid to include all districts with less than 10 students per square mile o Expansion of transportation aid formula o Rural teacher recruitment and retention through creation of a college loan forgiveness program for extended service in a rural school district o Support for Whole Grade Sharing between rural school districts o Support flexibility in teacher licensure and mandate relief