“Seventy-two Wisconsin school districts are going to referendum in April seeking just over $1 billion from taxpayers…” was recently reported by Wisconsin Watch which is an independent, non-profit news service that covers state government, education, housing, employment, agriculture and more. Four of these school districts are Blair-Taylor School District, Holmen School District, Melrose-Mindoro School District, and Sparta Area School District. These four districts are the only four in CESA 4 which is the regional state education office in West Salem with regional responsibility for the Coulee Region and quite a bit more.

Concurrently, a recent Marquette University Law School poll indicated a record high 60% of registered voters favored reducing property taxes over increasing spending on public education. That poll further indicated that 57% of voters would vote against a school referendum. Sixty-two of these school districts are having an operational referendum to cover normal recurring costs while a dozen are hoping to fund a capital construction project. (Two districts are having both.) In 2024 there was a 70% success rate for these referendums; and reportedly over 1 in 5 of this year’s referendums follow a failed effort in 2025.

In February a small but diverse group of parents, educators, students, school districts, unions, and the Wisconsin Public Education Network filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin lawmakers over school funding. The plaintiffs (none from the Coulee Region) are asking the court to mandate the Legislature to “provide all children with an equal opportunity for a sound basic education”. The complaint tied the decline in standardized academic scores to the decrease in state funding for education. One example of their many concerns: Wisconsin’s K-12 public schools have gone without cost-of-living adjustments since 2009.

In times like this many point to the declining number of students in the school district. A Wisconsin Public Radio news story was recently titled “68 out of 72 Wisconsin counties saw a decline in public school students”. The sub-headline was “Schools across the state considering closures, consolidation, operational referendums”. Deep in the article it gave a potential clue to the situation “DPI released its public school enrollment numbers last week. The state is expected to release enrollment numbers for private and charter schools in the coming weeks.” (Will home school data be close behind?) Basic educational economics equates state aid with the number of students, and if the students are elsewhere the money is gone.

The Sparta Area School District (SASD) is one of the Coulee Region School Districts where the voters are facing a referendum on Election Day, April 7th. A few years ago the SASD closed a small rural elementary school in Cataract and many of the students and some older siblings apparently transferred out to Melrose-Mindoro or Bangor. Less students meant less state aid, but the Legislature was quickly blamed for less state aid. About the same time the SASD invested many dollars into the football field and one of their sales appeals was the economic impact from the new field being able to host regional play-off games which (to my knowledge) hasn’t happened yet. The SASD is asking for $1.8 million for three years or a total of $5.4 million; but they have over $9 million in an available savings account. Faithful readers of the local bi-weekly newspaper will have seen several letters about the referendum, many recommending a “no” vote. There were also a series of three news articles about the SASD finances, or things that directly impact SASD finances that might lead a voter to vote “no”.

While there are a lot of considerations unique to the SASD, these school district referendums are bigger than the local district. Students that misbehave or are English language challenged aren’t limited to the local school. Change is needed from state government in Madison – both from the legislators and from the Department of Public Instruction. The State Senate Democrats have just recently expressed they want to make frequent school referendums “a thing of the past”. Educational change is bigger than just paying the bills. Change cannot come from Madison alone.

Dramatic, or traumatic, change must include all of us – students, teachers, administrators, school board members, legislators, parents, and the voting citizens too! If a referendum passes and the “problem” is forgotten, then the problem has simply been kicked down the street; not solved.

Get informed, get involved, and vote on April 7th (especially if there is a referendum). Then, let’s put education on the ballot in November!