More Reason to Vote ‘No’ on MSN Schools Question

The Madison school district just tripped over a pile of cash. So why do they need an extra $100 million from taxpayers?

This morning it was reported that the district will receive an unexpected windfall in state school aids. Up until now they had to work off of rough estimates, but now the final number is in and it’s much bigger than had been anticipated. Moreover, based on the way the formula works it means more money from the state for years to come.

So why does the district need the referendum now? And why should taxpayers take a $340 hit? The district wants to emphasize the point that the estimated tax increase for next year, should the referendum pass, has gone from over $300 to only $40. But that ignores the fact that, if the referendum fails, taxpayers will get a $300 break. And in an environment where affordable housing is a top priority that would be a big deal.

It comes down to this: would you rather have your school taxes go up by $40 or down by $300?

And, of course, all of the underlying reasons to send the school board a message about their priorities and their performance are still very much there. This is a district with some of the lowest test scores and some of the highest absenteeism rates in the state, a district where the racial achievement gap is the highest in the state and where there were 800 police calls to schools last year. And it’s a district so badly managed that they plan to take a decade to fix a $3 million shortfall in their free lunch program. A district so fiscally undisciplined that it will add 100 new staff positions to schools that have seen declining enrollments for a decade.

And now, if you agreed with that but you were concerned that the district still needed the money, well, turns out they don’t.