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Something to Consider About the Current Budget Debate
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 16, 2017
As we think about the provisions of the Assembly Education Plan, particularly the proposed increase in the low revenue ceiling and the impact the plan would have on the Governor’s proposed $200/$204 per pupil categorical aid increase, it is easy for us to envision the long-term positive impact for low-revenue districts to raise their per pupil revenue cap.
What about the long-term impact of reducing the per pupil categorical aid by $50 per pupil in the first year and $54 in the second year of the 2017-19 biennium?
The Assembly Education Plan would increase the per pupil categorical by $150 per pupil in 2017-18 and an additional $200 per pupil in 2018-19, not the $200/$204 proposed by the Governor. This results in a $50 per pupil reduction to the Governor’s proposal in 2017-18 and a $54 reduction in 2018-19 (and arguably every year thereafter in the per pupil categorical aid program).
Now that the per pupil categorical aid program has been a part of Wisconsin’s school finance landscape for the last several state budgets, many Capitol observers believe it has become a relatively permanent fixture of our school finance system. The higher you build the payment over time, the more difficult it is for politicians to repeal it or reduce it.
So then, assuming the per pupil categorical aid remains a fixture of the Wisconsin school finance system for the next decade, wouldn’t the “loss” of $50 +$54 per pupil in this budget equate to a ten-year “loss” of $536 per pupil? (That would be 9x$54 + $50 = $536)
Something to consider.
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