Wisconsin voters saw a record number of school referendums on their ballots in 2024 and approved a record number of funding requests, according to a report released Thursday.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum survey found that school districts asked voters to sign a record 241 referendums, surpassing the old record of 240 set in 1998. The referendums demanded a total of $5.9 billion, a new record. The old record was $3.3 billion from 2022.
Voters approved 169 referenda, breaking the old record of 140 set in 2018. They authorized a record $4.4 billion in new funding for school districts, including $3.3 billion in debt. The old record, not adjusted for inflation, was $2.7 billion in 2020.
A total of 145 districts — more than a third of the state’s 421 public school districts — have adopted a referendum in 2024. Voters in the Madison Metropolitan School District approved the largest referendums in the state and also signed a record $507 million debt referendum. as a $100 million operational referendum.
The report attributes the rising number of referendums to the rise in inflation exceeding the increase in the state’s per-pupil revenue caps, which limit how much money districts can bring in through property taxes and state aid.
Increasing pressure to raise wages and the loss of federal aid in the COVID-19 pandemic also played a role, according to the report.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum is a nonpartisan, independent policy research organization.
