Wisconsin voters approved 43 out of 51 school funding referendums in this fall’s election. Combined with those approved in the spring election, voters have passed a total of 95 school funding measures this year. According to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the near-record approval rate is the second highest since 1993 and […]
Analyzing Madison’s 2021 Proposed Budget
The city of Madison has entered the dead heat of budget season, as Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and members of the city council debate her proposed 2021 Operating and Capital budgets. This year has proven an exceptionally difficult one for the city to navigate — as the COVID-19 pandemic has mired the budgeting process in economic […]
Madison’s cost to service state facilities is growing, as state ...
The cost Wisconsin’s cities incur from maintaining and serving state facilities have steadily climbed since the mid-1980s. But, for the past ten years, reimbursements on those costs from the state government have remained the same, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The result is an ever-increasing financial burden on cities, forcing […]
Public Schools Face Uncertain Budget Future
Wisconsin state government got some good fiscal news when the nonpartisan legislative fiscal Bureau reported on August 31st that tax revenues were still relatively high this year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. That makes it less likely that the legislature will have to enact a budget repair bill for the current year. While the 2020 budget […]
“An existential threat:” how COVID-19 has affected Wiscons...
Since the beginning of the pandemic, theaters, galleries and museums have indefinitely closed their doors. As these centers of arts and culture begin to reopen, we’re just now beginning to get a detailed look at how COVID-19 has impacted Wisconsin’s cultural institutions. For a by-the-numbers breakdown of how Wisconsin’s arts and artists have been impacted […]
“A Teacher Who Looks Like Me”
Wisconsin has had a difficult time adjusting to its growing diversity. Report after report have shown the Badger State to be among the worst in the nation when it comes to racial inequities. Wisconsin public schools, once lauded for their overall quality, have shown particularly sharp divides between white students and their African-American, Latino, Native […]
