INFORMATION FOR PRIVATE SCHOOL FAMILIES
If you’re a private school parent, you might have questions about why to support a public school referendum. There can be a lot of misinformation swirling around on social media, and it can be difficult to know what’s accurate when you’re not personally connected to the local public school system. Here are the facts:
Wisconsin’s chronic underfunding of public schools has made it difficult for Tosa and many other districts to cover the rising cost of educating our kids. While this is Tosa’s first operating referendum, 75% of Wisconsin school districts have already gone to referendum to cover basic operating expenses.
Tosa teachers — many of whom are our neighbors — are among the lowest-paid in the Milwaukee metro area. Even after a recent raise, Tosa’s educator pay remains in the bottom 25% for the region.
While private schools can cover ever-rising costs by increasing tuition and relying on support from the church or other philanthropic sources, public schools depend on state funding and local property taxes. Since 1993, state legislation has limited the amount of money that school districts are allowed to raise through ordinary channels. And for the past 15 years, the state has prevented those limits from rising as fast as inflation. While that affects every district, Tosa's per-pupil revenue limit is among the lowest in the area.
Public schools often serve students with higher needs and are legally required to provide services that private schools are not, including lunch at free and reduced rates for kids in poverty and special education services. In fact, our local public schools must provide special education services for private school students, too (even though districts don’t receive general funding for those private school students). The state reimburses only 30% of public schools’ special education costs, which means that school districts must pull funds from other areas to cover rising special education costs.
In 2018, our community passed a facilities referendum that covered $125 million out of $350 million in building needs (primarily rebuilding four elementary schools). The remaining deferred maintenance needs haven’t gone away and have only grown more expensive to fix. Also, our older elementary schools and high schools still aren’t fully accessible to people with disabilities.
The school district administration has recommended a long-range plan that calls for moving Tosa schools to a JK-6/7-12 model. That plan would shrink the district’s facilities footprint and could improve student outcomes by reducing building transitions (transitions can have a negative impact on student achievement and behavior). This plan has not yet been approved by the Wauwatosa School Board and is NOT what we are voting on this November. Learn more at the district’s Tosa 2075 page.
Why your private school family should vote Yes this November:
- Investments in local public schools make a difference. A 2022 study of Wisconsin school districts by a professor at Duke University found that funding from operating referenda has a positive, significant, and lasting effect on students’ dropout rates, test scores, and higher education enrollment when compared to districts that failed to pass an operating referendum.
- Strong public schools not only help our students — they also strengthen our communities by increasing property values, promoting a thriving economy, and building our future workforce.
- Public schools provide resources that the entire community can enjoy. The Wauwatosa School District’s buildings are a community gathering place for Scout troops, neighborhood associations, Tosa Rec classes and many other activities. We all benefit when these public spaces are well maintained and meet Americans With Disabilities Act standards.
- Doing nothing is not an option. If the operational referendum fails, the school district will have to make massive cuts: likely reducing staff and raising class sizes, freezing teacher pay (making it more difficult to attract and retain educators, including hard-to-fill positions like special education), and eliminating elective programming. If the facilities referendum fails, our older schools will continue to deteriorate, potentially leading to more costly repairs down the road.
STRONG SCHOOLS = STRONG COMMUNITY
“Even though our sons attended private school at the time, my husband and I voted Yes to the 2018 school referendum because we believe that strong public schools are key to maintaining our home value. Frankly, I was also concerned that a decline in public school quality might lead to more crime. Our boys later transitioned to our neighborhood public schools, and they’ve thrived academically and socially. But I worry what will happen if these referenda don’t pass — the school district will be forced to make significant cuts to staffing and programming to close the hole in its budget. That will hurt our kids and our community. No matter where our kids go, we should all support strong local public schools.”
— Jessica Kolbe, Pasadena resident