Wisconsin School District Finance Challenges

Alan Borsuk:

What's going to happen over the next several years to the fairly normal school district in Wisconsin? I've seen a serious and well-based forecast, and it's not pretty if things go forward by the current rules.

You're right if you think the changes wrought by Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the Legislature sharply trimmed how much schools have available to spend per student but also reduced how much they have to spend on employee benefits - and that, for the 2011-'12 school year, it was a more or less balanced deal from the standpoint of most school districts.

But let's look down the road for Fairly Normal, which is what Bob Borch calls the middle-of-the-pack, composite school district he uses in making forecasts of what lies ahead financially.

Borch is an old hand at school finances. He worked for several school districts in the Milwaukee area, including 23 years as business manager of Elmbrook Schools. Now he works for PMA Financial as a senior financial adviser. The firm does financial consulting work with, among other clients, 140 school districts in Wisconsin. Borch is apolitical, as is PMA. But Borch knows school spending inside and out and, as Jeff Carew, senior vice president of PMA put it, "Data is data. It doesn't lie."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 12, 2012 1:12 AM
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