Scott Girard:

Take the Madison Metropolitan and Richland school districts as an example. In 2010, MMSD’s average salary was $52,022 with average benefits worth $23,536. The Richland School District, about 60 miles away, had an average salary of $45,799 but benefits worth $28,040, on average.

In the 2019-20 school year, MMSD’s average salary had risen to $60,556 with benefits about the same, at $23,376. That overall compensation increase of 11.1% still lagged the 20.7% inflation over the decade.

In Richland, while the average salary grew to $48,868, the average benefits remain well below what they were a decade ago, now at $23,767. Average total compensation in that district, then, has fallen from $73,839 to $72,632 without taking inflation into account.

Madison’s (property, income and subsidy) tax base is quite different than Richland, fueled by substantial back door federal taxpayer electronic medical record subsidies.

Redistributed Wisconsin taxpayer funds (local property taxes, redistributed federal taxpayer funds and various “grants” comprise a substantial portion of K-12 budgets):

Richland school district (1,211 students):
2010-2011: $10,165,666.73

2019-2020: $11,656,628.31 (14.66% increase)

Richland County Median Household Income (2019): $51,947

Madison school district (26,151 students, including 4k):
2010-2011: $78,310,738

2019-2020: $88,296,683 (12.75% increase)

Dane County Median Household Income (2019): $73,893 (42% > Than Richland)

Finally, K-12 school districts have received substantial new redistributed federal taxpayer (and borrowed) funds through recent legislation.