Wisconsin Public Television

Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Years of budget cuts, increased state funding for private schools, Act 10, an increase in teacher retirements and a decrease in young educators entering the workforce have reshaped the face of public education in Wisconsin over the past decade. But these changes are amplified in rural school districts around the state. Many of Wisconsin's rural counties are slowly losing population, which results in shrinking school enrollment numbers and local tax bases, putting pressure on districts budgets. With a growing teacher shortage nationwide, schools in sparsely populated areas struggle to attract new staff. At the same time, districts across the state are increasingly turning to referendums to fill the funding gap.
 
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Three Lakes, Phelps Teacher-Sharing Plan Points To Rural Districts' Future

Audio: 
Rob Mentzer
Wisconsin Public Radio
Shared via
WPR
Two rural Northwoods school districts will share a chemistry teacher, and they say the blended online learning program could be a model for districts across the state.
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Judge Rules Merrill District Can't Close 116-Year-Old Rural School

Audio: 
Rob Mentzer
Wisconsin Public Radio
Shared via
WPR
A rural school in north-central Wisconsin that had been targeted to close by the Merrill Area Public School district can stay open through at least June 2022, a judge has ruled.
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Wisconsin Loosens Teacher Licensing Requirements, But Training Pipeline Still Shrinking

Scott Gordon
WisContext
School districts across Wisconsin started the 2016-17 school year with unfilled vacancies for teaching jobs.
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Wisconsin's Rural Districts Forced To Ask For More Funding At The Ballot Box

Scottie Lee Meyers
Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin's rural school districts are increasingly relying on asking voters directly for money in response to the decreasing amount they're receiving in state funding over the past half decade.
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Two Wisconsin Schools Superintendents Reflect On Winning, Losing Referendums

Scott Gordon
WisContext
With the state cutting aid to public schools and capping how much money they can raise through tax increases without voters' approval, school districts around Wisconsin have been seeking more funding through local referendums, especially those in rural areas.
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Western Wisconsin Schools Grapple With Falling Status Of Teachers

Scott Gordon
WisContext
School districts in western Wisconsin, along with their counterparts across the state, are increasingly finding it hard to recruit and retain teachers.
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

The Evolving Terms Of Sparsity Aid For Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Scott Gordon
WisContext
The amount of money a school district in Wisconsin receives from the state in a given year depends on a series of funding equations that factor in enrollment, student poverty, local property values, transportation needs and other criteria.
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Declining Enrollment Intensifies Funding 'Carousel' For Rural Schools

Scott Gordon
WisContext
Schools in rural areas of Wisconsin with decreasing populations also face a decline in student enrollment, a trend causing budget anxieties for district administrators.
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

'Sparse' School Districts In Wisconsin Still Face Long-Term Uncertainty

Scott Gordon
WisContext
As students returned to classes around Wisconsin, uncertainty among school districts that rely on state funding lasted right up through the end of the Legislature's much-prolonged biennial budget process.
Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Enrollment Declines, Funding Sources Put Wisconsin's Rural Schools In A Bind

Taylor Palmby
The Observatory
Since the 2013-2014 school year, Wisconsin school districts have seen a 1.5 percent decline in pre-K-12 enrollment, with some districts seeing gains and others even bigger losses.