Opinion ID: 2211776
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: the school levy tax credit

Text: ś 13. The school levy tax credit is paid to municipalities, in contrast to equalization aid and categorical aid, which are paid to school districts. Elementary and Secondary Sch. Aids at 1. See also Wis. Stat. §§ 20.835(3)(b), 79.10, 79.14. The tax credit is designed to reduce property taxes. Id. In 1998-99, on a statewide level, the school levy credit reduced the school portion of tax bills by 16.8% on average. Elementary and Secondary Sch. Aids at 29. ś 14. In addition to the school levy tax credit, district increases funded by local taxes are limited by a fixed amount, termed a revenue limit. Wis. Stat. § 121.91. Revenue limits may only be exceeded if residents in a district pass a voter referendum. § 121.91(3). A school district may be penalized if the school district exceeds the maximum allowed revenue under § 121.91. § 121.92.
ś 15. We now turn to an examination of the procedural history of this case. The Plaintiffs initiated this action in October 1995. Thereafter, the president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) and other teachers (the Intervening Plaintiffs) intervened. The Plaintiffs, Intervening Plaintiffs, and Defendants filed cross-motions for summary judgment on February 24, 1997. ś 16. The Petitioners [13] contend that the needs of Wisconsin students are changing and that the school finance system has not kept up with those needs. They contend that the perceived inequities in the system violate the uniformity clause and the Equal Protection Clause, contrary to the Wisconsin Constitution. The inequality stems from a failure to adequately adjust for the disparity in tax base. (Pl.-Pet'r's Br. at 4.) As a result, property wealth dictates educational opportunity in this state, the Petitioners argue. ś 17. According to the Petitioners, categorical aids have been reduced, which effectively restricts district spending by preventing the school board from compensating for the reduced state aid with additional property tax revenue. (Intervening Pl.-Pet'r's Br. at 12.) This results in school districts shifting funds away from regular programs and into categorical programs. As a result, some districts are unable to retain teaching positions or maintain school facilities. Other districts have cut their offerings in advanced placement or multiple foreign languages. ś 18. The Petitioners further contend that revenue limits prevent school districts from raising necessary funding. For instance, revenue limits prohibit school districts from purchasing and implementing new technology. ś 19. Moreover, the Petitioners argue that there has been a significant increase in high need students in Wisconsin. High need students include impoverished children, disabled children, and children with limited English skills. Additional programs have been mandated by either the state or the federal government for these high need students, but without necessarily increasing funding for the programs. ś 20. Finally, the Intervening Plaintiffs-Petitioners contend that charter schools and the Milwaukee Parental School Choice Program pull students out of the public schools. This in turn decreases the number of pupils, or members, in a school district, reducing the amount of funding the district receives. ś 21. The circuit court, the Honorable Richard J. Callaway presiding, found that under Kukor, 148 Wis. 2d 469, the school finance system is constitutional and granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. The court first noted that all children in this state have an equal right to education. However, the Plaintiffs mistakenly framed the issue as whether the State distributes its school money in a manner which equalizes local budgets rather than whether the children of Wisconsin. . .are receiving the education to which they are entitled. The court then concluded that the Plaintiffs and Intervening Plaintiffs had not overcome the strong presumption of constitutionality that statutes enjoy. See, e.g., United States v. National Dairy Prod. Corp., 372 U.S. 29, 32 (1963). ś 22. The school finance system does not violate the uniformity clause of the constitution, the circuit court found, because according to this court's interpretation of the uniformity clause in Kukor, 148 Wis. 2d at 492 (Ceci, J. plurality); 148 Wis. 2d at 514 (Steinmetz, J., concurring), the constitution does not require that the educational opportunities provided by school districts be absolutely equal. ś 23. The circuit court also determined that the school finance system does not violate equal protection. The court repeatedly noted that the Plaintiffs and Intervening Plaintiffs failed to give virtually any evidence relating to the quality of education students receive in Wisconsin, and therefore, the court could not ascertain whether students are being deprived of their right to an education. The state has significantly increased its total state aid to the public schools, and the increase in state aid outweighs any disproportionate distribution of tax credit to wealthy property owners. The court further recognized that the current system provides schools across the board with more state aid than the system at issue in Kukor. The schools face the same problems that they did when the Kukor court reviewed the system, and the Kukor court was unpersuaded by those facts. ś 24. In sum, the circuit court concluded that the Plaintiffs and Intervening Plaintiffs did not demonstrate the school finance system's negative impact on education. Without such evidence, the court had no way to ascertain the magnitude of any deficiencies in the State's effort to fulfill its duty to provide students with a basic education. ś 25. The court of appeals agreed that the plaintiffs did not demonstrate any material difference between the current system and the system at issue in Kukor. Vincent, slip op. at 6. In other words, no significant disparities exist between the aid given under either system. Slip op. at 28-29. Moreover, the court found no evidence of children who do not receive at least a basic education. Slip op. at 32-33. In fact, the court concluded, the evidence suggests that the state is providing greater aid to school districts than it did at the time Kukor was decided. Slip op. at 33. ś 26. Judge Dykman concurred in the court of appeals' decision, but noted the record demonstrated that lower spending school districts are laboring under very difficult conditions. Vincent, slip op. at 35 (Dykman, J., concurring). The concurrence also lamented that Kukor contained no test for the court of appeals to use in assessing the current finance system and that substantially improved programs are needed in our less affluent school districts. Slip op. at 36. ś 27. In part II of this opinion we analyze art. X, § 3 in light of its constitutional history and this court's past precedent. We affirm Kukor, but explain further the Kukor definition of equal opportunity for an education. In parts III and IV we address whether the current school finance system violates art. X, § 3 and art. I, § 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution.