Recalled Sen. Van Wanggaard see's big property tax increase, while pushing reported drop of 1 percent.

Recall alert: NEWS you’ll love to pass along:

Stateline: Republican State Sen. Van Wanggaard (said) “you can’t continue to say we’re going to continue to raise taxes again.” 

You’ve heard it over and over; 'Property taxes for schools actually dropped by 1 percent.' Oops, it’s opposite day for Republicans again. I want you to remember the following glaring truth Wanggaard will have to defend in his recall: 

Racine’s school district increased its levy. Wanggaard’s own property taxes, he says, went up 11 percent. The senator blames the local school district for not cutting its costs aggressively enough. The district points the finger back at state government for cutting its aid. 

Did you ever see a Republican freeloader ever take responsibility for any one of their legislative mistakes? Not this time either.

One issue no one ever talks about is the per pupil spending cuts.

The state decides not only how much money to give to schools, but also how much schools can spend per child. In an unusual move, lawmakers last year reduced that per-pupil spending limit. For Racine, the new spending level was $542 lower than the previous year. Meanwhile, the state reduced its share of per-pupil funding by $700. According to Dave Hazen, the school district’s chief financial officer, this left the district with only two choices. It could further cut its spending per student, which is already among the lowest in the state. Or it could raise property taxes to fill the gap. The school board chose to raise property taxes. The district knew it had the upper hand in negotiations but did not press further, Hazen explains, because it wanted to preserve employee morale. “You have to consider … employee groups … are demonized in the press and everywhere else about what’s going on,” he says. “In order to maintain morale and a working environment that is good for the students, our board was looking at that.” 

But morale and the students classroom environment is not, I repeat, is not a concern. The truth is, whether intentional or one of those unintended consequence, the importance of what goes on in the classroom  is not a concern:

Officials from the Racine Education Association, the local teachers union, say that the cuts to public schools are based more on politics than finances. “The governor and the majority of the legislature, they’re too far away from schools to actually know what’s going on inside of them. And they’ve shown a considerable disinterest in knowing,” says union president Pete Knotek. “They want the voice of educators suppressed. And that doesn’t bode well for the future of Wisconsin’s schools or Racine’s schools.”