14% Tax Increase for a School District?

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In these tough economic times, we're all forced to find ways to cut our discretionary spending. We go out to eat a bit less, we don't drive if we don't have to, and we start looking for bargain prices instead of buying the name brands we enjoy. Not the government... For those of you who don't know it, public school districts in Wisconsin have their own tax levy authority. That's right, they aren't merely part of the city or county budget (although they get money from those also), but they put their own levy on our property taxes. The powers that be in Milwaukee Public Schools have decided that their need for money in these trying times is more important than anyone else's. They recently voted in a 14% tax increase. That's not an increase up to 14%, that is 14% more. This, for a failing school system where a starting Freshman only has about a 46% chance of graduating. This from a failing school system where teachers are reprimanded for "challenging the students academically". This from a school system that already gets $14,503 per student. How many of you work in school systems that get that much money per student? Furthermore, the school board did not include a single cut in the budget. So, in reality, the MPS school board handed everyone a cut in pay... except themselves.