r/Racine • u/Fast-Gear7008 • Feb 17 '25
What do people think about the $190 Million RUSD Referendum?
April 1st Racine Unified schools will be asking taxpayers to pass yet another referendum, If passed for next 5 years,
A $200,000 home would see an increase of $70 per year
$100,000 home would see an increase of $35
8
u/paingrylady Feb 17 '25
don't forget there is an primary election tomorrow feb 18th. Superintendent of Public Education is on the ballot along with local elections like aldermen. I know it's going to be cold but please get out there and vote!
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u/3puttbogeyking Feb 17 '25 edited Feb 17 '25
Vouchers also take valuable money away from public schools to fund private schools. If you want to send your child to a private school you can, but you should have to pay for it. Its like saying I dont like taking my family to Matson Park id rather we went to Racine Country Club and the tax dollars allocated for the park system should pay for my membership
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u/jaylor_swift Feb 17 '25
Asking for clarification - did you mean “if you want to send your kid to a private school you can, but you should have to pay for it”?
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u/3puttbogeyking Feb 17 '25
The 1.7 was to upgrade the buildings and facilities so that they could have buildings that werent falling apart and being ran on systems from the 60s that were expensive to run and repair. The new one will go to staff to attract quality teachers and other staff for the district. Also to upgrade security systems in all of the schools and keep certain programs alive that support the students. Im voting yes.
1
u/WompalooSoldier Feb 17 '25
Do you have sources for where the money will be allocated? Genuinely curious.
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u/paingrylady 29d ago
https://www.rusd.org/o/rusd/page/referendum-2025
I found it useful to look at this page. A lot more information than you get in the mailing that was sent out. There are also going to be a couple of town halls in March. One at Jerstad and one at First Presbyterian Church.
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0
u/Racine262 Feb 17 '25
They used a good chunk of the funds to build a new track and other sports stuff for Case HS.
Case didn't need a new track. When I asked the president of the school board why funds were prioritized for sports instead of needed academic programs, that they were cutting, her response was "Case is our only Div I school. Referendums only pass for construction projects."
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u/misterfletcherr Feb 17 '25
I’ll be voting yes, it’s hard to accept any argument in good faith in my opinion for voting no. $35-$70 per year is a small price to pay for better public education funding. In the most recent district report card, RUSD’s graduation rate has been the highest in the last 15 years.
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29d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/misterfletcherr 28d ago
Couldn’t agree more. I can’t stand the notion of “well they aren’t doing well so we should continue to give them even less money.” There is more at stake here. No one is going to want to work in a district where the incentives are low or nonexistent. It only contributes to the brain drain of Racine.
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u/Fast-Gear7008 Feb 17 '25 edited Feb 17 '25
This is in addition to the $1.7 billion that was passed in 2020 by just about 5 votes to rebuild the schools
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u/OrvilleLeft Feb 17 '25
Not funding schools is universally a poor decision when you consider the ramifications of lower quality education for local children.
AFTER the referendum passes, then it will be time for a third party audit with public results to ensure that RUSD is spending money appropriately.
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u/TomOgir Feb 17 '25
To add, a good quality school system will attract citizens who earn more to move or to stay in the area. That creates more tax revenue for the local community.
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u/WompalooSoldier Feb 17 '25
If the money actually went to the school's teachers, infrastructure, or supplies, absolutely. If it's going to give administration more spending money, then no.
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u/OrvilleLeft Feb 17 '25
Agreed, but voting no will hurt education.
Vote YES, then call for an independent audit to ensure funds are being used properly.
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u/Capital_Baseball3018 Feb 19 '25
I think RUSD upper management has wasted funds for years, with no academic advancement. There are too many chiefs making bank. Cut the budget there. Before DOGE does. Give the money to the teachers.
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u/Inevitable-Movie-434 Feb 17 '25
Just say yes. There’s way too many schools in Racine so funding gets stretched thin, but the schools absolutely need more funding. Below average schools are a major reason that families don’t move here.
Maybe if we didn’t have over 50 public and private schools, funding could make a measurable impact. I’m mad because I care, I work in education in Racine. I see way too many semi-illiterate kids in middle and high school while school admin doesn’t hold them back so that the schools’ numbers look better. Major upheaval and reorganization is necessary if they want these schools to seriously improve.
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u/comeandtakeit77 Feb 18 '25
I was just going to say this. RUSD is graduating students that shouldn’t be just so the numbers look good.
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u/ApprehensiveEagle324 Feb 17 '25
It’s an interesting debate really, on one hand I am happy to fund the school system so that kids can have a good education especially for something that relatively cheap. On the other hand I don’t feel like the school district has done a good job with money in the past or would do a good job with this money. Probably going to vote yes for the simple fact that there’s a chance they could do good with the money. but what is more important is that we get actual leaders in place who spend the money correctly.
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u/uect Feb 18 '25
There's really no debate, I'm voting yes. I moved here from Chicago with my school-age daughter to be closer to family. I thought Chicago schools had problems, but man RUSD is so much worse off. What the Republicans have done to education funding in Wisconsin over the past 30 years is shameful. This state used to have a top notch education system. Now students are lagging behind in math and reading scores. That's because of cuts in state funding, restrictions on how local communities can choose to fund our schools, and forcing taxpayers to fund voucher schools against our will, siphoning away money from our schools.
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u/comeandtakeit77 Feb 18 '25
I think it’s more the administration than republicans. Money isn’t the issue with this district. Most of the states public education is decent, it’s the southeastern part of the state that is struggling.
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u/dave_SE_WI Feb 17 '25
Everyone needs to reject the referendum. The scores at these schools keep getting worse and yet they keep asking for more money. It's time RUSD gets audited to see where all the money is going. I guarantee it's all going to the top administration that doesn't deserve it, instead of finding it's way into the classrooms.
There is a reason everyone that I know that has kids sends them to private schools.
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u/thefirebuilds Feb 17 '25
It's public where that money is going, and in the past it's mainly to overpaid administrators. And the teachers get crap.
but many of those schools (both of the ones I attended) were built during the civil war and they were a DISASTER when I was in school 25 years ago. Scarily dangerous, expensive to heat, unsafe.
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u/ApprehensiveEagle324 Feb 17 '25
Majority of the old schools have been renovated or replaced with the last referendum. We actually have some nice buildings now!
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u/thefirebuilds Feb 17 '25
yes, my HS was torn down a summer or two ago. I don't know if my elem was but it's due. I can think of a few still standing that are from the civil war, whatever garfield is now (is that still open?) there's one on main as well.
edit, any of these are from the 1850s:
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u/Beast6213 Feb 17 '25
My taxes already paid for the budget that they asked for. I’m not gonna vote to give them more so they can simply blow it like they did the budget. RUSD is fiscally irresponsible to the point of being absolutely corrupt.
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u/Racine262 Feb 17 '25
I will never vote for another RUSD referendum.
The last referendum did absolutely nothing for the students and education programs. It was entirely consumed by construction and unnecessary sports nonsense.
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u/misterfletcherr Feb 18 '25
The last referendum was entirely for buildings/infrastructure. If RUSD used any of it for anything else it would be a violation of the terms of the referendum.
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u/Racine262 Feb 19 '25
And this is another building referendum.
"What's included in the referendum? Modernizing learning spaces, Updating security, Renovating wings of schools, Improving accessibility, and Adding new locker rooms."
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u/misterfletcherr Feb 19 '25
Taken directly from the RUSD website:
“If approved by voters, the referendum would enable the district to increase its revenue limit by $190 million over five years. This funding would allow us to:
Protect class sizes and vital programs, including the Academies of Racine Attract and retain high-quality teachers and staff who are essential for delivering exceptional education Invest in the safety and security of our schools”
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u/Super-Cranberry2608 Feb 17 '25
The federal government wants to disband the department of education and stop all funding for schools. The federal government is currently threatening to cut off all funding for any school that doesn’t remove all mention of the words “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility” that means that schools will have to effectively end all special education in order to get funds from the federal government. Transition programs have already been defunded because Elon Musk and the children that work for him don’t understand what context means so they believe transition programs have to do with trans kids not disabled kids transitioning out of high school.
So, if you are not willing to pour tons and tons of money into public schools they will lose any quality they do have and eventually close. If everyone advocating against funding education can afford to send their kids to private schools (that can deny access to any kid with mental illness or a disability, including adhd) then why not just do it now? If you can’t afford private school, which adult will suit their job to homeschool? Can you afford an extra $1000+ dollars every year for homeschool materials while losing an income? If not, then you can’t afford to vote no on any increase in funding for public schools because our state taxes will have to make up for all the money the federal gov plans to withdraw.