Common School Fund || Wisconsin Library Association

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WEMTA and WLA support the Common School Fund’s statutory use.

The Common School Fund Library Aid is an annual entitlement program distributing the interest earned on loans made from the Common School Fund, one of the state trust funds set up by the Wisconsin Constitution. The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL) manages this fund.

Interest and other revenues from the Common School Fund are intended for “the purchase of library books and other instructional materials for school libraries.”

With school districts facing increasing budget constraints, many rely on the Common School Fund distributions as their sole funding source for information resources.

Providing school libraries with the maximum amount of Common School Fund revenue is critical to the continued success of those libraries.

Over the past several years, the Legislature has considered a number of bills which propose diverting funds from the Common School Fund. Wisconsin Act 91 allows law enforcement agencies to retain a higher percentage of funds derived from seized and forfeited property in a drug case. Those funds were supposed to be deposited into the Common School Fund. WEMA, WLA and others opposed this bill and will continue to oppose other attempts to divert additional funds.

Background:

The Common School Fund Library Aid (CSF) is an annual entitlement program to all Wisconsin public school districts that distributes the interest earned on loans made from the Common School Fund, one of the state trust funds set up by the Wisconsin Constitution. As established in the constitution and statutes governing the Common School Fund, timber revenue from public lands, certain fines and forfeitures, and proceeds from unclaimed property are added to the principal of the fund. As directed by the constitution, the beneficiaries of the CSF are the public school libraries of the state.

Each year, the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL) informs the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) of the total interest that has accumulated in the Common School Income Fund. DPI calculates each school district's allocation, basing the amount on the number of children ages 4 through 20 living in the district. DPI informs school districts of their individual Library Aid allocation on or about January 10. The allocation is sent to school districts by May 1. Districts must spend the total Library Aid allocation for appropriate library materials by June 30 of that same year.

The Common School Fund was created in Article X, Section 2, of the State Constitution. That section indicates that "income from interest and other revenues derived from the school land shall be exclusively applied to the following objects, to wit: 1. to support the maintenance of common schools in each school district and the purchase of suitable libraries and apparatus therefore..."

Chapter 43.70 of the Wisconsin Statutes indicates that "all monies apportioned from the Common School Fund shall be expended for the purchase of library books and other instructional materials for school libraries . . . in accordance with rules prescribed by the State Superintendent."

In 2006 the Common School Fund received total funding for the school year of $28.2 million. Aid payments are estimated at $22.32 per census student, up from $19.52 in 2005.