Tony Evers vows to restore state commitment to fund two-thirds of schools in 2019-'21 budget

Annysa Johnson | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers said Wednesday that his 2019-'21 proposed budget would fully fund 4-year-old kindergarten for all children, pump $20 million into high-quality after-school programs and restore the state’s commitment to fund two-thirds of public schools "without any gimmicks while holding the line on taxes."

Evers, the frontrunner in the Aug. 14 Democratic primary for governor, made the announcement at the fourth annual summer summit organized by the Wisconsin Public Education Network, a statewide coalition of public school supporters, in Appleton.

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It was the latest in a series of announcements by Evers touting key elements of his planned budget as he looks to take on Republican Gov. Scott Walker in November. Evers was short on financial details, other than the after-school investments. But he vowed to reform the state's funding mechanism to promote equity among schools.

"The school funding formula has been broken forever. It's time to do more than just shuffle the deck chairs," he said, wearing a blue "I (heart) my public school / I vote" T-shirt under his sports coat. "It has to increase opportunities and close gaps for our kids."

A brief summary of the proposal, provided by Evers' office, said the budget would, among other things:

Ensure that no district receives less in aid than they previously received.

Allow districts to count 4-year-old kindergarten students as full time for state funding purposes. They are currently funded at 0.5 and 0.6 full-time equivalent.

Index revenue limits for the lowest-spending school districts to inflation so they would rise over time to the state average. Revenue limits cap the amount of money schools can collect in state and local taxes. The change is meant to help districts that were locked in at low-revenue limits when the caps were created in 1993-'94.

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Evers alluded to two earlier budget announcements seeking an additional $600 million for special education funding and $60 million for mental health care services. And he said more would be coming, including additional support for English language learners.

Evers has not made public a total price tag. Department spokesman Thomas McCarthy said the agency is still calculating those numbers and that they could be available in the next week or two. The Department of Public Instruction currently spends about $5.4 billion annually, he said.

Education has emerged as a central issue in the campaign for governor, and voters appear open to increasing funding for public schools. According to a June Marquette University poll, 59% of respondents said that, if given the choice, they would rather increase spending on public schools than cut taxes.

Walker has been touting himself as the "education governor" in ads and on the stump. He points to, among other things, an increase in per-pupil funding and aid for rural schools; expansion of the state's private school voucher programs; a freeze on University of Wisconsin campuses' tuition; and his signature 2011 legislation, Act 10, that eliminated most collective bargaining for teachers and other public employees — a move proponents say saved schools money and gave them more flexibility to fire poorly performing teachers.

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Walker has been widely criticized by many public school advocates for Act 10, supporting the expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers and budget cuts early in his tenure.

Walker's office has referred questions about Evers' budget announcements to his campaign. Campaign spokesman Austin Altenburg reissued a statement released earlier this week, saying, "We're proud of the record actual-dollar investment that Governor Walker has made in education, and he looks forward to continuing to fund our classrooms at historic levels. Before he was a candidate, Tony Evers called the governor's budget 'pro-kid' and we assume that he'll agree with himself again when he's not running for governor."