Since he was first elected state superintendent in 2009, Evers has asked Walker and the Legislature four times to significantly increase funding for schools, by raising state-imposed revenue limits and changing the equalized aid formula to account for districts with high poverty, declining enrollment and rural issues. His proposal to revamp the state’s funding formula has repeatedly been ignored until this year, when Walker included some of his proposals.

Evers earlier this year praised Walker’s budget proposal, but until now the two have been at odds over how much money the state and property taxpayers should send to schools, the expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers and on Walker’s signature piece of legislation known as Act 10, which nearly eliminated collective bargaining for public school teachers and resulted in massive membership losses for the state’s largest teachers union, which has heavily backed Evers.

Alec Zimmerman, spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said Evers will have to compete with an idea being considered by fellow Democratic gubernatorial candidate Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik to prohibit state employees from paying toward their benefits.