MADISON, Wis. (WRN) – Nearly three out of every school districts in Wisconsin cut teachers and staff this year, according to new figures released today.

The state Department of Public Instruction reported that school districts cut more than 2,300 positions, a 50 percent increase in staff losses from the year before. Sixty percent of the staff cuts, more than 1,400, were teachers.

Superintendent Tony Evers says the numbers refute assertions made by Governor Scott Walker which paint a rosier picture on school staffing. Everssays his agency’s numbers, collected directly from the districts, cannot be questioned

The numbers include layoffs as well as retirements

Governor Walker's office notes that forty percent of teacher cuts are in three districts - Milwaukee, Kenosha and Janesville - that have refused to accept Walker's reforms.

On the Web: DPI staff report-