GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Governor Tony Evers is waiting to see what the joint finance committee decides on K thru 12 funding, but is expecting to be underwhelmed.
The governor spoke on the topic Thursday in Green Bay, after introducing a new proposal to regulate chemical pollution due to PFAS.
“Getting behind anything at this point is premature,” says Evers.
Republicans have proposed an increase in education funding, but it’s less than half of what Governor Evers had targeted in his budget proposal.
On Wednesday, Republicans stated that they would support a $500 million increase in funding over the next two years.
Many Republicans claimed that it’s the best that the state can offer.
Governor Evers would disagree.
“I stand by the proposal that I put forward in my budget,” he explains. “We’ve had school districts across the state going to referendum for many, many years now.”
The Democrat, Evers, has targeted a proposed $1.4 billion increase.
Another point of disagreement is in regards to special education funding.
“I don’t believe what is proposed, first of all, deals with the issue of students with disabilities in a more comprehensive way,” says Evers.
Republicans have offered to spend around $100 million more on special education, which is only about one-sixth of what the governor has targeted.
The Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee is working on a budget to send to the full Assembly and Senate for consideration, likely in June.
“We’ll take a look at the entire budget once it’s passed,” he says.
