Tony Evers announces plan for $2 billion in state education funding

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced his plan Tuesday to dedicate $2 billion toward K-12 public school education.

Evers, who is a former teacher and state superintendent of public instruction, said that he will introduce the full details of the plan early next year if he retains his office after the November general election. The money to pay for the plan would come from the projected $5 billion surplus in Wisconsin’s state budget, which would avoid raising property taxes for Wisconsinites.

“We have to do this if we finally want to make a difference for kids,” Evers said at a press conference. “This is an opportunity of a lifetime.”

BREAKING: Today, @DrJillUnderly and I are announcing our shared K-12 education priorities that I’ll propose in my next budget.

Budgets are about priorities. That’s why building our budget begins, as it always does for me, with doing what’s best for our kids. #BacktoSchool pic.twitter.com/KtjSN6OCQD

— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) September 6, 2022

Most of the money would be dedicated to increasing revenue limits for schools while keeping property taxes down. And $240 million would be dedicated to staffing each public school with at least one full-time mental health employee.

Evers’ opponent in the gubernatorial election, Tim Michaels, criticized the plan for being too expensive.

“While it is nice Governor Evers is again following my lead on literacy, his plan for education is the same as it always is,” Michaels said. “More money and more bureaucracy.”

Evers’ Republican opponent Tim Michels’ response: pic.twitter.com/62o8GdrtIA

— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) September 6, 2022

Michaels has outlined his own extensive plan for education, but it does not mention anything about where he would get the money to pay for it. It is unclear why Michaels is opposed to using the budget surplus for education spending.

The Republican-controlled state legislature in Wisconsin has repeatedly disagreed with Evers on a number of issues, including abortion access and budget concerns.