Through Executive Order #127 Governor Tony Evers is pushing the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly to take action on legislation to increase education funding by $550 million for the University of Wisconsin System, technical college system, special education, and per pupil aid.
The Republican controlled State Senate and Assembly are likely to reject the proposal, possibly without debate as legislative leaders have had a notably contentious relationship with Gov. Evers, and they have not welcomed being prompted to vote by his Executive Orders.
Further, Republicans have touted their support for education in the recent state budget as "Historic Funding for Wisconsin Schools." Certainly, such verbiage leaves the impression that the fiscal hawk Wisconsin Republicans believe they have already done their due diligence in funding education and would not be seeking an opportunity to double-down.
When Gov. Evers signed the state budget earlier in July he noted in his veto message there were areas where the budget failed to deliver, including making meaningful investments in education. It almost goes without saying that as a Democrat, former educator and former Superintendent of Schools; Evers ran on robust funding of education and has enjoyed the political and financial support of the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) and its members.
Gov. Evers is calling the Legislature into a special session to take up his proposal, LRB-4297, which is available here, that would invest more than $500 million in Wisconsin's kids, schools, and students.
$440 million for K-12 schools
$240 million for increasing per-pupil aid by $146 per student
$200 million into special education aids
$110 million for higher education
$90 million for the University of Wisconsin System
$20 million for the Wisconsin Technical College System
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