Evers calls for more education funding during school visit, as districts struggle to keep up with rising costs
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Governor Tony Evers visited Emerson Elementary Wednesday, Sept. 2, as part of his final annual back-to-school tour, a tradition he has used to spotlight students, educators and the start of the school year. Evers, a former state school superintendent, said Wisconsin has made progress but still needs stronger state support for public schools.
“We have great school systems here," Evers said. People work really hard all across Wisconsin, but we just can’t not fund them appropriately."
During the visit, Evers spoke with students and teachers and noted that Emerson has 40 more students enrolled this year.
“Have we made progress in some areas? Absolutely, but at the end of the day, Madison isn’t the only school district in the state that is struggling,” Evers said.
That struggle is playing out across Wisconsin, where dozens of school districts have returned to voters year after year for referendum support. Some have passed and others have failed.
“The taxpayers in our community have said no three times, so we need to regroup and say okay, this is what it is, how do we solve this with the means that we have,” Stephen Considine, superintendent for the School District of Baraboo, said.
Baraboo has sought referendum approval for elementary school capital improvements. The elementary school buildings range in age from 60 to 70 years old and still have original infrastructure like the original plumbing and HVAC systems. Other districts have pursued operational referendums amid inflation. Considine says special education is also straining school budgets, an area where lawmakers could help.
“If you budget to get reimbursed for 45% of our special education costs, which covers the needs of the student, right, but then we only get a lesser amount, that does impact our budget,” Considine said.
Gov. Evers did try to give more funding for special education earlier this year through the bipartisan deal he struck with Republicans, but the deal failed. He says that deal could still happen but didn’t say when.
“We’ll see. Would I be happy about that? Yes, but I just think with the campaign going on that it will happen, and frankly, the congressman really played a role in that, Tiffany, he got a couple of people to vote no on the Republican side, to vote no last time, and if he hadn’t done that, we would be in a better place,” Evers said.
As for districts like Baraboo, it’s back to the drawing board, where they are going to figure out how to make do with the resources they have available, which could include changing the model of the district.
“So starting this spring, conversations will look at, do we start shifting the model of our school district? Which means like right now we have neighborhood elementary schools, do we need to switch to a 4K and 1st grade building and a 2nd and 3rd grade building,” Considine said.