MILWAUKEE – Rep. Jonathan Brostoff (D-Milwaukee) released the following statement on the release of Governor Walker’s proposed 2017-19 Wisconsin budget.
“Earlier this afternoon, Governor Scott Walker delivered his proposed biennial budget – a plan covering many issues, but one of the most anticipated was public school funding.
In his budget, he proposes that $649 million goes towards K-12 schools over the next two years. It is unclear why he seems to feel deserving of praise for supporting something as commonsense as primary education. This is all the more confusing considering he should have been attentive to it from the start. Instead, Walker himself slashed $782 million from it in 2012. Another thing, when accounting for inflation, the funding Walker claims is the highest ever is actually lower than a decade ago when the state was committed to funding two-thirds of the cost of public education. But sure, Walker, throw yourself that party.
Meanwhile, Walker has a history of slashing funding to the public higher education system too including, of course, to the University of Wisconsin System. He also created the tuition freeze without funding it. Now he proposes allowing students to opt out of student fees – the fees that fund General Student Services Fund, WSUM student radio, the Rape Crisis Center, the Tenant Resource Center, bus passes, grants to student organizations, and administrative costs for student government.
Wisconsin deserves better than an arsonist who wants credit for putting out the fire.”
