Contact: Sen. Janet Bewley 608-266-3510
Rep. Sondy Pope 608-266-3520
Despite Republican claims about K-12 funding, two Democratic leaders released a memo showing that school aids will receive the second lowest percentage of state general spending of the last 12 state budgets in the bill Gov. Walker will sign today.
“We’re going to hear a lot about school aids from our Republican colleagues, but this memo shows the real priority this budget gives to 850,000+ public school students – 2nd worst in the last 22 years,” Sen. Janet Bewley (D-Delta) said. “People in Northern Wisconsin have a high tolerance for exaggeration (as in how big was that fish?) but they don’t like being misled, especially when it comes to their children’s education.”
The legislators released a September 21 memorandum from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau comparing state school aids to all state spending from the general fund under the budget approved despite bi-partisan opposition last week.
“We put forward amendments that would have increased support for every public school district, would have given local voters oversight over property tax increases for voucher schools and would have truly made our public schools a priority,” Rep. Pope (D-Mt. Horeb) said. “Republicans passed a budget that put our public school students 11th out of the last 12 budgets.”