Contact: Austin Altenburg
media@scottwalker.com

Walker campaign: Announces plans to restore two-thirds funding of education while continuing to reduce tax burden on Wisconsin

[Madison, Wis.] – On Monday, Scott Walker announced that he is restoring the two-thirds funding of education by the state of Wisconsin that was instituted under Governor Tommy Thompson – and discarded by Democrats – while continuing to cut taxes for hard-working Wisconsin families. The governor released the following statement:

“We will fund two-thirds of school costs in our next state budget. Our good fiscal management and positive reforms, plus a strong economy, allowed us to make the largest actual-dollar investment in schools in our state budget while still lowering property taxes. Looking ahead, we will fully restore the two-thirds commitment made by former Governor Tommy Thompson. Tony Evers wants to undo our reforms. That would take money out of the classroom and away from students and he would allow property taxes to go up to pay for it.”

  • The two-thirds funding commitment ensures that the state provides two-thirds of K-12 partial school revenues, a commitment instituted in 1993 by former Governor Tommy Thompson. The funding became effective in the 1995-97 biennial budget.
  • With a ballooning deficit as a result of poor fiscal management, Democrats under former Governor Jim Doyle did away with this commitment in the 2003-05 biennial budget.
  • The two-thirds funding commitment was calculated on a statewide basis and may have been higher or lower than two-thirds for an individual district depending on their per-pupil cost and equalized value.
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