Evers seeks boost in school funding

State funding for public schools would rise by $707 million over the next two years, under the budget proposal sent by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers to Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature on Tuesday.

Evers said the 2017-'19 budget would, among other things, increase funding for special education and English language learners, target resources for rural and high-poverty schools and bring greater equity in school funding across the state. At the same time, he said, it shifts more of the burden of funding schools onto the state and away from taxpayers who have been called on increasingly to boost their local school budgets by referendum.

"We shouldn't have to have 55 school districts going to referenda like we did a week ago to keep doors open and fix schools to the tune of $800 million," said Evers who has argued that the system is widening the gap between affluent and poor districts.

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"I hope there's a robust discussion about the fact that our general aid system is broken."

Walker's office said it was reviewing the proposal. Spokesman Tom Evenson said the governor "is committed to investing more to help every child succeed."

Whether Evers gets to implement that budget won't be known until April, when he comes up for re-election. The two-term superintendent is one of the last left-leaning statewide elected officials in Madison. And he will face a growing field of opponents vying for the nonpartisan seat in the Feb. 16 primary, all running to the right of Evers.

The latest to enter the fray — Dodgeville School District administrator and former DPI consultant John Humphries, who declared his candidacy on Tuesday — has backing from school voucher supporters Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac) and Rep. Jason Fields (D-Milwaukee). Other candidates are Germantown administrator Jeff Holmes, former Beloit Superintendent Lowell Holtz and failed Tomah mayoral candidate Remberto Gomez.

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Evers' 2017-'19 budget, if approved, would increase state funding by 2.7% to about $6.6 billion in the first year of the biennium and 5.4% to just under $7 billion in the second. The boost in year two, he said, would expand the state's Fair Funding for Our Future initiative aimed at addressing inequities in school funding across the state. 

As part of that reform proposal, Evers is seeking additional spending authority for all schools to catch up with inflation and hold property taxes flat. In addition, it would guarantee districts a minimum payment of $3,000 per student (some high-property-value districts currently get none) and change the general aid count formula to give more weight to poor students.

About 94% of districts would see increases under the plan, and none would lose funding, he said.

"We don't think it's fair to implement a new funding formula that hurts people," DPI spokesman Tom McCarthy said.

Budget highlights

Other provisions of the budget:

• Revenue limits — the amount of money school districts can raise from the state and local taxpayers —would increase the annual adjustment by $200 per student in 2017-'18 and $204 in 2018-'19.
• Increase categorical school aid — funding for such things as special education, transportation and a host of other services — by $192.8 million over the two years. Evers is recommending weighting the per-pupil aid to account for districts' levels of poverty, students learning English, and students in foster care.
• Increase funding for school-based mental health programs and social workers, grants for school-community collaborations on mental health services in schools and staff training in trauma-sensitive practices and other interventions.
• Greater support for rural schools and communities across the state, including a new teacher retention program.
• New dollars for transportation funding, costs that disproportionately hit small districts with long bus routes.
• Boost funding for summer school by allowing districts to count those students in the same way they count those enrolled in the regular school year. .

The budget does not include statutorily mandated increases for the state's parental choice and independent charter school payments.

Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.