"Spend it," Says Milwaukee Teachers' Union
The latest plea for more money for public schools in Wisconsin is the largest.
Milwaukee’s teachers’ union, the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, on Thursday asked Gov. Tony Evers to spend both the state’s budget surplus and rainy day fund on public education.
“Wisconsin is sitting on a $4.6 billion surplus in addition to a record $1.9 billion rainy day fund. These surpluses, which were built on the backs of public school students, should be invested back into our public schools,” the union wrote in a letter to the governor.
Evers has said he wants to spend more on public schools in his to-be-written state budget next year, though he hasn’t exactly said how much he wants to spend.
Wisconsin’s state superintendent of schools, Jill Underly, said she too wants to spend the entire surplus on public education.
This week, Underly said a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum that tied Wisconsin’s record property tax increase this year to local school referendum questions, shows the need for more investments.
The MTEA echoed that idea:
“Our students desperately need a public education governor. When will you act on your promise to fight for public school students? It’s been six years, and we haven’t seen it yet,” the union added. “Even the supposedly nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum, who have shown growing contempt for public schools in recent years and have placed privatizers in leadership positions, said recently that unaccountable private voucher schools have failed to do anything to improve education in Milwaukee. So why have you prioritized this scam when you’ve had the chance to keep your promise to fight for our public schools?”
The union went on to question Evers’s self proclaimed title as the “education governor,” and said he’s failed to deliver for the people who voted for him.
“Your campaign website still says you 'prioritize public education.' But your record has been the opposite. In the last budget, you sold out Milwaukee Public Schools, giving record increases in taxpayer funding to unaccountable private voucher and private charter schools while continuing the 15 year trend of funding public schools far below the rate of inflation,” the union stated in its letter.
The MTEA wants the governor to dedicate more money to special education, boosting the state’s reimbursement rate above the current 33%. The union wants that rate increased to 90%.
“Just this week you said you would veto any budget that requires state workers to return to in-person work. That indicates that you are willing to fight for something you believe in. Do you still believe in public education? If so, make a promise today that you will veto any budget that doesn’t increase revenue limits, doesn’t increase per pupil aid and doesn’t increase special education reimbursement for public schools to 90%,” the union said at the end of its letter.
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