Three days before his official budget address, Gov. Scott Walker boasted Sunday that his 2017-’19 budget will invest more money into K-12 education than any other budget in Wisconsin history.
Walker proposed $649 million in aid for all public, private, voucher and charter state schools, bringing the total educational investment to $11.6 billion. Per-pupil state aid will increase by $509.2 million, allowing general and categorical aid to reach an all time high, the governor said in a tweet.
The per-pupil state aid grants money based on the number of students in a district. Currently, each school receives $250 per pupil, according to the Department of Public Instruction. Under Walker’s new plan, that number will increase by $200 per student each year over the next two years.
“What the governor is proposing is absolutely tremendous good news for public schools...his funding proposals are right in line with what we have requested,” said Dan Rossmiller, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards in a statement.
The substantial increase in educational funding is a stark contrast to the $1 billion Walker has cut from K-12 schools since 2011. Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shillings, D La-Crosse, said that only a full refund of the $1 billion cut will help families, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
Walker attributes his ability to increase funding by such a large amount due to an unexpected increase in tax revenue and decrease in spending costs, resulting in budget improvements of $714 million.
“We’re investing in our priorities and priority No. 1 is education,” Walker said Friday.
Despite the increase in state revenue, it is still up in the air how Walker plans to pay for the $649 million increase while covering a $1 billion increase to transportation funding, a UW System tuition cut and other expenses.
Those details are expected to be laid out in Walker’s budget address Feb. 8.
