MADISON, Wis. — Schools across Wisconsin will start the year with more money to put toward mental health and staffing shortages.
Gov. Tony Evers kicked off his statewide back-to-school tour with a $90 million investment in K-12 education using federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
The investment announced Tuesday will be allocated in a couple of different ways. $15 million will go toward student mental health, while $75 million will be used to help address staffing shortages.
However, with recent revenue estimates showing more than $5 billion in the state coffers, Gov. Evers is buying time as he pushes for a more permanent plan.
“This gets us at least into the budget season where we can have the conversation with our legislators,” Gov. Evers told a group of staff at Leopold Elementary School in Madison. “Hopefully, they'll understand the importance of funding our schools in an appropriate way.”
Madison Metropolitan School District Superintendent Carlton Jenkins said, so far, more than 500 teachers have been hired, but roughly 130 more are still needed.
“Take investments like this in education, that helps the morale, so I ask that you push that out to say to everybody come to the table and help us,” Jenkins explained. “Don't just put it on schools.”
Districts will be able to use the funds to recruit and retain teachers and help cut down on the rising costs of supplies.
The governor hopes that flexibility, as well as giving districts the ability to spend the money over several school years, will result in a smaller hole to fill when the federal dollars are gone.
“A fiscal cliff is a problem, but the main problem is that we've never been able to recover from the previous administration and their support for public schools,” Gov. Evers said.
The $75 million investment will be distributed on a per pupil basis, amounting to an additional $91.15 per student. As for the 'Get Kids Ahead' initiative, which provides school-based mental health, the additional $15 million announced Tuesday will bring the total investment to $30 million.
Meanwhile, Tim Michels' campaign criticized Evers for trying to make news on education within 70 days until Election Day.
“Tony Evers is tapping into his taxpayer-subsidized re-election slush fund so he can pretend to care about education,” Anna Kelly, communications director for the Michels campaign, said in a statement. “No amount of federal COVID aid can paper over Evers’ record of denying parents rights, refusing to reopen schools, vetoing curriculum transparency, and standing by as education standards plummet across the state."
The funds will be distributed to schools in the coming weeks.
A list of school districts and the allocated amount of funding through the first and second rounds of the 'Get Kids Ahead' initiative is available here.
A list of school districts and their allocated amount of additional per-pupil funding is available here.