MADISON, Wis. – With teachers in Wisconsin now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, and some schools starting to re-open, Gov. Evers shared his thoughts about the direction the state is headed in during a virtual WisPolitics event Tuesday.

As many teachers still wait for their vaccine, while some health systems catch up on prioritizing those 65 and older, Gov. Evers said schools can re-open.

“It is not a prerequisite to have every teacher vaccinated,” Evers said. “If it can be done, should it be done? Of course.”

The governor said that's assuming other safety measures are in place, which is why he believes it's up to the districts to decide what's best for them as opposed to the state.

“Different school districts have different capabilities to mitigate so I've trusted the leadership and, frankly, the teachers in those districts to make that decision and they'll continue to do that,” Evers said.

This week, Republican lawmakers called on the governor to reward schools that have been teaching in-person with more funding, but Evers said the federal funds to cover that have already been spent.

“It costs money to do it virtually, it costs money to do it in person, and on top of that they're asking me to use CARES money, federal money that we have already allocated to the University of Wisconsin System so that they can increase their testing so that they can get more kids on campus,” Evers said.

As for catching kids up, the governor said no options should be ruled out just yet, including starting the school year early.

“Have very robust summer school sessions, if I had a magic wand that would be one that I would if I was back in the school district that's what I would be looking at right now,” Evers said.