MILWAUKEE — Governor Tony Evers joined Wisconsin’s Afternoon News on Thursday to discuss education, taxes and sports.
The former state Superintendent of Public Instruction said teaching in 2023 is a lot different from when he was in the education sector.
“One of the things that does concern me is the politicization of school board work,” said Evers. “Instead of worrying about the wide variety of life experiences kids have, we now have to worry about whether they’re saying the right thing or having the right flag up in the classroom.”
Evers added that home life and healthcare are just as important to the wellbeing and success of students, especially in Milwaukee.
“It is more than just teachers in the classroom. It’s about what’s happening at home — what sort of jobs people have at home, the type of family life they come from.”
Education also falls under Evers’ “Year of Mental Health” goals. The governor said his top priority in Milwaukee Public Schools would be guaranteeing that kids have access to mental health professionals. He also signed a bill Wednesday that impacts reading curriculum at elementary schools by emphasizing a phonics-based approach.
State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has criticized the governor’s vetoes in the biennial budget, including tax cuts for the middle class.
“If he really wanted a middle class tax cut, he could have accepted my middle class tax cut,” Governor Evers told WTMJ.
Evers included a $1.2 billion middle class tax cut in his own budget proposal, but he the vetoed the tax cuts proposed by republicans that would have also given major tax breaks to wealthy individuals in Wisconsin. Evers said he’s open to looking for other tax cut opportunities for the middle class in the future.
In sports and sports gambling, the governor was confident that a solution would soon be reached for funding repairs to American Family Field and allowing more sports gambling with tribal-owned casinos in Wisconsin.
