DPW Reality Check on AFP’s Intentionally Misleading Ad

MADISON — The Koch Brothers’ special-interest group Americans for Prosperity has released a new ad attempting to give Scott Walker credit for a budget his opponent State Superintendent Tony Evers wrote. The ad conveniently fails to mention that Walker didn’t even give Evers the full amount of funding his agency requested; Evers proposed $1.1 billion more than Walker according to updated reporting by Wisconsin State Journal.

That didn’t stop Walker from relying on bad math to attack Tony Evers.

Here are the facts on Walker’s neglect of our classrooms that his special-interest friends have ignored:

• State general aid funding for local schools will be lower in 2018-19 than it was in 2010-11.
• The record cuts from the 2011-2013 budget have still not been restored, and Wisconsin’s public schools are currently funded below 2010 levels when adjusted for inflation.
• Walker’s failure to fund our public schools has resulted in school referendums passing at record rates — which means increased taxes at the local level — and school debt skyrocketing to $1.35 billion.
• Last year, Wisconsin slipped below the national average in public education funding, and Walker’s budget restricted schools’ ability to maintain adequate funding while increasing funding for private school vouchers.

RESPONSE FROM DPW:

“Governor Walker is so desperate to run from his slash-and-burn record of neglecting Wisconsin’s classrooms that he’s attempting to take credit for his opponent’s work,” said Courtney Beyer, DPW spokesperson. “Scott Walker has consistently put the agenda of his billionaire backers ahead of the needs of working Wisconsin families. It’s no wonder the Koch brothers have swooped into save him.”

“The reality is Walker spent 8 years putting his personal ambitions above the needs of our schools, driving out teachers and putting the burden to fund our schools on local taxpayers. Scott Walker can try all he wants, but no amount of special-interest support can hide the fact that he’s the most anti-education governor our state has seen.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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