Governor Evers Visits Eau Claire on Back-to-School Tour

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers visited Eau Claire last week as part of his annual statewide back-to-school tour.

Governor Evers toured South Middle School to welcome Eau Claire students back to school on Friday. Following the tour, he highlighted the need to increase public school funding so districts don't need to continue turning to referendum proposals to maintain their services.

"We should be doing things to make sure that our schools are appropriately funded," he said. "And I think we can do a lot better than we're doing now. It can't be fixed in one time, but over a period of time I think it can be."

Governor Evers further highlighted the investments his administration has made in school funding during the visit, including $1.4 billion for K-12 schools in last year's budget. He also shared his thoughts on the state's voucher program, saying the amount of funding going to voucher schools makes it more difficult to meet the funding needs of public schools.

"The voucher program isn't something I necessarily support, but there's thousands of kids in that program," he said. "If we say, oh ok we're not real excited about this anymore we're going to get rid of it, I just don't think that's going to happen. You know, there's thousands and thousands of children that participate in the program. Do I think I'd rather have those children in a public school? Yes. But the parents made the choices. So it's not that I'm pro-voucher at all because I think it makes it more difficult for public schools."

The visit also marked the final statewide back-to-school tour for Governor Evers as he prepares to leave office after two terms as Governor and years as the Wisconsin State Superintendent.