Dear Friends:

I am writing to say thank you to all of you who have supported public education in Wisconsin because, together, we have won the fight to keep public education strong in our state.

I exercised my veto authority on the Republican Legislature's budget and signed a 2005-2007 state budget that increases funding for public education by $861 million over the biennium, and ensures that the state will keep its promise to pay two-thirds of the cost of every child's education.

(Many of you may have also received my letter about these issues, but I am e-mailing today just to make sure that as many citizens as possible know what we have accomplished for our state's children.)

My original budget proposed two-thirds state funding, but Republicans slashed my education budget by more than $400 million. I vetoed these cuts, and increased funding for schools and property tax relief by more than $400 million when compared with the Legislature's budget.

Many asked me to restore current law on the revenue cap per pupil increase, and I did that, guaranteeing a $248 average increase in per-pupil spending this fall that is twice as much as the Legislature's budget. My budget restores $330 million to general school aids to provide districts with sufficient revenue to continue providing high-quality education. I vetoed attempts to weaken the SAGE small class size program. In addition, the budget I signed increases funding for school transportation aid, special education, and bilingual-bicultural aid.

The budget I signed is being praised by major education and citizens groups all across Wisconsin. The Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance noted my "continued extraordinary support of public education", and the Wisconsin School Boards Association called my use of the veto pen "a well-reasoned decision". The Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools praised my vetoes, and the Wisconsin Education Association Council added, "the budget Governor Doyle signed today proves that public education is his top priority."

After five months of debate, the Legislature sent me a budget that froze property taxes at the expense of our schools. At a time of record gas and utility price increases, schools were told they would have to live with only a one percent increase, which would have resulted in more than 4,000 teachers losing their jobs, larger class sizes, and cuts to programs ranging from math to music. I could not and would not allow that to happen.

Instead, I went over the budget line by line, and I found more than $300 million in pork, excessive spending, and other savings that we were able to dedicate to education and property tax relief. We are now in a position to have a responsible property tax freeze -- one that protects our kids and our taxpayers -- precisely because of the progress my administration has made in being fiscally responsible and making state government more efficient.

As I told many of you while we were watching the deliberations in the Legislature, one of the many things that makes me proud to be from Wisconsin is that we have always invested in our kids. Even when economic times were tough, our parents and grandparents were willing to take what little bit they had, and invest it into building a brighter future through our public education system. As a result, Wisconsin schools have long been the envy of other states.

With the budget I signed, we have honored our values and have continued the legacy that makes Wisconsin great. The budget that we fought for, and have achieved, puts our kids and our schools first. We should all be proud of this accomplishment because, while it wasn't easy, we know it was well worth the effort.

Thank you for your continued support on these issues.

Sincerely,

Jim Doyle
Governor