MADISON — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers sat down with TMJ4’s Chief Political Reporter Charles Benson this week to discuss his long career in education and his decision not to seek a third term as governor.
Evers, who began his career as a schoolteacher before becoming a principal, state superintendent and eventually governor, reflected on where he believes he’s had the greatest impact on education.
“As far as day-to-day, being a principal was probably the place where I had the most impact on kids,” Evers said. “A larger group of kids, but as far as kind of the policy procedures, money, that sort of thing, the governor’s position is obviously the most important.”
When asked about his accomplishments as governor, Evers acknowledged limitations in achieving his education funding goals.
“Moneywise, no. I mean, I think school districts need more money to do the job,” Evers said.
“I just think the state has not necessarily been the greatest partner when it comes to money. I think there’s other areas they’ve been quite extraordinary, but we did the best we can under the circumstances and we made some huge increases in special education funding,” he said.
Watch: Gov. Evers reflects on education legacy, decision to not seek third term
Regarding his decision not to seek a third term, Evers explained it wasn’t a predetermined choice.
“It was more we’ll wait and see. I mean this isn’t something that I have been thinking about. I realized that a third term would be something down the road, but I didn’t make any decisions until recently,” Evers said.
When asked if age played a factor in his decision, the 73-year-old Evers acknowledged it may have influenced his choice.
“Oh, I suppose, but at the end of the day, 50 years is a long time to be working for the public in our state,” Evers said. “And it was just time for me to spend more time with my kids and grandkids and frankly my spouse, and so that was it. I mean it is what it is and I made the right decision.”
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
