WI Governor Tony Evers Said 2025 Was the 'Year of the Kid.' Here's How That Went for WI Children

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared 2025 the "Year of the Kid" in Wisconsin. In a January 22, 2025, press release, Evers said, "Every budget I have ever built began first by doing what is best for our kids, and this one will be no different."

"We have to do more to improve outcomes for our kids. And, yes, that means making meaningful investments in our public schools. But our kids’ outcomes are as much a reflection of what happens within our schools as they are, importantly, a reflection of what happens beyond them. And that’s a simple matter of math," Evers said. "So, we have to recognize that our schools and educators cannot single-handedly fix our kids’ circumstances beyond the school doors that nevertheless affect learning and success in the classroom every day."

Of course, Evers ignored the fact that he abused the Governor's line-item veto power to enshrine 400 years of tax increases into Wisconsin's budget, a move that was "for the kids" but will hurt anyone who pays property taxes in the state.

Evers even took a moment to remind us of his promises.

I declared 2025 the Year of the Kid in Wisconsin because I've always believed what's best for our kids is what's best for our state.

We must keep working to do what's best for our kids at every age and every stage. pic.twitter.com/BYorA2EqoW
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) December 28, 2025

And now that 2025 is coming to a close, we have to take a look back at how well the "Year of the Kid" went for children in Wisconsin.

The short version is: it didn't go well at all.

Tom Tiffany, the Republican Congressman running to replace Evers in 2026, pointed out all the ways Evers has failed Wisconsin's children.

This includes the fact that almost 70 percent of fourth graders and nearly half of first graders can't read at grade level, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) hid more than 200 cases of sexual misconduct by Wisconsin educators, and that the majority of the state's 421 school districts have been flagged for financial reporting problems.

The “Year of the Kid” under @GovEvers was a failure:

-69% of WI 4th graders can’t read at grade level.
-47% of 1st graders can’t read at grade level.
-200+ teacher sexual misconduct cases were hidden.
-370/421 school districts were flagged for financial reporting deficiencies. https://t.co/nrHQCOXAfe
— Tom Tiffany (@TomTiffanyWI) December 29, 2025

Back in March of this year, Evers vetoed legislation passed by the Republican-controlled legislature that would have toughened the state's educational standards. According to Corey DeAngelis, Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly had lowered the standards to make herself look better.

With 70 percent of fourth graders unable to read, that didn't work as she had planned.

The bill to toughen educational standards, AB1, would have required schools to use the same accountability and reporting methods in place during the 2019-2020 school year, would have made the DPI align the state's Forward Exam scores with the National Assessment of Educational Progress, use the 2021-22 cut scores for the PreACT and ACT assessments, and standardized student achievement categories.

Back in October, the CapTimes reported that DPI hid hundreds of cases of educator sexual misconduct from the public. This includes Shawn Umland, who allegedly touched a student's breasts while applying sunscreen on a Florida field trip. Umland later resigned, but kept his teaching license because DPI said there wasn't enough evidence to revoke it. Another teacher, Michael Hanson, would visit a student's house so frequently, and unannounced, that the family considered getting a restraining order. Like Umland, he resigned from his teaching job but kept his license. Between 2018 and 2023, the CapTimes found that more than 500 educators were investigated for some form of misconduct, and more than 200 were able to keep their credentials even after state officials investigated.

Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), the state's largest district, has repeatedly been delinquent in submitting financial reports. In May, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that MPS was once again delinquent on submitting financial reports, only a year after missing deadlines that led to a suspension of state funding and the resignation of several district officials.

But perhaps the biggest way Evers has failed kids is his push for the trans agenda. In April 2024, Evers vetoed a bill that would have protected girls' sports, saying "LGBTQ kids deserve our love and respect and support just like any other kid."

Except for girls who want to play sports without risk of injury and expect a level playing field, that is.

In December 2023, Evers also vetoed a bill that would ban "gender-affirming" care for kids, saying the legislation would have made Wisconsin "a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place for LGBTQ folks and kids." Yesterday, Townhall reported that Evers backed a lawsuit against the Trump administration's move to strip federal funding from hospitals that perform "gender-affirming care" on minors.

Instead of doing anything about lowering skyrocketing costs, Republicans are busy trying to make it harder for parents to get their kids the medical care they need," Evers wrote on X. He, of course, ignored the hundreds of thousands of dollars of healthcare costs incurred by "trans" kids after committing them to a lifetime of expensive medical care.

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