evidence: Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of public-school advocates at Central High School in La Crosse, Gov. Tony Evers thanked members of the Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN) for "having my back," and called out the group repeatedly, mentioning increases in the state budget he signed for special education, mental health services and general state aid. As he ticked off each budget increase he intoned, "Thank you, WPEN." [...] But, he said, he was "damn proud" of increasing funding for special education by $95 million–more than at any time in the last decade, and allocating $330 million in state general aid, the largest increase since 2005. [...] Evers’ use of his partial veto powers made that picture slightly rosier. By vetoing the first year of education funding in the two-year budget he made the higher, second-year numbers apply in year one, increasing overall state aid. But the net increase really only takes the state back to funding levels of a decade ago, WPEN has pointed out.