MADISON, Wis. -- A $900 million property tax credit would be diverted into the state school aid formula under a dramatic rewriting of how Wisconsin schools are funded being proposed by state Superintendent Tony Evers.

At the heart of the proposal is a shift in tax money that will no doubt be controversial, especially in the next election, WISC-TV reported. But education stakeholders said it's better than the status quo.

"Today, against all recommendations to me, I am jumping into the school finance reform debate," said Evers.

With that cautionary note, Evers rolled out a plan that he said can begin to fix a broken school funding system.

"This fair funding framework ensures state education dollars are spent educating children without a net property tax increase," said Evers.

But that is what some are questioning, WISC-TV reported. Among a number of initiatives, the plan would do away with $900 million in property tax credits for homeowners and instead give the money directly to schools in hopes of aiding cash-strapped districts.

"It's important for people to understand that the tax levy credit is a large amount of money that just doesn't end up in the schools, period," said Evers.

Evers said Thursday that his goal is to generate debate among gubernatorial candidates and others seeking office, as well as education groups heavily vested in how much money the state sends schools.

But doing away with the school levy credit, which shows up on property tax bills in December, will be a difficult political hurdle to jump especially as the state faces a $2 billion budget shortfall.

"I am interested in any proposal that will make investments in our children and our schools fairer and more efficient, but I am opposed to any local property tax increases," said Tom Barrett, Democratic candidate for governor.

"I encourage the superintendent to add to his plan necessary protections for property taxpayers, like the restoration of the QEO, mandate reform, and arbitration reform," said Republican candidate Scott Walker.

"I adamantly oppose any idea that would raise property taxes. The DPI plan would clearly result in higher property taxes," said Republican candidate Mark Neumann.

The current head of the education committee in the Assembly is lauding the plan.

"You didn't hear him calling for any new money, did you?" said Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, D-Middleton. "And in this economy, we aren't in a position to say we need to put more money into education."

And the Madison Metropolitan School District's current superintendent said it's a step in the right direction.

"I would rather take a step back, have us analyze the proposal, know what's there and how it might be fine tuned than to reject it out of hand, because there isn't another alternative," said MMSD Superintendent Dan Nerad.

Evers' plan would also include a set increase in general aids for districts each year, as well as modify the funding formula to give extra aid to districts with high numbers of students in poverty.

Evers said they will work over the summer to iron out the numbers. Right now, districts aren't able to see how they would fare in funding under the new plan because of a lack of concrete figures. Evers said he will put out his final proposal in his budget in September.

Evers said the plan includes no statewide tax increase. The proposal would need legislative approval.

Representatives from the state's largest teachers union, Wisconsin Education Association Council, and groups representing school boards and administrators showed their support by attending the news conference Thursday.

Reworking the formula has been talked about for years but never acted on.