And if you don't think that the attempt to quash collective bargaining would have any significant effect on public schools when most if not all public school teachers are in the union, yeah I'm pretty sure the system falls apart even if only temporarily while schools have to rehire/restructure/etc.
Are you aware that although a bill may not specifically state that it is cut funding in a certain area the intended effect is to cut that funding? Also, legislators often propose multiple bills that have a cascading effect.
Here is just one article discussing the effects of the cuts on education which are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. In this article, the governor does not deny the cuts, simply saying that he wants to offset them with other income. Which would seem to confirm the interpretation of the "education leaders" described.
This article describes how the proposed budget cuts will be 'offset' by the 'savings' caused by the current bill. As the same people are proposing both the budget and the current bill these things tend to work together to create action.
To the people who voted for those Democrats, odds are they're doing exactly the job they were hired to do. If their constituents want them to protect their jobs/rights to unionize then they're doing their best to make sure the bill doesn't pass, aren't they?
Additionally, don't you think it's odd how police and firefighter unions were left alone and will still have all their rights? Like maybe this isn't about principle because it's not applied to public employee unions across the board? It's almost as if they don't want to piss off certain groups, who maybe vote for them.