#WalkerAt20: Walker’s Education Agenda a Formula for Failure

MADISON, Wis. — In his twenty years in office, Scott Walker has amassed a truly astounding record of failure. To commemorate the looming anniversary of his first election to office, One Wisconsin Now is highlighting a different and depressing failure of Gov. Walker every day, for twenty days. Under Gov. Walker no area has more directly felt the impact of his formula for failure than public education, and the 2013 budget, set to be debated by the Senate and Assembly this week, continues the trend.

One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross commented, “Gov. Walker’s agenda of record cuts to public schools, tuition hikes at the UW and a massive expansion of the unproven, unaccountable private school voucher program adds up to a formula for failure. Once again, it’s those that deserve it the least, children and middle class and working families, bearing the brunt of another Walker failure.”

The specifics of Gov. Walker’s formula for failure include:

• Introducing, promoting and signing into law as part of the 2011 budget the largest cuts to public education in state history – including a 30% cut to technical colleges, slashing over $300 million from the UW System and $1.6 billion in total state and local funding cuts to K-12 public schools; [2011 WI Act 32]
• Hiking tuition at the University of Wisconsin by $107 million and refusing to provide any additional resources for financial aid for eligible students; [2011 WI Act 32, 2013 AB 40]
• Introducing a 2013 budget that included an $117 million increase in funding for the unaccountable private school voucher program and charter schools while providing no new funds in the classroom for K-12 public education. Piling failure on top of failure, Walker has gone on to negotiate a “compromise” that allows vouchers to expand statewide. [Legislative Fiscal Bureau “Comparative Summary of Budget Provisions” 6/11/13]

One Wisconsin Now is commemorating over 20 days, the failings, scandals and imbroglios of Gov. Scott Walker’s 20-years in elected office. Gov. Walker, who was first elected to the State Assembly on June 29, 1993, has spent virtually no time in the private sector and has enjoyed nearly half his life on the taxpayers’ dime, including receiving well over $1 million in salary alone, as well as health care benefits for he and his family.

Previous information compiled by One Wisconsin Now about Scott Walker’s failure as Milwaukee County Executive is available at www.ScottWalkerFailureFiles.com, his first disastrous year as Governor is available at www.WalkerFailure.com and the millionaires and billionaires behind it all at http://pinterest.com/onewisconsinnow/who-s-buying-gov-scott-walker