Scott Walker’s Record on Privatization

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) launched a war on labor in 2011, enacting a law called Act 10 that decimated the power of public employee unions to bargain, and it also cut pay for most public sector workers. It was clear that the law was largely aimed at the teachers unions, because Walker exempted the unions of police, firefighters and state troopers from the changes in collective bargaining rights. Not the educators. There were big strikes by teachers, forcing the closure of some schools for days, but they could not turn the tide. Now it is clear that the impact of Act 10 on teachers unions — and of Walker’s budgets cuts on schools — has been severe.

The annual tuition for Madison Country Day School in Waunakee is $16,490 for first grade and rises to $17,800 for high school. That’s unaffordable, of course, for most people. Wealthy families choose to pay this because they feel it’s worth it for such a specialized institution. But beginning with the 2014 tax year, the situation changed, and average taxpayers began to subsidize this separation of wealthy students from the common schools serving most kids. A law supported by Republican legislators and Gov. Scott Walker gives parents of private school students the ability to recoup some of that spending through a tax deduction of up to $10,000 annually for high school tuition and $4,000 for elementary school tuition.

 Under Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-led legislature, less accountable private voucher schools have reaped a financial windfall both in the amount of state tax dollars they receive and the number of students for which they are paid state tax dollars. As reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, all across Wisconsin public schools are now feeling financial pressure as the voucher program drains resources from them, and new data shows per pupil state revenue payments for vouchers are on average poised to exceed those for public schools.

 One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross released the following statements about a new memo from the independent, non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau showing students in unaccountable voucher schools would be getting an average of $1,000 more than students in public schools as result of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed state budget.

Private voucher schools would receive an additional $1,000 or more in state funding per student compared to public schools under Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget, although voucher school advocates say that only tells part of the story. A memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau shows choice schools will receive between $7,757 and $8,403 in state funding per student in the second year of Walker’s budget. By comparison, public schools will receive an average of $6,703 per student. That means private voucher schools will receive roughly $1,000 to $1,700 more in state funding per student than public schools.

The nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education is teetering on the brink of rejection by the U.S. Senate with bipartisan opposition to her confirmation building after a disastrous confirmation hearing and new allegations she plagiarized parts of her written answers to questions submitted by members of the committee weighing her nomination. Yet Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction hopefuls John Humphries and Lowell Holtz, all of whom have or are hoping to benefit from the financial largesse of the Michigan billionaire private school voucher backer, continue to stand by their woman.

Madison, Wis. — According to a report in today’s Wisconsin State Journal, Gov. Scott Walker is denying the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s request for legal representation in a school privatization case brought by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL). Public files reviewed by One Wisconsin Now show between 2011 and 2015, WILL received an astonishing $3.78 million from the Bradley Foundation, which is run by Walker’s campaign chair Michael Grebe.

A new analysis from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau finds that under Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature, Wisconsin taxpayers will have to foot a $1.18 billion plus tab for the private school voucher program by the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year. In addition, the state treasury will take a $30 million per year hit from a no top income limit tax giveaway to parents already sending their kids to private schools.

WALKER RHETORIC: “I ran for Governor because I was worried about my kids' future.”

According to education experts, an amendment to the 2015 state budget adopted by the Republican controlled Joint Committee on Finance in the middle of the night would eliminate almost all standards, including having graduated from high school, for teachers. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross blasted the provision as emblematic of the GOP contempt for teachers and public education and called on Gov. Scott Walker to veto the provision if it remains in the budget.

In his continuing travels in pursuit of his personal political ambitions, Gov. Scott Walker today visits New Orleans, Louisiana to address the private school voucher industry front group, American Federation for Children. Back home in Wisconsin it’s “let the good times roll” for the unaccountable voucher program as Republican politicians consider Walker’s scheme for further statewide expansion of taxpayer support for private schools while public schools may, at best, see their funding not cut.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker touts himself as purveyor of big, bold ideas for the public good in his pursuit of the 2016 GOP Presidential nomination. But according to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross, Walker has instead advanced his own political career by pledging allegiance on pet issues for major right-wing funders the Bradley Foundation, run by his gubernatorial campaign co-chair Michael Grebe, and the Koch family foundations of notorious right-wing billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch.

Out-of-state backers of the failed 25-year school privatization racket will be descending upon Madison today for what will likely be among many events designed to “commemorate” the quarter-century failed school privatization experiment in Wisconsin. The event is being hosted by the Federalist Society with a featured speaker from the Goldwater Institute, both of which have received huge financial support from the pro-privatization Bradley Foundation, which is headed by Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign co-chair, Michael Grebe.

Late last week, while traveling out of state, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dropped his pre-November 2014 election charade of opposition to a right to work law that could cut the average Wisconsin family’s wages by over $5,000 per year. One Wisconsin Now’s research of the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation, headed by Gov. Walker’s campaign co-chair, reveals the stage has been set for Walker’s latest assault on Wisconsin’s middle class for his personal political benefit with a well-financed propaganda campaign utilizing a nationwide web of front groups.

According to the latest round of campaign finance filings, individuals associated with the private school voucher industry kept busy filling the campaign coffers of Gov. Walker and others, even after Election Day. According to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross their donations are already paying off handsomely in the 2015 legislative session.

Wisconsin legislative Republicans are promising legislation to regulate the private school voucher program that is slated to rake in over $212 million from state taxpayers in the current school year. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross noted massive campaign spending by voucher special interests and evidence voucher lobbyists were intimately involved in drafting legislation last session raises red flags about who is behind the GOP’s latest proposal.

A Republican state legislator who says he will introduce a controversial, so-called “right-to-work” bill is basing his case in part on statistics produced by a right-wing group that receives significant support from the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the source for statistics being cited by the presumptive bill author, has raked in nearly $500,000 over the last decade from the Bradley Foundation.

Two weeks after being elected for a second four-year term as Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker’s campaign is polling voters on his planned presidential run, asking favorability questions about various Republican and Democratic candidates, including fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, according to a One Wisconsin Now source who received the call Tuesday evening.

Less than twenty-four hours after the polls closed in the November 4 general election, Assembly GOP Speaker Robin Vos and Gov. Scott Walker called for a dramatically expanded private school voucher program in Wisconsin, financed with public tax dollars. According to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross, a news report revealing the pro-voucher group spent nearly $1 million in the fall campaigns and $4.5 million in Wisconsin since 2010 shows why it’s no coincidence that an expansion of the unaccountable taxpayer financed voucher program is on the short list of GOP legislative priorities.

In announcing an agenda that includes an even more expansive, unaccountable public-funded private school voucher program and targets poor people for drug tests, Gov. Scott Walker and legislative Republicans have left the nearly one million Wisconsin student loan borrowers out in the cold. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross noted that brand new national research shows that Wisconsin, with 70 percent of 2013 graduates having student loan debt, now ranks fourth highest in the nation for percentage of graduates with debt.

 The fingerprints of the Wisconsin Money Badger Michael Grebe, Gov. Walker’s campaign co-chair and head of the $500 million right-wing Bradley Foundation, are all over the latest sleazy political smear launched against Walker’s opponent just six days before the election. A review of IRS records and Bradley Foundation reports reveals they have provided significant financial support for the media outlet that first reported on the smear, along with funneling millions to other groups working to advance the political interests of Gov. Walker.

 A recent news report reveals $139 million in state tax dollars went to private schools in Milwaukee kicked out of the school voucher program, supported by Rep. Howard Marklein, for failing to meet basic standards for things like student safety and financial transparency. Yet as State Representative, Marklein voted to cut state aid for K-12 public schools in the 17th Senate District by over $25 million.

 While studies of the voucher program have failed to demonstrate higher achievement for students, pandering to the voucher industry has been lucrative for career politician Scott Walker’s campaign account. According to One Wisconsin Now executive Director Scot Ross that may account for Gov. Walker’s call yesterday to further expand the unaccountable private school voucher program.

 As students across Wisconsin head back to school, it’s Gov. Scott Walker who needs to be educated about the impact of his wrong-headed education policies, according to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross. Under Walker and his education policies, Wisconsin has had lagging job growth and rates of wage increases that trail neighboring states, earning him a failing grade.

An analysis of recently filed campaign finance reports by One Wisconsin Now has found supporters of private school vouchers from across the country are dropping big donations on Wisconsin politicians in recent months, including over $113,000 to Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. In total, voucher supporters pumped over $175,000 plus into Republican politician’s campaign coffers in just the first six months of 2014.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is not simply a conservative, public interest law firm. It is a virtual extension of the political apparatus surrounding Gov. Scott Walker, engaging in ‘issue litigation’ to advance and protect his interests.

 While Gov. Walker refuses to answer if he continues to direct a scheme to avoid Wisconsin campaign laws described as “criminal” by a Republican prosecutor, perhaps others know the answer. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross suggested Walker’s campaign co-chair, the right-wing mega-funder Bradley Foundation’s chief Michael Grebe, might have the answer.

 The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction today released application information for the taxpayer funded private school voucher program, expanded statewide by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature in the 2013 state budget.

 A review of legislative drafting files by One Wisconsin Now has uncovered legislation claiming to impose new accountability requirements on schools participating in the private school voucher program was written by the lobbyist for the school privatization industry.

 In a closed-to-the-public meeting convened by the Walker administration, Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and head of the state Revenue Department, Kleefisch asked of the assembled corporate special interests in the room, “how can we love you more?” On the eve of Governor Walker's State of the State address, when he is expected to unveil a new tax scheme, all signs point to the answers to Walker's question coming from the corporate funded American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC.

This report exposes the web of right-wing funders advancing a radical school privatization agenda through the use of Wisconsin-based front groups, with special focus on the Bradley Foundation, headed by Scott Walker's campaign co-chair Michael Grebe.

 “S is For Shill,” a new report from One Wisconsin Now, in association with the ProgressNow network and the Center for Media and Democracy, exposes a web of right-wing funders advancing a radical privatization agenda through the use of Wisconsin-based front groups. In addition to support from the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation, headed by Gov. Walker's campaign co-chair Michael Grebe, innocuously named groups like the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI) and the MacIver Institute are part of the larger State Policy Network (SPN), a right-wing, dark money funded pro-privatization propaganda effort.

 The state Department of Public Instruction today released official enrollment counts for students in the expanded private school voucher program. Nearly 80% of students participating in the program this year did not attend a Wisconsin public school last year, and over 73% of students now having their tuition and expenses paid by a taxpayer funded voucher were already attending a private school last year. The following are the statements of One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross regarding the data:

As Gov. Scott Walker and the right wing noise machine shift into overdrive in their efforts to boost sagging opinion of his job performance, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross noted that, try as they might, the fact remains on issue after issue, the Walker administration has been an abysmal failure.

While private schools benefit, courtesy of taxpayer-funded vouchers that in many cases far exceed the tuition paid by other students, it is once again our state public schools that lose out under the agenda of Walker and the Republican Legislature.

 One Wisconsin Now will join public education supporters from across the state at Saturday's 'Public Education Is a Civil Right' march and rally beginning at Milwaukee High School at 10:30 a.m. One Wisconsin Now research has shown that the systematic assault on our public schools owes much of its support to tens of millions of dollars given to pro-privatization propaganda by Milwaukee's Bradley Foundation, headed by Gov. Scott Walker's campaign co-chair Michael Grebe.

 The state Department of Public Instruction today released information on the number of new schools and students applying for the statewide expansion of the private school voucher program enacted by Gov. Walker and legislative Republicans in the 2013-15 state budget. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross said the statistics about where the students applying for the program previously attended school expose the voucher program as a scam on state taxpayers, orchestrated by well-funded education privatization forces.

 According to documents reviewed by One Wisconsin Now, staples of the state right wing noise machine, and some new entrants, were once again beneficiaries of the largesse of Wisconsin's Money Badger, Michael Grebe, in 2012. Besides controlling the $620 million plus in reported assets of the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation, Grebe serves as co-chair of Gov. Walker's campaign.

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.

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. Today, we look at the right-wing machine behind the man, the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation, headed by Gov. Walker's campaign co-chair, Michael Grebe.

In his 2010 campaign, Gov. Walker signaled support for a bill to ban the legislature from voting after 10pm because, “… nothing good happens after midnight. That's even more true in politics.” According to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross it's too bad for the middle class and working families of Wisconsin that top legislative Republicans didn't take their Governor's advice. Instead, they signed-off on a two year budget deal in the middle of the night that includes a flat-tax scheme that overwhelmingly benefits the wealthy and a statewide expansion of the unaccountable private school voucher program.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is traveling to Iowa today to address a gathering of Republican Party activists in another of an increasing number out-of-state sojourns as he ponders a bid for national office. Also making the trip is One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross, along with copies of the Walker “Resume of Failure.”

Roger Ailes, Fox News Chair and CEO, is in line for a big payday courtesy of Wisconsin's “Money Badger” Michael Grebe, head of the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation and co-chair of Gov. Scott Walker's campaign. According to news reports, Ailes will receive a $250,000 no strings attached “Bradley Award” in a ceremony next month.

Following the “revelation” that the University of Wisconsin System maintains a reserve fund, State Representative and member of the “CPA Caucus” Howard Marklein has vowed to review the finance of more state agencies. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross suggested Marklein and his GOP cohorts ought to start with Gov. Walker's woefully underperforming Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC).

The latest round of right-wing University of Wisconsin System bashing, this time over an annual report indicating the system has surpluses in several accounts, could be more bad news for students, their families and Wisconsin's economy according to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross.

New research from One Wisconsin Now reveals a web of right-wing groups are part of a $31 million plus propaganda campaign pushing a massive privatization of public education in Wisconsin. Underwriting the effort is the Milwaukee based Bradley Foundation, headed by Gov. Scott Walker's campaign co-chair, Michael Grebe.

An analysis of Gov. Walker's 2013-15 budget plan reveals a massive increase in the percentage of state taxpayer dollars going to the unaccountable private school voucher program. Meanwhile, state support for K-12 public schools is essentially held flat, even after record budget cuts in the last budget.

In his nearly $68 billion state budget proposal, Gov. Walker larders special interests with sweetheart deals and doles out millions in tax breaks for the wealthiest Wisconsinites. But, according to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross, not one cent is spent to provide direct relief to students or their families being crushed by the trillion-dollar student loan debt crisis.

Under Walker's proposal, districts would be opened up to voucher programs if they have at least 4,000 students and two school buildings receiving a grade of "fails to meet expectations" or "meets few expectations" on state report cards...Walker's budget plan would set the criteria for bringing school districts into the voucher system, rather than naming specific districts that would get the program. That means in future years other districts could be added to the program. Wisconsin has 42 districts with at least 4,000 students, but only nine have at least two schools with a failing grade. They are Beloit, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Sheboygan, Superior, Waukesha, and West Allis-West Milwaukee. The expansion would start small. This fall, just 500 students around the state could attend private schools at taxpayer expense outside of Milwaukee and eastern Racine County. That would increase to 1,000 the next year, and there would be no cap after that.

One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross released the following statements on the two-year anniversary of Scott Walker as Governor:

Proposed and ultimately signed the 2013-15 budget which included expansion of the private school voucher program statewide. As approved, the program was expanded for 500 students in its first year and 1,000 students in the next school year.

Wisconsin's 'Money Badger', Michael Grebe, appears to have his paws in the attack on worker rights in Michigan according to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross. Grebe, who runs the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation, has doled out nearly $2 million to three organizations taking leading roles in promoting the attack on worker rights launched by Michigan Republicans in a lame duck session of their state legislature.

Recent media reports on prospective 2016 Republican presidential candidates' money chase included Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on a list of suitors seeking an audience with GOP mega-donor and Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. But according to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross, Walker may already have found his Super-PAC sugar daddy, the Wisconsin 'Money Badger', Michael Grebe of the Bradley Foundation.

Under Gov. Walker, Wisconsin’s economy has tanked, ranking dead last in the nation for job creation and suffering the ignominy of being the only state in the nation with statistically significant job losses over the last year. Meanwhile, Gov. Walker’s cross country cash grab has been a stunning success, netting two-thirds of the $13 million raised from out-of-state contributors, according to One Wisconsin Now’s analysis of his latest campaign finance report filed today.

2010 Politifact “Lie of the Year” award winner, GOP pollster Frank Luntz, addressed a gathering of CEOs sponsored by the state’s big business lobby today in Madison. One Wisconsin Now Deputy Director Mike Browne said Luntz will have his work cut out for him trying to boost Gov. Scott Walker’s record of job losses and policies that cut education and health care while doling out tax cuts for the wealthiest and corporations.

Campaign finance records show private school voucher advocates have showered Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP with over $507,000 in campaign contributions in 2011 and 2012. Meanwhile proposed accountability standards that would include voucher schools are on hold and a bill to close a loophole that could allow statewide expansion of the private voucher program is stalled in the GOP controlled Assembly.

Governor Scott Walker failed to tackle Wisconsin’s jobs crisis - posting six straight months of job losses here while nationally jobs are being added - and is now poised to take on “the truth” in his second State of the State address.

A comprehensive analysis entitled “D is for Dismantle,” authored by the non-partisan One Wisconsin Institute shows that despite claims from Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin schools are not failing, instead his budget cuts and disastrous education policies endanger our proud tradition of excellent schools. The report from One Wisconsin Institute, the education and research partner of One Wisconsin Now, includes research that contradicts Gov. Walker's assertions about public schools and students not performing at the highest levels.

Attempts by the new Republican administration to largely privatize the state's food assistance program have been all but stopped in their tracks. The controversial plan, first proposed by Gov. Scott Walker in March, would have replaced county-level sites where residents can simultaneously apply for FoodShare and medical assistance with a limited number of centers across the state staffed by private workers. The move would have cost roughly 270 public workers their jobs…Turns out, USDA officials were never keen on private workers being involved in the administration of the federally funded food assistance program. The federal officials have been warning the state to change its course, or at a minimum refrain from hiring more private employees, since early 2010. ”The state right now is not in compliance (with federal law)," said Alan Shannon, a spokesman with the USDA's regional office in Chicago. "It's that simple."

A lesser-known provision of Wisconsin's budget-repair bill would allow the state to sell off publicly owned power plants in no-bid deals - prompting a flurry of speculation by liberal bloggers who allege that Gov. Scott Walker is attempting a giveaway to energy conglomerate Koch Industries...Koch insists it doesn't stand to gain from the legislation, and is furiously denouncing the rumors as they have spread to media outlets including MSNBC, Forbes and Bloomberg… Koch Industries, led by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, has emerged as a major benefactor of conservative Republican candidates, and the Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperity has helped organize tea party rallies in Wisconsin supporting Walker's proposed budget fix.

One Wisconsin Now issued the following statements regarding Gov. Scott Walker’s enactment of the failed Indiana model for privatizing the taxpayer-financed Wisconsin Department of Commerce.

Gov. Scott Walker’s misguided plan to create a supermajority for tax increases ignores that the taxes targeted have not been increased by the legislature in over 30 years. Similar supermajority measures in California have led to that state’s near economic collapse, a record-setting deficit and draconian cuts for critical public investments.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin’s frivolous complaint to the Government Accountability Board (GAB) regarding its legislative candidates’ support for the Social Security privatization scheme concocted by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Janesville), belies the RPW’s own state platform, which offers incontrovertible support for the so-called “Ryan Roadmap.”

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker admitted in a newspaper story today he was unaware of a comprehensive report on the tragedies at the Milwaukee County mental health complex - but that has not stopped him from refusing to release the report to his own county auditors. Walker refused to tell the private legal counsel he hired, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to taxpayers, to release the report to Milwaukee County auditors who have requested it to complete their investigation.

“As governor, I’ll find ways to do more with less …and sign an amendment that will protect funds like these from future raids.” “¢ Walker Statement, 7/20/10

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has promised to reveal his plans in the coming days to reduce the state government payroll, but if his Milwaukee County record is any indication of his plans, taxpayers will be socked with higher costs and compromised safety.

The first television advertisement for Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s campaign for governor paid for by the Republican Party of Wisconsin not only is full of distortions and exaggerations, but also ignores the impact of his policies which have been disastrous for Milwaukee, a fact-check conducted by One Wisconsin Now concludes.

Milwaukee County Scott Walker’s mismanagement of the County Mental Health Complex is under even more scrutiny after tragic reports of yet another patient sexual assault, this time at the hands of a security guard hired as part of Walker’s failed effort to privatize county services.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s latest campaign ad is riddled with falsehoods, distortions and half-truths about his disastrous record for Milwaukee County, according to a fact check of the ad conducted by One Wisconsin Now.

“(Chad Wegener) works for Wackenhut Security Services, a big international firm, which took over security at the Courthouse last month. However, back in 2004, Wegener resigned as chief of police in Manawa, Wisconsin amid scandal -- accused of making repeated unwanted sexual advances towards on-duty male officers after pressuring them to drink beer and watch pornography at his home. Wegener plead no contest to five misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct, and spent three months in jail.”

“Irate supervisors said Wednesday that Walker overstepped his authority by laying off 76 workers, including the security personnel, and some vowed to try to stop him from privatizing courthouse security. Walker's unilateral actions created an emergency that didn't exist, said Supervisor Michael Mayo Sr. He said the legal argument justifying Walker's actions under emergency statutory authority was ‘poppycock.’ Walker has said he relied on legal advice from the county corporation counsel as well as an outside law firm before issuing layoff notices. Acting County Corporation Counsel Timothy Schoewe said Walker was justified in hiring a security firm on an emergency basis. Schoewe also said Walker was on solid legal ground with the layoffs to help fill a budget shortfall. Dimitrijevic said she planned to introduce legislation aimed at undoing Walker's plan to award a $1.1 million annual contract to Wackenhut to take over the security checkpoints. The County Board in November rejected Walker's plan to privatize security as part of the 2010 budget and that policy should prevail, Dimitrijevic said. Last Friday, Walker fired all 27 security guards and also issued layoff notices to 49 other county workers.”

“...Walker said privatizing airport operations could enable the county to "actually turn a profit and use the revenue to pay down debt." He also said the money from an airport privatization could be used to help pay for the county's bus system without increasing the property tax. ...He sought but failed to win County Board support for a study on airport privatization for 2009, and he didn't address the issue in his 2010 budget. ...Three county supervisors attending Walker's speech said they remained opposed. Supervisors Johnny Thomas, Christopher Larson and Theo Lipscomb said it would be unwise for the county to entrust one of its prime assets to private firms. They warned that fees for a variety of services at the airport would likely be increased.”

If Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is interested in providing an honest assessment in his 2010 “state of the county” address, it will be a long apology to the people of Milwaukee County for his failed leadership, skewed priorities and playing politics with county operations.

“Operation of the Milwaukee County Zoo, one of the area's most popular attractions, would be spun off to a nonprofit company under a plan by County Executive Scott Walker. A proposal he'll include in his 2010 budget will call for creation of a steering committee to work out details of how the privatization would work, including whether the Milwaukee County Zoological Society or some newly created entity would take on zoo operations. Walker is eyeing a late 2011 date for the shift.”

“Meanwhile, the board delivered a second snub to Walker on Thursday on his plan to outsource operation of the public assistance call center, voting 12-6 to reject his plan. The board also voted against the idea last year. Walker favored hiring Impact, a private agency, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to operate the call center for $2 million a year. ...The board approved a resolution calling on Walker to increase the call center staff to 30 using county employees, which would cost slightly less than Walker's outsourcing, according to board figures.”

“A Milwaukee County Board veto override Wednesday means contractors will miss out on $600,000 worth of contracts, and 30 tradespeople on the county payroll will keep their jobs. ‘We are not a source to go to the private sector to make them richer off of taxpayer dollars,’ said County Supervisor Michael Mayo, who voted against County Executive Scott Walker's outsourcing plan.”

“Walker struck out with the board on every major privatization move, with one exception. The board sustained a Walker veto that keeps alive - though barely - his plan to outsource operation of the troubled public assistance call center. Under Walker's plan, the county would pay the private social agency IMPACT and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education $2 million a year to run the center. Because of the complex partial veto that Walker used to resurrect the call center, the matter must come before the board again for approval of an outsourcing contract on the call center, county Corporation Counsel William Domina said. That means the board could still kill the plan. Walker got only eight votes Wednesday, enough to sustain the call center veto but not enough to get the call center contract approved...Other Walker outsourcing ideas defeated included privatizing scores of workers who fix county vehicles, maintain county buildings, work as housekeepers or admissions staff at the Mental Health Complex, or work as mental health caseworkers. The board also used an override to defeat Walker's plan to substitute seasonal help for 48 parks maintenance workers, which added $1.8 million.”

“His message to his staff members as they gear up for the annual budget pageant: economize and privatize. ‘Anywhere and everywhere, they should be considering contracting out’ so services can be provided at less cost, Walker said in an interview. That's been his mantra since he took office, one that he re-emphasized during his successful re-election campaign this year.”

He's also been a staunch supporter of private and religious school choice, playing a key role last year in maintaining funding for the program, which provides taxpayer money for private education.