Money Behind Walker’s Voucher Expansion

$10 Million In 10 Years Drives School Agenda

Walker expanding program after millions in backing by voucher supporters

April 15, 2013 Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

Madison – Wealthy campaign contributors and shadowy electioneering groups that back school voucher programs have spent nearly $10 million in 10 years in Wisconsin – much of it to help twice elect a governor who is trying to sharply expand the program, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.

Spending by school choice backers included $2.8 million in individual campaign contributions to mostly Republican and conservative candidates for statewide office and the legislature from 2003 through mid-2012, and $7 million for outside electioneering activities, like negative mailings and broadcast ads, from 2003 through 2012.

More than half of the $9.8 million in campaign contributions and outside spending – $5 million – by pro-voucher groups and individual supporters since 2003 occurred in the first 19 months of the 2011-12 election cycle when Republican Governor Scott Walker, the lieutenant governor and 13 state Senate seats were targeted for recall because of the governor’s successful plan to slash public employee collective bargaining rights (see Bar Chart). In the previous four, two-year election cycles, campaign contributions and outside election spending by voucher advocates had ranged from $751,925 to $1.6 million.

Those persistent, generous campaign contributions and millions of dollars more in outside election spending by mostly out-of-state interests are keys to the program’s survival and growth.

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, also known as the school voucher or school choice program, started in 1990 serving 300 Milwaukee public school pupils at a cost of about $734,000. Today two programs spend about $158 million in taxpayer dollars to send about 25,400 Milwaukee and Racine school children to private and religious schools. During the 23-year history of school choice in Wisconsin, backers have successfully defended its legality in court; expanded it even under eight years of a democratic governor who opposed it; and repelled attacks about its educational quality, transparency, accountability and financial and mismanagement problems that led to criminal charges, convictions and prison time for administrators at some of the schools in the program.

Walker has received $2.35 million in campaign contributions and outside spending support from individuals and groups that back school vouchers since his first run for governor in 2006. Virtually all of that support – $2.2 million – came for his June 2012 recall race when mostly out-of-state school choice supporters contributed $1.1 million to his campaign and the Washington-based American Federation for Children spent $1.1 million on outside electioneering activities on Walker’s behalf.

Walker’s large bump in campaign contributions from school voucher supporters and outside spending by the American Federation for Children come amid his efforts before and after the recall election to expand the voucher program. During his 2006 and 2010 races for governor, Walker received no outside electioneering support from school choice groups, and $126,063 in individual contributions from supporters of the program.

But after Walker’s 2010 election and before his June 2012 recall the governor proposed a 2011-13 state budget that significantly increased funding, ended enrollment limits to increase the number of pupils who can join and geographically expanded the school voucher program beyond Milwaukee.

And Walker’s proposed a 2013-15 state budget currently being considered by the legislature continues to expand school choice. The governor wants to increase funding $73 million and potentially allow up to nine additional school districts throughout the state to join the program in the near future.

Over the years, school choice supporters have also targeted key members of the state’s legislative and judicial branches of government who develop, approve, fund and decide the legality of public policies like the voucher program (Table 1).

In the legislature, school choice backers focused their contributions and outside election efforts to help Republican legislators who were targeted in the 2011 and 2012 recall elections, and legislative leaders and their fundraising committees. And four Wisconsin Supreme Court justices who are considered the court’s conservative bloc collectively received $233,350 from school voucher backers from 2003 through mid-2012. One of those justices, Pat Roggensack, received an additional $35,500 in contributions from school choice supporters in early 2013 while she was running for reelection.

After Walker, the other top recipients include Supreme Court Justice David Prosser who received $130,000 from four out-of-state contributors to help pay for recount expenses after his 2011 reelection to the bench, GOP Senator Alberta Darling of River Hills – one of nine senators who faced a recall election in 2011 – who accepted $57,800 and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate – one of the four committees used by Senate and Assembly Republican and Democratic leaders to raise campaign cash for elections – at $51,100.

In addition to substantial campaign contributions in key legislative races, groups pushing school choice expansion in the legislature have hired three former GOP Assembly speakers – Scott Jensen, John Gard and Jeff Fitzgerald – to lobby on the issue. Jensen works for the Washington D.C.-based American Federation for Children which has spent $4.4 million of the $7 million doled out by school choice backers since 2003 for outside electioneering activities.

Nearly two-thirds of the $2.8 million from school choice backers came from individuals outside the state. The Democracy Campaign found that $1.8 million or 63 percent came from contributors in California, Arkansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, Virginia, Wyoming, Texas and Missouri among others compared to about $1 million, or 37 percent, from Wisconsin contributors.

Topping the list of school choice contributors (Table 2) to Wisconsin candidates were billionaires Richard and Betsy DeVos of Grand Rapids, Michigan who contributed $337,330 from 2003 through mid-2012 to Wisconsin candidates for statewide office and the legislature.

The DeVos family has backed the school choice cause nationwide for several years. Richard DeVos Jr. is a former unsuccessful candidate for Michigan governor, and his father of the same name founded Amway Corporation. Betsy DeVos is heavily involved with American Federation for Children and founded its predecessor All Children Matter which spent about $2.4 million on outside activities in Wisconsin elections from 2004 through 2008. Walker was the top recipient of the couple’s contributions at $252,600, including $250,000 during his recall election when state election laws allowed the governor and other officeholders targeted for recall to collect unlimited contributions from individuals.

Behind the DeVos family are Robert and Patricia Kern, owners of Generac Power Systems in Waukesha who contributed $302,700. Most of that, $200,000, went to Walker during his recall contest. Like many other school choice supporters, the Kerns have contributed mostly to Republican candidates and conservative candidates. The couple’s Kern Family Foundation supports school voucher and other alternative education programs, pastoral training and engineering education. Robert Kern was a major backer – to the tune of $250,000 – of All Children Matter between 2005 and 2007.

Rounding out the top three contributors were John and Josephine Templeton who oversee the Templeton Foundation in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and contributed $150,200 to Wisconsin candidates. In addition to school choice, the Templetons are long-time supporters of Republican and conservative candidates and causes across the country like the Cato Institute and numerous state efforts to ban same-sex marriage. They gave $100,000 to help pay Prosser’s recount expenses after his 2011 reelection, $50,000 to Walker for his recall campaign and $200 to two GOP legislative candidates.

In addition to spending by individuals and groups whose key issue is school vouchers, powerful lobbying groups like the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce and two Milwaukee police and firefighter unions also back the program. WMC, the state’s largest business group, represents a wide array of powerful special interests like business, manufacturing, construction, road building, banking, natural resources, health care that made $63 million in campaign contributions to candidates for statewide office and the legislature from 2003 through mid-2012, including $20.2 million to the governor.

WMC and two conservative ideological groups – Wisconsin Family Action and Americans for Prosperity – which also back school voucher programs, have spent $24.2 million on outside spending since 2003 to help elect dozens of legislative and statewide candidates. These groups, which keep secret their fundraising and spending on election activities, spent an estimated $8.65 million on outside electioneering activities to help Walker win the 2010 general and 2012 recall elections.

Table 1
Contributions* From School Voucher Supporters
To Current Statewide Officeholders And Legislators

Name	Party**	Office	Amount
Scott Walker	R	Governor	$1,246,008
David Prosser	NP	Supreme Court	$130,000
Alberta Darling	R	S08	$57,800
Committee to Elect a Republican Senate	R	Senate	$51,100
Annette Ziegler	NP	Supreme Court	$39,000
Michael Gableman	NP	Supreme Court	$38,600
Tom Tiffany	R	S12	$34,950
J.B. Van Hollen	R	Attorney General	$33,610
Terry Moulton	R	S23	$29,540
Republican Assembly Campaign Committee	R	Assembly	$29,300
Pat Roggensack	NP	Supreme Court	$25,750
Leah Vukmir	R	S05	$23,125
Scott Fitzgerald	R	S13	$20,650
Mary Williams	R	A87	$18,655
Joe Leibham	R	S09	$16,500
Mark Honadel	R	A21	$16,150
Lee Nerison	R	A96	$16,100
Luther Olsen	R	S14	$15,950
Sheila Harsdorf	R	S10	$15,900
Travis Tranel	R	A49	$13,500
Jeff Mursau	R	A36	$13,000
Jerry Petrowski	R	S29	$12,150
Rebecca Kleefisch	R	Lt. Governor	$12,100
John Murtha	R	A29	$10,350

*Table shows current officeholders who received $10,000 or more from school choice supporters. Figures represent contributions to statewide officeholders from 2003 through June 2012 and to current legislators and legislative leadership committees from 2003 through July 2012.

**‘R’ means Republican and ‘NP’ means Nonpartisan.

Table 2
Contributions* From School Voucher Supporters
To Candidates For Statewide Office And The Legislature  

Name	City	State	Employer	Amount
Richard & Betsy DeVos	Grand Rapids	MI	Alticor/Windquest	$337,330
Robert & Patricia Kern	Waukesha	WI	Generac Power Systems	$302,700
John & Josephine Templeton	Bryn Mawr	PA	Templeton Foundation	$150,200
Dennis & Sandy Kuester	Milwaukee	WI	M&I Bank	$128,600
John & Christy Walton	Jackson	WY	Walmart	$122,100
Terry & Mary Kohler	Sheboygan	WI	Windway Capital	$117,875
Foster & Lynnette Friess	Jackson	WY	Friess Associates	$117,200
George & Susan Mitchell	Whitefish Bay	WI	School Choice Wisconsin	$115,500
William & Susan Oberndorf	San Francisco	CA	SPO Partners	$114,950
Jim & Lynne Walton	Bentonville	AR	Walmart	$109,600
San & Joanne Orr	Wausau	WI	Wausau Paper	$104,267
Roger Hertog	New York	NY	Retired	$100,000
Bruce Kovner	New York	NY	Caxton Alternative Management	$100,000
Howard Fuller & Deborah McGriff	Milwaukee	WI	Marquette University/ New Schools Venture Fund	$88,980
Richard & Sherry Sharp	Richmond	VA	V-10 Capital Partners	$88,300
John & Laura Fischer	San Francisco	CA	Pisces	$79,500
Virginia James	Lambertville	NJ	Retired	$67,550
Michael W. Grebe	Milwaukee	WI	Bradley Foundation	$61,700
Rex Sinquefield	Westphalia	MO	Show-Me Institute	$55,000
David & Julia Uihlein	Milwaukee	WI	Uihlein Wilson Architects	$54,900
William & Patricia Hume	San Francisco	CA	Basic American Foods	$40,400
John Bryan	Lake Oswego	OR	Eos Inc.	$35,500
David & Ann Brennan	Akron	OH	White Hat Management	$31,000
H. Fisk Johnson	Racine	WI	S.C. Johnson & Sons	$30,000
Andrew & Janice Fleckenstein	Waukesha	WI	Fleck Foundation	$27,700
Arthur Dantchik	Gladwyne	PA	SIG Financial Holdings	$24,500
Peter Denton	Palm Beach	FL	Retired	$24,100
George Hume	San Francisco	CA	Basic American Foods	$23,500
Alice Walton	Millsap	TX	Walmart	$21,950
Greg & Carrie Penner	Menlo Park	CA	Walmart	$20,000

*Table show contributors who gave $20,000 or more to statewide officeholders from 2003 through June 2012 and to current legislators and legislative leadership committees from 2003 through July 2012.

Separate But Unequal: Analysis by State Senator Chris Larson on Walker’s Charter School Proposal

As you may know, the 2011-2013 Biennial Budget passed by Republicans and signed by Governor Walker gutted $1.6 billion in funding for our local public schools while also funneling money into private voucher schools. With the introduction of Governor Walker’s second budget, it appears the trend to devalue our children’s need for a quality education is continuing. Not only does the newly introduced budget provide a 0% increase in revenue limit growth, but it also continues to divert money to an unaccountable, unproven voucher experiment. This time around, the budget also tries to create a voucher 2.0 program by altering the existing format of our charter schools to make them more closely resemble their voucher school counterparts. Continue reading for more information about the proposed changes to Wisconsin’s charter and voucher school programs.

Implications of Creating a Charter School Board

While many Wisconsinites are aware of the proposed expansion of voucher schools in Wisconsin, the same cannot be said of plans to further privatize education in our state by creating a Charter School Oversight Board (CSOB), which would be attached to Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI), but ultimately act independently.

Under Governor Walker’s budget, school boards could convert all of the public schools within the district to charter schools. Further, should the area school board opt to convert all schools into charter schools, all students in the district could be forced to attend them. Likewise, parents and teachers in the district would have no say about the decision. Being forced to attend charter schools created under this plan rather than a traditional school or a charter school run under the guidance of DPI should be concerning to parents for several reasons. Not only will the Board creating these charter schools be controlled by a one-party majority, but it will also face little public scrutiny, can opt to ignore the local school board, and will have sole discretion over the charter school’s budget, curriculum, and personnel policies and decisions.

The Board created would be comprised of the state superintendent and 10 other members–two appointed by the superintendent, two by the governor, and six by the leaders of the Senate and Assembly. Given that the Legislature and the Governor’s office are currently controlled by one party, that will allow the majority Republican members to dictate charter school policy.

Additionally, the CSOB would not be subject to any direct oversight by the Legislature, or the local school district. As a result, this new Board would be able to establish policies and standards without the public scrutiny of the rule-making process to which other agencies, including DPI, are currently subject. Such a provision also limits the input of parents and local government to craft educational policy that represents the needs and values of that community and those neighbors.

Finally, as stated in Governor Walker’s budget, all new independent charter schools must be established by contract and operated by a charter school governing board. The charter school operators are then granted sole discretion over the charter school�s budget, curriculum, and personnel policies and decisions. One such personnel policy granted is that DPI will be required to grant a charter school teaching license to any person who has a bachelor’s degree and demonstrates that he or she is proficient in the subject they intend to teach. The individual need not have had any teaching experience or experience with kids in general. Once they are granted a license, it is valid for three years and may be renewed.

While it may seem that school districts statewide will have the choice to go charter or not, Governor Walker sought to eliminate this local control option, as well. According to the budget text, approval for new, independent charter schools will be needed from home districts, unless the district meets the criteria of having two schools within the district with bad report card grades. In that case, the creation of CSOB will automatically be triggered, despite any voiced objections from the school board. While charter schools have become a valuable option for families across Wisconsin, it is something that should have oversight from those providing the funding–neighborhood taxpayers. Likewise, the creation of an independent charter school board should also be put before community members. Unfortunately, Governor Walker’s budget, as it stands, does neither.

How Voucher and Neighborhood Schools Compare

With the introduction of Governor Walker’s 2013-2015 Biennial Budget, our local public schools once again were dealt a devastating blow. Under the governor’s budget, private voucher schools will not only be allowed to expand across the state, but they will also see a $73 million increase in funding and spending authority. This means up to a $1,400 per-pupil funding increase for the 25,000 students in voucher schools. In this very same budget, 870,000 Wisconsin children were ignored when a $0 revenue growth limit was instituted in their public neighborhood schools. As we look to protect the opportunities available to our K-12 students, we should also ensure that the choices we are offering are quality, transparent options that will help guarantee all our children are receiving the best education possible.

One choice that still requires vast improvement is Wisconsin’s voucher schools. Not only do these schools lack the same accountability and transparency measures as their public school counterparts, but it appears we may be investing substantial taxpayer dollars in a choice that has not been proven to be any better for our children than our traditional neighborhood schools.
The issue of poor accountability and lack of transparency measures in voucher schools has been discussed since I was nine years old. Despite Governor Walker’s repeated promises to finally bring accountability and transparency to all schools receiving taxpayer dollars–including voucher schools–he has yet to follow through. Children, parents, and taxpayers deserve to have basic accountability measures in place for all schools receiving public funds.

In addition to widespread concerns over the lack of accountability and transparency in Wisconsin’s voucher schools, this program also comes at a substantial cost to taxpayers. In 2010, state law compelled Milwaukee Public Schools to levy over $50 million in taxes to subsidize the private and religious schools making up the voucher program, which amounts to 17% of the total Milwaukee Public Schools tax levy. This financial burden increased the financial responsibility of taxpayers in 2012 to 22.6% of the total Milwaukee Public Schools tax levy.

In truth, Milwaukee taxpayers are now being billed for both the largest school district in the state, Milwaukee Public Schools, AND the fourth largest, which is what the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program has grown to be with 22,400 students in the last school year. The tax levy for the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program already exceeds the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District by nearly $10 million and is expected to exceed Milwaukee Area Technical College�s in the next few years.
Unfortunately, by increasing the funding for Wisconsin’s voucher schools we are doubling down on a failed system. For those looking to get the most precise snapshot of just how voucher school students are performing compared to their public school counterparts, they should look at data recently collected by the Department of Public Instruction. This data analyzes how all voucher and public school students in 4th, 8th and 10th grade performed in reading, math and science during the 2010-2011 school year. According to the data, Milwaukee Public School students outperformed voucher students in eight out of nine categories.

The Milwaukee Shepard Express also recently compiled information to compare Wisconsin’s voucher schools to their Milwaukee Public School counterparts. Through data provided by the Public Policy Form Research Brief, February 2013; Department of Public Instruction; Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau; and the University of Arkansas School Choice Demonstration Project, they were able to create the comparison chart illustrated below.

 

	MPS	Vouchers
Enrollment	79,130	24,941
Economically disadvantaged students	84%	79%
Minority students	86%	80%
African American students	56%	48%
Hispanic	24%	24%
White	14%	20%
Special needs students	19%	2%
Cost per pupil	$9,812	$7,670
Religious schools	0	85%
Students proficient in reading (WKCE 2011-12)	60%	57%
Students proficient in math (WKCE 2011-12)	50%	41%
Able to discriminate?	No	Yes
Comply with open meetings and records laws?	Yes	No
Teach religious-based curriculum?	No	Yes
Licensed teachers required?	Yes	No
Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for special needs students required?	Yes	No
Students with disabilities proficient in reading	26%	18%
Students with disabilities proficient in math	25%	10%
Students with access to guidance counselors	100%	58%
Students with access to AP high school courses	100%	59%
Students with access to gifted and talented programs	100%	10%

It is clear that Wisconsin has to institute greater accountability and transparency measures in order to honestly examine whether the additional cost of this program is worth it to taxpayers, especially before it considers expansion. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in learning more about Wisconsin’s voucher program and whether or not it is truly a better option for Wisconsin’s children and future workers.

 

Critique of Scott Walker’s Destructive Policies Aimed at Milwaukee

Walker loves Milwaukee? We’re not feeling it

By John Gurda March 29, 2013 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It hasn’t been this bad since the 1950s. You have to go back more than half a century to find a time when Wisconsin’s highest elected officials were so antagonistic to the state’s largest city. Then, it was a rural bloc kept in power by skewed legislative boundaries. Now, it’s a Republican bloc that has manufactured the same advantage. The results are identical: legislation, passed or proposed, inimical to the city’s best interests.

The previous low point in city-state relations came in the years after World War II. Reapportionment, normally done once a decade, had not been addressed since 1921, a result of the Depression, wartime and political resistance.

Years of urban growth had shifted the balance of population to the cities, but not the balance of power. Although 55% of Wisconsinites were city-dwellers by 1950, most of the state’s legislators lived in rural areas. Bayfield County’s assemblyman represented 13,715 people, while his Milwaukee counterparts averaged 43,552 constituents each.

The rural legislators, most of them Republicans, didn’t hesitate to use their disproportionate power. They adopted formulas that increased state aid and lowered state taxes for their districts, sticking Milwaukee and her sister cities with the bills. The rural caucus also beat back attempts to consolidate their small rural schools, and they used city tax dollars to maintain some of the best rural roads in America.

In 1951, Milwaukee County received only $1 back for every $2.10 its residents paid in state taxes. It was not until 1954, when the Wisconsin Supreme Court intervened, that population alone became the basis for reapportionment, and it was not until 1964 that parity was finally achieved, again under court auspices.

Almost 50 years later, the imbalance has returned in a different form. Republicans considered population in their 2011 redistricting scheme, but they studied voting patterns just as carefully. The GOP packed likely Democrats into supermajority districts and gave their own party the statistical edge in contested areas. The results were not just anti-Democratic but anti-democratic. In 2012, Republicans won only 46% of the total votes cast for Assembly but took 61% of the seats.

Once they had stacked the deck, Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow Republicans proceeded to play some serious poker. Walker’s opening bets included a proposal to lift the residency requirement for city employees, a move guaranteed to do Milwaukee lasting harm. He denied that it was political payback for the support of the city’s police and fire unions, insisting that he was only supporting freedom of choice. The governor of the entire state followed that claim with a gratuitous slap at Wisconsin’s only metropolis. “If you want to keep people in the city,” Walker piously advised, “you should have a great city.”

Excuse me? Where do you suppose the Brewers and the Bucks play, governor? Which city is the home of such giants as Harley-Davidson, Northwestern Mutual and the Manpower Group? Where is the state’s most vibrant theater scene? Who’s got the greatest concentration of fine restaurants? The biggest zoo and the best museum? Where does the Calatrava spread its wings? Where will you find one of the most gorgeous urban shorelines on the Great Lakes? The world’s largest outdoor music festival? The state’s greatest range of housing choices or, for that matter, the greatest range of human beings?

No place in Wisconsin has the resources that Milwaukee has developed over the past 175 years, and they are here for the entire state to enjoy.

Yes, we have persistent, perhaps intractable, problems with poverty, problems we share with other great American cities, from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles. Eliminating the residency rule would only aggravate those problems by eroding the middle-income mortar that holds many of our neighborhoods together.

The pull of the suburbs has been a powerful force in American life for decades – not just in Milwaukee – and it’s clearly in any city’s best interests to make residency a condition of employment. Milwaukee’s rule has been on the books since 1938, and applicants still line up for jobs by the thousands. Those who are hired live among those they serve, and where’s the injustice in that?

Walker’s stance on residency is needlessly destructive, but it’s consistent with an anti-urban bias that runs like a thread through his political career. As Milwaukee County executive for eight years, he presided over the decline of once-exemplary transit and park systems. As Wisconsin’s governor since 2010, Walker worked with the Republican Legislature to make the deepest cuts to public education in the state’s history – cuts that Milwaukee, as Wisconsin’s largest and poorest public school system, felt disproportionately.

Along the way, Walker first demonized and then, through Act 10, disarmed members of the one profession with the greatest responsibility for shaping Wisconsin’s future. I know veteran teachers who are advising their younger colleagues to find other work, and applications to the state’s schools of education are down across the board. “The feeling is that Act 10 is doing a number on enrollment,” one dean told me. How’s that for a heartwarming legacy?

Perhaps Walker’s true colors shone most brightly during last year’s gubernatorial recall election. The governor didn’t just run against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett; he ran against Milwaukee. His campaign ads showed polluted harbors and dead babies, and Walker actually said at one point, “We don’t want Wisconsin to become like Milwaukee.” You have to wonder if this guy even hears himself anymore. Most maps I’ve seen place Milwaukee well within Wisconsin’s borders, but Walker ignored geography to score political points.

The fact that he could shrug off the collateral damage his campaign was doing to Milwaukee’s image, and to its relationship with the rest of the state, is chilling indeed. I don’t doubt that our governor has firmly held principles, but that’s not where he lives. Beneath the rhetorical camouflage is a ruthless and calculating politician who will exploit any weakness, make any promise and press any advantage to get in office and stay there.

But Walker is a specific kind of politician currently in vogue: an ideologue who sees the world in black and white. His outlook makes him, among other things, a tireless polarizer. Walker instinctively pits “the hardworking taxpayers of Wisconsin” against public schoolteachers, “all of us” against “the greedy few,” public employee unions against each other, and now Milwaukee against the rest of the state. Is his strategy effective? Clearly. Divisive? Oh, my.

Walker is not evil, as some of his more hysterical detractors would have you believe. He reminds me, rather, of Mr. Magoo, a hopelessly nearsighted soul who bumbles through the world oblivious to his surroundings – and to the genuine harm he’s causing. That, to me, is the tragedy of life in Wisconsin under Walker. As he divides to conquer, our polarizer-in-chief has us all swimming in a sea of false dichotomies. By phrasing the major issues in terms of us vs. them, Walker has transformed the broad middle ground of years past into an uninhabitable minefield.

“We don’t want Wisconsin to become like Milwaukee” is one blatantly false dichotomy. Milwaukee and the rest of Wisconsin have been mutually dependent since the very beginning, first as markets for each other’s products and now as complementary halves of the same whole. Milwaukee is the urban yin to rural Wisconsin’s yang, and together they constitute a satisfyingly complete experience.

I am both a Milwaukeean and a Wisconsinite, with as much affection for the North Woods and the Driftless Area as I have for the modest metropolis of my birth. Walker would prefer that we not see our commonalities. In a world that can surely be both/and, he’ll choose either/or every time.

There have been a few bright spots, including state support for road work on Milwaukee’s lakefront and some much-needed economic development partnerships, but those bright spots don’t begin to make up for the blind spots. We’re back to the 1950s, with one faction clinging to a gerrymandered majority and lording it over the rest of us. Walker’s bid to end the residency rule is a sign that he and his fellow Republicans are determined to drive yet another wedge into the body politic.

“I love Milwaukee,” the governor declared on these pages a few weeks ago. He certainly has an odd way of showing it. With friends like Walker, who needs enemies?

John Gurda, a Milwaukee historian, writes a monthly column for Crossroads.

 

School Administrators Alliance Critical of Walker’s Proposed Education Budget

Please direct inquiries to:
John Forester, 608-242-1370
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 18, 2013
Governor’s Budget Proposals Continue Defunding of Public Education
Walker to freeze public schools, expand private school vouchers
MADISON, Wis. — Two years after passing historic budget cuts that took away more
than $800 million from public education, Governor Scott Walker is proposing to inflict
further harm on public schools and students across Wisconsin.
His latest proposal freezes the amount that school districts can spend on public school
children under revenue caps. Meanwhile, the governor wants to increase funding for
private school vouchers by $600 per K-8 student and $1,200 per high school student,
and allow the expansion of private voucher schools that have little to no accountability
and that do not result in higher levels of achievement for students.
“Considering that public schools make up more than 40 percent of the state budget and
Governor Walker has $1.7 billion in available revenues for new spending, I am shocked
that he is proposing a revenue cap freeze for public schools,” said John Forester,
director of government relations for the Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance (SAA).
In his 2011-13 budget, adopted in June 2011, Governor Walker cut the public school
revenue limit by an average of $550 per student, while private voucher school per-pupil
allocations were held harmless. And at the same time the state was cutting more than
$800 million from Wisconsin public schools, it was increasing the amount given to
voucher schools by about $23 million.
“The disastrous defunding of public education continues unabated,” Forester said.
“Given that this is coming on the heels of the last budget’s massive cuts, it’s safe to say
that this proposal represents the worst state budget for public school students in
Wisconsin history.”
Despite overwhelming evidence that private school vouchers do not improve student
achievement and lack adequate financial accountability to the public, Governor Walker
continues to pursue private school voucher expansion. His current proposal would open
private school vouchers to nine new school districts and special needs students.
“Make no mistake about it,” said Forester. “The ultimate objective of voucher advocates
is a statewide system of private school vouchers for all Wisconsin school children. This
takes critical resources away from students in public schools, leaving most school
districts in Wisconsin with no choice but to increase local property taxes and make
greater reductions in quality educational opportunities for all students.”
“Clearly, Governor Walker is attempting to privatize public education for the exclusive
few at the expense of the many,” said Forester.
Rather than continuing to defund public education, the SAA is calling for the governor
and legislature to reaffirm the state’s investment in Wisconsin’s students. At a minimum,
the state must provide a $200 per pupil increase on the revenue cap, fully funded with
general school aid. And private school voucher expansion is such a fundamental
change in educational policy in Wisconsin that it should stand as a separate piece of
legislation—away from the budget—to allow the public’s voice to be heard.
“In the days and weeks to come, we will work with legislators of both parties to
encourage them to do the right thing and provide more resources to Wisconsin’s public
schools and students,” said Forester. “Budgets are about choices, and we need to send
the message that our priorities lie in our children, not in tax cuts, road builders and
private school vouchers.”
# # #

Scott Walker Wants You To Think He Is Increasing Money to Public Schools by $129 Million

Let’s do a little School Funding 101.

Governor Scott Walker claims he’s raised the funding for public schools by $129 million.

Sounds good. But here’s the problem:  The amount of funding for Wisconsin public schools has a corresponding restriction – a revenue limit (cap). If that cap is not raised, any increase in State funding translates into an equivalent decrease in the amount that goes to the schools from property taxes (State funding is increased by $129 million. Therefore property tax funding is decreased by $129 million.) Revenue for school districts remains the same.

Example: Say the revenue limit (cap) were $10,000 per student, paid equally by $5000 from the State and $5000 from local property tax. When the State increases its contribution, say by $1000 per student, for a total of $6000 in State contribution, the property tax contribution would be reduced to $4000 unless the revenue cap were raised. The amount per student would not change.

In short, less funding will come from property taxes, thereby constituting “property tax relief.” But schools and students are getting the same amount of money, not an increase. With inflation, the amount actually constitutes a loss of funding for public schools.

Scott Walker’s $129 million is actually “property tax relief” while public school funding declines.

This is all going on at the same time Walker is increasing $73 million for general vouchers, $21 million for special education vouchers and  $23 million for charters.

 

Gov. Walker Advances Failed Voucher System

Governor Walker previewed his state budget address this week by announcing the expansion of the taxpayer-funded private school voucher program to school districts that 1) have at least 4,000 students and 2) have at least two school buildings receiving the 4^th or 5^th lowest rating on the school report cards.

School districts that meet these criteria are:  Beloit, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Sheboygan, Superior, Waukesha and West Allis-West Milwaukee.

The state budget proposal would also open the door to future expansion as other school districts meet the criteria.

Under Walker’s proposal, enrollment would be capped at 500 students in the 2013-14 school-year and at 1,000 students in the 2014-15 school-year.

Walker also proposes increasing the voucher payment amount from $6,442 per child to $7,050 for students through 8^th grade and to $7,856 for high school students starting with the 2014-15 school-year.

Wisconsin residents: 2-to-1 margin favor education funding over tax cuts

 

http://www4.uwm.edu/cuir/research/upload/Wisconsin-Economic-Scorecard-Brief-10-29-2012.pdf

 

Wisconsin Economic Scorecard

The Wisconsin Economic Scorecard is a quarterly poll of Wisconsin residents conducted by the UWM Center for Urban Initiatives and Research (CUIR), in cooperation with Milwaukee public radio station WUWM and WisBusiness.com. This tracking poll measures perceptions of the health of Wisconsin’s economy as well as personal economic circumstances of Wisconsin residents. The October 2012 Wisconsin Economic Scorecard was a random digit dial (RDD) landline/mobile telephone survey of 472 Wisconsin residents, conducted by the CUIR Survey Center at UWM from October 22‐25. The sampling margin of error is ±4.5% at the 95% confidence level.

 

Major findings:

Wisconsin residents would prefer state revenues to be spent on additional funding for education over receiving tax cuts by a 2-to-1 margin (56.9% to 27.3%).

 

Feature: Opinions on uses for increased state revenues

In light of improved state revenues, state officials are looking at how to allocate those tax dollars in the next state budget. Proposals being considered include income tax cuts and increased funding for education. Respondents were asked about their preferences regarding the ultimate use of this extra flexibility in the upcoming budget. Figure 13 shows that Wisconsin residents prefer increased funding for education over income tax cuts by a 2‐to‐1 margin (56.9% to 27.3%). About 16% of respondents indicated that they would prefer those tax dollars be allocated in some other way.

 

A number of variables are related to how respondents say they would prefer these tax revenues to be allocated. While every age group preferred increased funding for education over tax cuts or other programs, that preference weakened as age increased; 73.1% of respondents aged 18‐29 preferred increased revenues be spent on education, but just 47.9% of those aged 60 and up agreed. Women preferred education funding over tax cuts 64%/23%, while men were split 50%/31%. Those with children under 18 living in the household preferred education funding over tax cuts 63%/23%, while those in households without children were split 54%/29%. However, the most influential variable when it came to shaping opinion on how tax revenues should be allocated was party identification. Figure 14 shows that Democrats preferred education spending to tax cuts by 89%/6%, while just 30% of Republicans supported education spending and 51% preferred tax cuts. Political independents favored education spending over tax cuts 50%/28%.

Walker Implicated

Prosecutors: Walker county staff, guv campaign met regularly to ensure ‘good coordination’ 11/19/2012 Wispolitics.com MILWAUKEE — Prosecutors today said Scott Walker had regular meetings with his Milwaukee County staffers and his 2010 guv campaign to ensure there was “good coordination” between the two. Milwaukee County prosecutors made the disclosure during the sentencing of Kelly Rindfleisch, a former Walker county aide who reached a plea deal to settle charges against her stemming from the long-running John Doe probe. Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf said the group that met regularly included people from Walker’s campaign such as campaign manager Keith Gilkes and spokeswoman Jill Bader along with county employees such as chief of staff Tom Nardelli, spokeswoman Fran McLaughlin, administration director Cindy Archer and Rindfleisch, according to email correspondence obtained by investigators. In court, Landgraf said Walker adviser R.J. Johnson was also part of the group. But he said later in a short interview that Johnson was not. Landgraf used a detailed power point presentation to implicate Walker and his aides in doing political work using county resources. Rindfleisch attorney Franklyn Gimbel said “what jumped off the page” in Landgraf’s 65-minute presentation was that his client was the only one of those mentioned in the power point who’s facing jail time. “Scott Walker has not been accused of any wrongdoing,” Gimbel said, raising both hands in exasperation. Landgraf did not address in court whether anyone else would be charged in the investigation and declined to answer questions on that topic afterward. Walker has repeatedly said he is not a target of the probe. Archer hasn’t been charged, though investigators have searched her home as part of the probe. Prosecutors earlier this year requested personnel records for all four former county aides mentioned as part of the group. Walker’s campaign downplayed the allegations raised in court today. Walker campaign spokesman Tom Evenson said it is not usual for an elected official’s office staff and campaign staff to discuss meeting schedules, emergency contacts, and how to address media inquiries directed at both the campaign and the official office. “Balancing the daily calendars, meetings and issues covered by the media for an elected official present challenges in the course of a campaign that require routine communication by both sets of staff,” Evenson said. State Dem Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski said Rindfleisch was a “victim of her loyalty” to Walker. “It’s clear now that he presided over a criminal culture where county government in Milwaukee became an adjunct of his campaign,” Zielinski said. “The citizens of Wisconsin should be afraid that this criminal culture has been imported to Madison.” In his power point presentation, Landgraf also noted an email referencing daily conference calls that included Archer and Tim Russell. Russell has been charged with stealing money from a fund operated to assist veterans that was run out of Walker’s office. While Russell has been mentioned prominently in other criminal complaints, he hasn’t been charged with campaign violations. Earlier, Landgraf had said those were still possible. Landgraf also noted that Rindfleisch, in an email to a friend, had said that half of her time in the county executive’s office would be spent on “policy for the campaign.” In addition to highlighting the political work, Landgraf detailed steps he says Walker’s campaign and county aides took to take the spotlight off negative events that happened in his county administration during the 2010 guv campaign. Landgraf noted that at one point a request came in for records of work done on a county-owned parking garage after a decorative concrete slab fell onto a teenage boy, killing him. Gilkes reportedly said the open records should be sent to the county’s top lawyer, Tim Schoewe, and that he should “drag it out.” Another email indicated that Bader “would task” the county exec’s staff to do research on a matter that later was used on Walker’s campaign material. Yet another time Gateway to Milwaukee had asked for a short essay related to the Walker’s campaign and Bader sent it to the county staff to prepare. Most of the work was done by McLaughlin, Walker’s spokeswoman at the county office. She was given immunity in the John Doe probe. There was also considerable concern about negative news coming out of the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Institute, and the group of aides talked about the need to redirect the attention to problems at the state hospital in Mendota. Rindfleisch was sentenced to six months in jail and three years probation. Her sentence was stayed pending an appeal, and Milwaukee County Judge David Hansher said she could serve her sentence in Columbia County, where she lives, and allowed her work release privileges. Prosecutors have portrayed Rindfleisch as uncooperative in providing information about others as part of the John Doe probe. Gimbel, though, said while Landgraf described his client as not helpful, she had been truthful and cooperated “notwithstanding that she did not deliver another defendant for them.” In a court filing Friday, prosecutors alleged Rindfleisch continued to do political work for Walker’s campaign even after she came under suspicion in the John Doe. They also alleged that after she was charged, she went to work for a company that did work for Walker’s guv recall campaign. But Gimbel said in court Rindfleisch went to work for Friends of Scott Walker only to plan the victory celebrations after the election. While the company she went to work for was retained by the state GOP, it also had medical and dental clients. But the stories that have appeared in the media about the connection may put that job in jeopardy, Gimbel said. She has had to use her retirement savings on legal fees and to live, he said. “There is no coziness that continues” between Rindfleisch and the GOP and they have “not stepped up to the plate to assist Ms. Rindfleisch.” Kelly was tearful and told the judge she accepted full responsibility for her crime. “I apologize to the people of Milwaukee County and assure them and you that Milwaukee County was always my first priority,” she said. “I take full responsibility for my actions, and I can pretty much guarantee that it will never happen again.” Hansher note that while the crime was not vicious or violent, it was a felony and that “she clearly knew what she was doing was illegal and wrong.” He noted that she was on notice after the so-called “caucus scandal” in the state Capitol more than a decade ago. Hansher said her sentence is “a shot across the bow” to let other state and municipal employees know that they cannot do political work during time when they are supposed to be doing government work. Hansher also said he did not pay attention to Landgraf’s memo noting Rindfleisch had taken a job with Walker’s campaign and a company that did extensive work for the Republicans. “I presume the implication is that she’s fallen on her sword for Scott Walker and the Republican Party,” he said. “I am giving that no weight at all.” – By Marie Rohde For WisPolitics.com

 

Walker Announces Voucher Expansion at California Speech

Scott Walker is ready to take another step on his mission to privatize public education in the state of Wisconsin. He announced his plans to expand the voucher program for private schools while limiting funding for public schools, including technical colleges and the University of Wisconsin System.

Walker recently exposed his plans while speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.

Following is a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article written by Daniel Bice. The Walker speech can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BSBckazR40&t=54m25s

Walker promises major tax reforms, school funding changesWisconsin governor speaks at Reagan library Nov. 17, 2012 MJS Daniel Bice Speaking before a packed house at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in California, Gov. Scott Walker unveiled major components of his upcoming legislative agenda, including “massive tax reform” consisting of cuts in state income and property taxes. “We think if we want to continue the economic success we’ve had over the last year and a half, again one of the best ways to do this is to put money back in the hands of entrepreneurs, more money back in the hands of small business owners, more money back in the hands of our consumers,” Walker said Friday during his hourlong speech, a video of which was posted on YouTube. “So we’re going to continue to lower our property taxes, and we’re going to put in place an aggressive income tax reduction and reform in the state of Wisconsin because we believe we can continue to be one of the leaders in the country, not just in reform but ultimately in results.” Walker also said he wants to require the state’s public schools, including the technical colleges and the University of Wisconsin System, to meet performance-based targets to receive increased state funding – similar to programs in Florida and Pennsylvania. The first-term Republican governor said he will push to expand the state’s voucher program for private schools and further streamline the state’s rules and regulations. The next legislative session convenes in January. A Walker aide declined Saturday to provide further details on the governor’s agenda, such as whether the income tax cuts would be targeted or across the board. “Governor Walker’s budget will be introduced early next year,” said spokesman Cullen Werwie. State Rep. Robin Vos, the next Assembly speaker, said the proposals sound very much like the ideas Vos has been discussing with top Walker officials for the past six months – though he has yet to talk to Walker personally about his legislative proposals. “The agenda he laid out (in the California speech) is one Republicans in the state can coalesce around and, hopefully, we can also work to bring Democrats who are open-minded about reforming our tax code and improving our state’s economy to support the plans as well,” said Vos, a Rochester Republican. But state Sen. Chris Larson, who will lead the Senate Democrats, said he can’t believe state residents had to find out about the governor’s agenda by tracking down what he said in an out-of-state speech to “another right-wing group.” Larson said he has been trying unsuccessfully to reach out to Walker and Republican leaders about the upcoming session. “It’s unfortunate he’s going to try to continue to go down this war path of ideology instead of actually trying to address the real problems that we’ve got,” said the Milwaukee Democrat. “It looks like he’s putting his donors above his voters.” Walker’s high-profile appearance at the Reagan Simi Valley complex came on the heels of his numerous campaign stops around the country on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other GOP candidates. The Wauwatosa Republican said he was invited to speak at the library shortly after the June recall election by former first lady Nancy Reagan, whom he met on Friday. The library is a traditional forum for Republicans interested in running for president. Walker has downplayed his interest in a 2016 presidential bid. But in an interview with the Ventura County Star at the Reagan library, Walker was critical of Romney and his unsuccessful presidential campaign. “Our future nominee needs to do a better job in articulating the views that we commonly hold as Republicans and to talk more optimistically about freedom and about prosperity, and the fact that we want every American to be able to live his or her piece of the American dream,” Walker said. He continued, “I don’t think (Romney) did an effective job, nor did his campaign of communicating that with the majority (of) voters in my state and others.” The speech attracted a number of California conservatives, including former Gov. Pete Wilson. Walker was accompanied by Diane Hendricks, owner of ABC Supply and a major GOP fundraiser. The Beloit billionaire paid nothing in state income taxes for 2010, the Journal Sentinel has reported. Veteran political forecaster Larry Sabato told No Quarter on Saturday that Walker is looking and sounding more like a presidential contender. “It’s possible Walker is just staying high-profile prior to his 2014 re-election race, but I think he sees a wide open field for ’16 and says, ‘Why not me?’ ” Sabato said. After his prepared remarks, a former Wisconsin resident in the crowd quizzed Walker about his agenda for the upcoming legislative session during a question-and-answer session. In the election earlier this month, Republicans took control of the state Senate and increased their majority in the Assembly. Walker did not say who would get tax cuts under his reform plan. Vos said he hopes the state trims the income tax bill for all taxpayers but gives the greatest relief to the middle class. Along with the tax cuts, Walker said he wants to require the state’s public schools – ranging from elementary and secondary schools to technical colleges and the University of Wisconsin System – to meet performance-based targets to receive increased state funding. Following the lead of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Walker said his administration began publishing report cards for K-12 public schools. He said it is now time to hold colleges and universities accountable. “I’ll borrow a line from Jeb – Jeb says it well – ‘We shouldn’t be paying for butts in seats; we should be paying for outcomes,’ ” Walker said. “In higher education, that means not only degrees but our young people getting degrees in the jobs that are actually open and needed today, not just the jobs the universities want to give us.” He didn’t provide additional specifics on his education reform plan, but his proposal sounds similar to the plan under consideration in Pennsylvania. A commission set up by Gov. Tom Corbett is recommending performance score cards that would grade state colleges and universities on such items as controlling tuition costs, increasing enrollment of low-income students and tailoring programs to meet the needs of the workforce. The score cards would then be used to determine funding for postsecondary institutions. Florida is also instituting a similar system under which $118 million in state funding is divided among state colleges and universities based on how well they perform in 40 different statistical categories. UW System President Kevin Reilly did not return calls on Saturday. In addition, Walker told the enthusiastic California crowd that he hopes to make Wisconsin’s voucher program for private schools available to more students. “I want to help my traditional public schools, but I want to help my charter, my choice, my virtual schools,” Walker said. He continued, “Every child – no matter what ZIP code they come from, no matter what their parents’ background – every child in my state and in this country should have the opportunity to have access to world-class education.” Larson, the Democratic leader, said he was most troubled by Walker’s plan to expand school choice. Larson said he believes the state should put in place better measures to ensure transparency and accountability for choice schools before opening the program to more students. Finally, Walker said he wants to eliminate unnecessary state regulations but provided no specifics. Vos noted that the Assembly Republican caucus has not yet gotten together to develop its full legislative agenda. “He’s a bit early in the process,” Vos said of Walker. “But it’s perfectly fine for the governor to begin the discussion because he’s echoing themes that we’ve been saying the last six months on the campaign trail.” Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice.

Rep. Gwen Moore Holding Town Hall Friday at UWM on Voter ID in Wisconsin