Gov. Walker, eyeing a 2016 bid, picks new fight in Wisconsin: Universitie

[riversedge]

Source: washington post



Gov. Walker, eyeing a 2016 bid, picks new fight in Wisconsin: Universities


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Jeff Steele holds a sign criticizing Gov. Scott Walker at a “Stop the Cuts-Save UW” protest Saturday in frigid weather in Madison, Wis. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
By Robert Samuels February 16 at 8:58 PM

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker has cited his experience battling unions here four years ago as proof that voters appreciate a political leader willing to “go big and go bold.”

So as he woos supporters around the country for a possible presidential bid, Walker (R) is once again picking a fight against a powerful institution at home — public universities.

Walker’s new budget proposal would slash $300 million from the University of Wisconsin system over the next two years. That’s a 13 percent reduction in state funding.

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Walker drew a direct line between his 2011 battle against his state’s public-sector unions, which sparked mass protests and made him a national GOP star, and his new quest to transform higher education.

“It’s very much like what we did four years ago,” he said last week during a trip to London, which was billed as a trade mission but was widely seen as a move by Walker to gain some foreign policy expertise.
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Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gov-scott-walker-eyeing-2016-bid-picks-fight-with-wisconsin-universities/2015/02/16/e84fd5be-b3c1-11e4-886b-c22184f27c35_story.html?tid=pm_politics_pop

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[Roland99]

1. I spent a weekend in London back in the 90s

went to the original Hard Rock. Saw Trafalgar Square. Walked thru Hyde Park.

I couldn't quite see Russia from there but I'm sure I have more foreign policy experience now than if I'd stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

[onehandle]

2. Moron voters don't understand details.

The bread and butter of the GOP base.

[n2doc]

6. Righties have hated the 'eggheads' for a long time n/t

[Augiedog]

3. Dropout drone strike on secular education

No irony to see here. The college dropout wants to drop a financial bomb on higher education by cutting $300 million from the State of Wisconsin university system. That he failed to graduate is not anywhere near as big a deal as his hypocritical educational philosophies. Charter(read evangelical) schools are great in his fanatical eyes. Secular education of all stripes are targets to be harmed in any fashion possible in his world view. He sees public schools in the same light as he sees unions. Scotty"beam me up" Walker is on a mission from God, just ask him. He started a Jesus club when he was a toddler, he thinks he is the second coming of Ronald Reagan, whom he idolizes. Betcha he "punts" on most questions that try to pry a position out of him.

[Buenaventura]

8. It's a shame that Walker isn't more like Reagan ...

Reagan's dead.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Walker is the new Quayle, and we should frame him as such at every turn...

He's as shallow as the western end of Lake Superior at the height of modern summers.

[momrois]

5. This must be the new ALEC thing

Louisiana's Jindal is doing the exact same thing with close to the same cuts. Texas and New Jersey have already implemented their cuts. Trivia question: What do these states have in common?

[still_one]

7. WI voted this creep in 3 times. WI, the state that voted out Russ Feingold

[Buzz Clik]

10. +1. No one to blame but themselves.

[still_one]

12. Obviously, there are progressives in WI who didn't want this, but that isn't how

Elections are run

[Buzz Clik]

9. Other schools already are moving in like vultures.

They are posed to scoop up the deep talent at Wisconsin and take it elsewhere.

It's a pity that Wisconsin continues to elect idiots.

[RationalMan]

11. Clueless but holding the reins of power.......

He couldn't complete his own university studies either because he was too lazy or not smart enough to graduate, he now proposes to destroy a state university system that has had a very good reputation.

He wants to take the goal of "search for truth" out of the university's mission statement and focus more on meeting the state's workforce needs.

I do not disagree that states need to ensure they educate / train their children as they grow to adulthood with the right skills to meet the needs of the state economy. Companies establish / move their operations to states that have a ready and capable workforce. That can be met by a combination of specific university programs such as the schools of engineering, business, etc. and support for programs such as nursing and vocational schools.

What Walker misses is the fact that much of the progress that has been made in the past 200 years in this country and that established the U.S. as a magnet for many of the world's best minds has been the research tradition in our private and public universities. While there is adequate criticism that this focus has sometimes negatively affected the experience of undergraduate students, the reality is this focus has also produced tremendous scholarship.

Universities are where our understanding of things that may not have a direct relevance on the state's workforce are developed. Studies in history, anthropology, linguistics, etc. may not have a direct bearing on what employers require but it is what a civilized society does. Sometimes you spend money in the pursuit of knowledge, of truth, regardless of its apparent usefulness.

[riversedge]

14. Well said. But, too many ppl in WI have Walker's mentality

[riversedge]

13. Cap: As most states put money back into higher education, #Wisconsin goes the opposite direction

‏@madisondotcom 4m4 minutes ago

As most states put money back into higher education, #Wisconsin goes the opposite direction http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/todd-milewski/as-most-states-put-money-back-into-higher-education-wisconsin/article_07a781af-cee3-5549-b4f4-3e6880e42515.html #wipolitics



As most states put money back into higher education, Wisconsin goes the opposite direction
1

52 minutes ago • By Todd D. Milewski | The Capital Times




Wisconsin is one of only eight states that didn't increase per-pupil higher education spending in fiscal year 2014.



The national higher education funding trend shows states putting more money into campuses.

Wisconsin is in the minority there, and Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget, needless to say, wouldn't change things.

Walker, who has proposed a $300 million budget cut for the UW System over the next two years, was in another headline from a national outlet Tuesday, this time from data site FiveThirtyEight.com.

The site pointed to statistics showing that Wisconsin was one of only eight states that didn't increase per-pupil spending in fiscal year 2014.

The FiveThirtyEight story — under the headline "Scott Walker Is One Of The Few Governors Still Cutting Higher-Ed Spending" — also cited per- university student Wisconsin spending cuts of 19 percent between 2008 and 2012, lower than the national average as states felt the effects of the recession.......................



Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/todd-milewski/as-most-states-put-money-back-into-higher-education-wisconsin/article_07a781af-cee3-5549-b4f4-3e6880e42515.html#ixzz3S2pKIH9f