Key to Great S0chools is Great Teachers Says Governor Doyle

The key to great schools has always been great teachers, Governor Jim Doyle said in his State of the State speech.

“We’re fortunate to have as many as we do - but we’re also losing more than we can afford,” the governor said in his January 30 speech. “Last year, one out of every seven teachers left the profession. Their salaries are lagging. Their health care costs are climbing. If we want to keep them, we need to treat our teachers like what they are: professionals who are highly trained and deeply committed to our kids.”

The governor’s State of the State address laid out a grim picture of Wisconsin’s financial situation and the steps needed to erase a projected $3.2 billion budget deficit in the next biennium and $452 million in the current fiscal year.

“Gov. Doyle delivered a strong and clear message to the residents of Wisconsin: Spending cuts are necessary and they will cause pain for everyone,” WEAC President Stan Johnson said. “We applaud the governor for making progress on education in the face of a record budget deficit.”

The governor announced plans to create a task force to develop a plan to reform the school funding system.

“This is too important of an issue to squeeze it into a budget proposal or devise a new plan in just a few weeks,” he said.

The task force will include parents, taxpayers, teachers, community leaders; urban districts, rural districts; wealthy areas, and poorer areas. The meetings, he said, will be open to the public.

“The task force will be an excellent forum to debate this critical issue,” Johnson said. “This is a complex issue that deserves full discussion. WEAC will work with the administration and others to develop a plan that ensures that every kid attends a great school.” Johnson said the task force will need to look at the entire system and its impact on school districts and education.

Doyle repeated his commitment to Wisconsin’s great schools in his State of the State address, saying that while he must make drastic budget cuts, he will protect education from the worst of it.

“To say we should cut spending thoroughly is not to say we should do so thoughtlessly. If we slash education, we risk undermining the asset that makes our state most attractive,” he said.

Education, he said, is the key to rebuilding the state’s economy.
“Just over the horizon, opportunities abound – including the long-term budget solution: education and job policies that reduce the deficit by growing the economy.”

Even in the short term, he said, the state has more than $22 billion to spend over the next two years – “and that’s enough money to make a real difference in a lot of people’s lives.”

“We’ll have to set priorities – and find creative ways to do more with less – but we can. We can do a great deal even in the short term to make Wisconsin a better place -- and even more once we get the budget crisis out of the way,” Doyle said.

“We can make Wisconsin's schools – which are already the nation's envy – even better.”

To address the state’s most immediate problem, Doyle has called a special session of the Legislature to fix a $452 million shortfall in the current year’s budget.

Doyle also proposed a new middle school mentoring and volunteer program called “Community Connections.”

The governor and First Lady Jessica Doyle will lead the program.
“The governor’s focus on middle schools will help community involvement in schools and kids at the same time,” Johnson said.

Complete text of Governor Doyle's State of the State address

Posted January 31, 2003