Governor Emphasizes Deep Commitment To Education

At events surrounding his inauguration – and in his inaugrual address – Governor Doyle repeated his deep commitment to children and education.

“The single most important thing we can do is invest in our children,” Doyle said in a Milwaukee visit on January 2, the day before his inauguration.“This state will go as far as these young people will take us.”

Doyle said he has an “ambitious” agenda for the next four years that includes working to improve education.

In his January 3 inaugural address, Doyle said Wisconsin's destiny lies with its youngest generation.

Flanked by members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wisconsin, Doyle said, "for the next four years, I'm going to be standing behind them and their dreams."

"We need to make sure they are ready to compete in a global marketplace," he said. "We need to create the jobs of the future, so that when these young people look for opportunity, they'll find it at home."

Touting his Wisconsin Covenant initiative, the governor said, "We need to open the doors of education to all. ... We'll make sure that every student willing to work hard and make the grade has a place in one of our great universities or technical colleges and a financial package to meet their needs."

"I make this commitment," Doyle said, "not simply because I believe it is good policy, but because it is deeply rooted in who I am and the values I grew up with."

The governor said his parents were "great champions of education."

"And if they were here today and I told them that this state, in 2007, with all our wealth, didn't have the resources to educate our young people – from kindergarten through college – they would look at me like I had gone out of my mind.

"Education is an enduring Wisconsin value," Doyle said. "Our state is what it is today because each successive generation has upheld this value. As governor, it is my deep determination that our generation will do the same."

The complete inaugural address

Posted January 12, 2007