Doyle's College Plan Seeks to Raise Achievement in Elementary and Secondary education E

As part of what he calls his Affordability Agenda, Governor Doyle Tuesday (January 17, 2006) unveiled a proposal to encourage college enrollment and raise achievement in elementary and secondary education.

"Anyone who knows me will tell you my first priority as governor has been education," Doyle said in his State of the State Address. "And that is why, as part of my Affordability Agenda, I'm proposing a historic new commitment to make college more affordable for hardworking Wisconsin families and give our students added incentive to succeed in the classroom."

The program, which he calls the Wisconsin Covenant, will be open to any 8th-grade student who has some level of financial need.  Students must sign an agreement to maintain a B average in high school, complete a specified core curriculum, and apply for state and federal financial aid.  Students who meet these requirements will receive a financial aid package that meets their full financial need for tuition to any University of Wisconsin System school at which they are accepted.

Similar programs have been implemented in Indiana , Oklahoma , and North Carolina.  The governor challenged the business community and private foundations to help fund this initiative. North Carolina has had considerable success in partnering with private businesses, non-profits, and individuals to fund its version of the Wisconsin Covenant, Doyle said.

"I am asking the university system, the business community, the Legislature, and the people of Wisconsin to join me in this effort," Doyle said.  "When it comes to our children's future, let's think big. Let's make sure that in Wisconsin, every child who works for it can get a world-class education."

Doyle also renewed his call for the Legislature to pass his proposal to raise standards by making a third year of math and a third year of science mandatory for high school graduation.

The Governor's Affordability Agenda includes initiatives designed to reduce the cost of health care, education, and energy for Wisconsin families.  Other elements include:

• A Living Wage Tax Credit to reward hard work and help families who are working full-time escape the grasp of poverty. Doyle said the credit will lift 9,000 families and their 26,000 children out of poverty in Wisconsin.  "This isn't a handout - it is a refundable tax credit which guarantees that every parent who works full time doesn't have to raise their child in poverty," Doyle said.
• A four-part plan for dealing with the rising cost of health care. The plan includes Healthy Wisconsin, an initiative that reduces health care costs by making catastrophic care more affordable for families and businesses; a statewide expansion of Family Care, enabling more than 11,500 Wisconsin seniors and individuals with disabilities to remain in their own home instead of going to nursing homes; BadgerCare Plus, an initiative to give every child in Wisconsin access to affordable, comprehensive health care coverage regardless of the family's income; a call for anti-dumping legislation to outlaw the practice by large companies like Wal-Mart of shifting their health care responsibilities to taxpayers by dropping health care coverage of their workers.
• Support for an emergency heating assistance package of $6 million for families who make $40,000 a year or less. The governor called on the Legislature to pass such a package. "This month, thousands of Wisconsin families are struggling to pay their December heating bill, but because they're not currently eligible for state aid, they are not receiving any assistance," Doyle said. "We're in the heart of the heating season, and these working families need help."
• Efforts to grow Wisconsin 's economy and create jobs. Building on the regulatory reform and investment initiatives in his Grow Wisconsin plan, Doyle outlined five steps to help manufacturers compete including a new initiative to help upgrade more than 100 small and medium-sized manufacturers.
• Setting a goal of capturing 10% of the stem cell market, which could reach $10 billion and create 100,000 jobs by 2015.  To help achieve that goal, he directed the Department of Commerce to allocate $5 million of existing resources to find, fund, and recruit stem cell companies that create jobs in the state.
• A renewal of his support for campaign finance, ethics and election reforms that include requiring better trained poll workers, a merger of the Elections and Ethics Boards, and stopping felons from voting illegally; adopting the bipartisan ethics reform package he announced earlier this month (banning all fundraising during the budget, preventing officials from turning right around and lobbying the government they helped run, and making sure that taxpayers don't have to pay the legal bills of those charged with crimes); and passing comprehensive campaign finance reform bill authored by Senators Mike Ellis and Jon Erpenbach two years ago.

Doyle's overall focus in his State of the State Address was on helping the middle class.

"From health care to education to building a high-tech, high wage economy, Wisconsin is moving forward," he said. "But middle class families are worried that they won't be able to afford to live where they love to live, right here in Wisconsin.  We can do more for them, and we must do more. It's time to fight for Wisconsin's working families.  It's time to end the middle class squeeze."

Posted January 18, 2006