With Governor Walker’s Proposal, Wisconsin Once Again Leads the Nation in Education Reform

Lindsey Burke / February 18, 2011

In 1990, Wisconsin set an education reform example for the nation with the passage of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). Twenty years later, Governor Scott Walker (R) has identified the obstacle that keeps more children in his state and across the nation from similarly benefiting from parental choice in education: union collective bargaining power protecting their interests rather than the needs of children.

Democratic senators in Wisconsin have fled the state, unionized education employees have left the schools in protest, and thousands of students have been without class as the result of opposition to new measures that Walker is proposing to tackle the state’s nearly $4 billion deficit.

In operation now 20 years, the MPCP has proven successful. But, like Walker’s current proposal to reform collective bargaining policies, the MPCP certainly faced detractors when it was proposed. Walker’s decision to stand strong in the face of union opposition continues Wisconsin’s proud history of being at the forefront of educational reform. (more…)