From UW-Madison basketball coach Bo Ryan to stem cell pioneer James Thomson, there are thousands of state employees paid at least in part by private or federal funds who will likely have to take unpaid days off over the next two years as mandated by Gov. Jim Doyle. But much of that money can’t be used to help the state close its budget gap due to tight restrictions on its use, prompting criticism from some of those employees...The number of state workers whose pay is federally funded, either partially or fully, is in the thousands. There are 6,000 such employees at state agencies alone, typically scientists or engineers who get their money from federal sources such as the National Institutes of Health or the Department of Energy. That doesn’t include the state’s courts, Legislature or the UW System, where there are thousands more...
With costs threatening to detour millions of students off the college route altogether, it’s time to open the educational express lane. Some American universities are planning to give more students a chance to graduate in three years rather than four. Graduates would still be saddled with a sizable student-loan boulder, but it would be quite a bit lighter. Opponents of the idea say previous attempts have proven unpopular. That’s hardly a fair comparison. What students paid for a semester of tuition 15 years ago will barely cover the textbook bill today. Steps like this have to be taken to make a college education feasible...
Wisconsin could save $395 million each year if graduation rates improved, according to a recent study. Though the state has one of the nation's highest graduation rates, dropouts are costing millions annually through reduced tax revenues, increased Medicaid costs and high incarceration rates...
Wisconsin government is a partnership between the state, which raises most of the money, and local governments, which spend most of that money on social programs, schools, policing and firefighting. The partnership has long been an uneasy one -- made worse during economic downturns -- with local officials kvetching about the state's stinginess and the state complaining about local spending...In past crises, it has largely spared schools and local governments, and inflicted most of the pain on state agencies and the University of Wisconsin System. But spending on local governments, including schools, accounts for more than 60 percent of the state's budget...
A gathering of business, education and government leaders on Friday was considered the first step in developing ways to train workers for new technologies such as wind power and electric vehicles. The session, sponsored by Snap-on and held at its Kenosha headquarters, included comments from Gov. Jim Doyle that a quality education was paramount in keeping Wisconsin competitive once the economy improves. Doyle acknowledged he’s proposed cutting school funds a few percent, although that’s less than the several percent in other areas of the state budget...
Last-minute additions to the state budget early Friday morning elicited cries of “pork-barrel spending” from state Republicans, though Democrats defended their actions as addressing local needs. Critics particularly singled out projects in the Madison area, such as $500,000 for a climate change education center in Monona and $4 million to begin relocating the Wisconsin Historical Museum and Veterans Museum to a new joint site...
Piece by piece, a framework of research and development resources is being welded into place in the Milwaukee 7 region. The recent flow of news has been decidedly positive at a time when most economic news has been largely negative. Unlike Madison, where academic research and development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the main engine, multiple players are bringing intellectual horsepower to bear on revitalizing southeastern Wisconsin. It is the region's best hope for the future...Despite the budget turmoil at the state level, the signs are positive for $240million in bonding for the three new schools being championed by UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago, another visionary leader. It was a tonic for the region that he decided to stay around and finish his quest for the Innovation Park, a new school of public health and a school of freshwater science...
"Thumbs up and down," Editorial, Post-Crescent, May 30.
...Thumbs Down: To Atty. Gen. J.B. Van Hollen, for choosing a private school over a public school to receive state money. The state received part of a $1.6 million settlement with Countrywide Financial Corp. over allegations it misrepresented its loans. Countrywide customers in Wisconsin got half of the money and the state got the other half, to provide foreclosure relief. Van Hollen this week said he was giving $310,000 of the money to the Marquette University Law School to start a foreclosure remediation program in Milwaukee. But it could have gone to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. Van Hollen said he chose Marquette in part because of its "reputation for dispute resolution and the likelihood that this effort can expand statewide with their efforts." If a statewide program is the goal, why not use the state's public university law school?..
