If you saw the state spending millions of dollars to bus children to schools far from home when there are openings in good schools in their own backyards ... you'd start making some changes.
. If you saw that less than half of milwaukee high school freshmen actually graduate ... and graduate with a d+ average ... you'd start making some changes.
. If you saw that only 79% of our students actually go to school on a regular basis, you'd start making some radical changes.
Our first step in changing education is a complete redefinition of public education in Wisconsin.
From now on in Wisconsin, a public school will mean a school that is serving the public.
School choice is part of this new public education.
School choice is more than a program ... it is a philosophy.
It is the belief that parents know best when it comes to their own children ...
It is the belief that poor parents have the same right to choose that other parents do ...
It is the belief that parents will choose the best school for their child.
That's education serving the public.
We are expanding our milwaukee private school choice program to include more children and all private schools.
If a mother in milwaukee wants her child to walk to the private school across the street instead of being bused to a public school across town ... she's going to have that choice.
If that private school across the street has a religious affiliation ... she is still going to have that choice.
Religious values are not our problem. Drop-out rates are.
Government is allowed to pay for whatever pre-school a parent chooses. It is allowed to pitch in for whatever college they choose.
It is only for k-12 that we assume bureaucrats know best ... and parents have no say.
Not anymore.
And private school choice is only part of the solution.
We are going to make public choice an option statewide. We are going to make our public schools an excellent choice as well.
But even with choice, our Milwaukee public schools need special attention.
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Dr. Howard Fuller is the superintendent of Milwaukee public schools. His life is dedicated to reforming those schools. That's what drives him.
He wants to work with the Milwaukee school board to make bold, radical changes to the system. He wants MPS to succeed.
Dr. Fuller came to me with a list ... a list of changes he needs to make Milwaukee schools work.
I am including his requests in my budget ... because I believe in what he wants to do:
. He wants charter schools. Why not give every single school in the district the freedom and the flexibility to educate our children as they know best.
. Private contracting -- if a school thinks a private firm can turn their school around, do it. if they think a particular principal or a group of teachers are the answer, hire them.
. Failing schools -- give the superintendent the freedom to close schools that are not doing the job. forget the forms and formalities. If a school is not performing, shut it down. Stop throwing money away. stop paying for failure.
Dr. Fuller tells me one thing over and over again: He does not want to be superintendent of a public school system. He wants to be superintendent of a system of public schools ... schools that are serving the public.
There are many schools and teachers in Milwaukee today who are doing just that.
Teachers like Vandy Harmon, a teacher at Milwaukee technical high
School who is using computer technology to teach graphic arts. Vandy has been a Milwaukee public school teacher for 24 years. She is embracing innovation. She is leading the charge to the education of the 21st century.
Vandy, could you stand up please?
The education of tomorrow is already starting today, thanks to people like Ms. Harmon.
And I know that if we give Milwaukee the tools they need ... every Milwaukee school will be a success story. Milwaukee public schools will be the education comeback story of the 1990s.
And the Milwaukee success story will be the Wisconsin success story
... because I am giving every school in this state the same tools for Success.
We are going to unshackle our educators from the bureaucratic establishment that has kept them from soaring.
Every school district in this state is going to be as unique as the students they serve
A school right here in Madison is a perfect example of a school serving its students ... a school serving the public.
Some of our young people today are facing tough problems ... some are homeless ... some are victims of abuse ... some abuse drugs ...
Educators saw a need and created a school to meet it ... the Dane County Transitional School ... taking troubled students and teaching them the skills they need to succeed.
I'd like to introduce Judy Olkes, coordinator of the Dane County Transitional School, and two of her students -- Lars Forde and Rob Pertzborn.
Thank you, Judy, for making education work ... for leading the way to the education of the future.
Bold words ... bold deeds. That how we do things in Wisconsin.
We said we were going to fight crime. And we have.
We passed a three-strikes bill last session ... we abolished mandatory release ... and we launched the largest prison expansion program in state history.
Statistically, crime is down in Wisconsin. But statistics are no comfort to people who do not feel safe ... people who are afraid in their own neighborhoods.
We must be bolder. We must never forget that protecting law-abiding citizens is government's fundamental duty.
There is an element in our society today that is growing increasingly more violent.
And, unfortunately, where we have seen the greatest explosion of violent crime is among our young people.
There are young people out there today who think they can do whatever they want ... and because they are kids, they will get the kid-glove treatment.
My message to violent young criminals is simple: Your birthday won't protect you anymore.
We are lowering the age of majority for youthful offenders from 18 to 17. If you commit a crime and you are 17 years old, .. you will be considered an adult.
The focus in the past has been on social services for these young people.
Well, some of these juvenile offenders are not simply a social problem anymore. They are a social menace. and they are going to be treated as such.
Wisconsin currently has two reform schools as part of our social services department -- Ethan Allen and Lincoln Hills. We are moving these two institutions to the department of Corrections. We are putting the people who handle criminals in charge of our young criminals as well.
And tonight I am announcing that we are placing a new youthful offender institution in Racine.
This facility will house 400 inmates ... and we are putting it right across the street from Racine steel casting ... a huge foundry that has pledged to work with us to train and employ many of these young men ... teaching them skills ... and paying them by the hour so they can pay room and board and restitution to their victims.
This is new government that makes sense.
To protect our law-abiding citizens from violent crime, we need to keep violent criminals off the streets.
That's why tonight, I am proposing the elimination of parole for serious felonies in Wisconsin. From now on, people will serve their full sentences.
If you are a violent criminal sentenced to 10 years in prison, you will serve 10 years in prison. No more parole ... no more early release. Period.
For Milwaukee, I plan to continue discussions with county officials to build an adult alcohol and drug abuse center ... and a joint state-county prison.
I am also announcing tonight a pilot program that is bringing private industry into our prison system. We are turning our prisons into factories and making prisoners pay their own way. There will be no more free lunch in Wisconsin prisons.
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Irwin Jacobs is a businessman who is bringing work to one of Wisconsin's prisons ...
It is work he cannot find workers for ... it is work that will cut prison costs ... that will teach prisoners responsibility ... and will teach them that nothing is free ... not even a prison cell.
That's the way the world works. It's going to work that way in the prisons now, too.
I have always said that government can learn a lot from the private sector. and you might as well learn from one of the very best.
It is my pleasure to introduce Irwin Jacobs.
Mr. Jacobs is building a new business that takes return items from catalogues and retail stores ... sorts them ... repairs them ... re-packages them ... and then sells them at resale shops.
He is bringing this business to Wisconsin. He is not taking the work away from other workers. He is bringing the work to our prisons.
It is a win-win situation for the state ... it is a win-win situation for our taxpayers.
Bold words. Bold deeds.
Technology
Wisconsin has embraced new technology in the past eight years ... and new technology is going to be our partner as we create a new government for a new century.
When I presented my first budget speech, I suggested we do something.
About registration at the UW. It was the biggest applause line I've ever had.
For anyone who remembers spending hours in line at the old red gym ... you know why.
Eight years later, students can register for classes electronically ... simply by picking up the phone.
These are the kind of innovations that are changing our world at break-neck speed.
Last summer I ran into an old friend who asked me why the UW-Madison dorms were not wired for video. I told him I didn't know ... I'd have to look into it.
As a result of that conversation, a company called Cyberstar entered a bid, and they are now installing a full service telecommunications network capable of delivering video, telephone and computer services at the UW-Madison.
Now the city of Madison wants them to do the same ... and they are negotiating to build a fiber optic network serving 80,000 Madison homes.
I want to introduce to you a man who is making these innovations happen ... Don Jones ... who is here tonight with his wife, Terri, and their son Joseph.
Don and his company Cyberstar are wiring the UW ... they helped create computer access to the library of congress ...
This month he electronically wired the U.S. House of Representatives ... and he is spreading his innovation to countries all over the world ... all from Wisconsin.
With technology, you don't have to be a lobbyist ...
With technology, everyone is an insider ... everyone has access.
