This is the kind of new thinking we need for education in this state ... And this is why we need a new Department of Education.
We need a Department that will lead the charge for new ideas ...
· Ideas such as expanding the Milwaukee school choice program so poor parents have the same opportunity to choose that other parents do.
· Ideas like expanding public school choice statewide. Parents should decide where their children go to school ... Not bureaucrats.
· We are expanding charter schools statewide ... Giving every school in the state the opportunity to innovate and be the very best.
· And we are allowing private contracting statewide ... Giving every school in the state the freedom to hire the very best ... The best teachers, the best administrators, the best principals.
We are also taking steps to make sure our schools are safe and secure places to learn:
· We are setting up violence-free school zones. If you commit a felony near a school or at a school event, you will pay the price.
· We are also giving school boards the authority to discipline, suspend or expel violent students -- to rid our classrooms of fear.
Good kids have rights too.
What we are doing -- quite simply -- is re-defining what public education is in this state ... A new public education for a new century.
Public education will no longer mean government-run education.
Public education will mean education that is serving the public.
It's that simple.
We are not dismantling education in this state.
We are dismantling old ideas.
We are dismantling the old way of doing things.
We are dismantling a bureaucracy that is no longer relevant to most classrooms.
But we are building an education system that will be second-to-none as Wisconsin moves into the next century ... An education system that is accountable to the people it serves ... An education system that will prepare our children to compete with the world ... And win.
University system
Our great university system is already second-to-none. And moving K-12 education to the forefront in state priorities will not mean the UW is going to lose any ground.
We are going to insist on common sense, however.
We did not balance this budget on the backs of UW students.
As a parent paying UW tuition myself I know how important it is to keep tuitions low. I insisted that we keep tuition levels to under 33% of instructional costs ... And we did.
Raising tuition more could have solved a lot of budget problems for us. We did not do that.
UW tuition will remain the second-lowest in the Big 10 ... And among the lowest in the nation.
But while I am fighting to maintain funding to keep the university affordable, I expect the university administration to be doing the same.
That's why I am proposing to freeze for the next two years the salaries of UW administrators who are making more than $100,000.
The salary cap is a small, common sense price to pay for the long-term security of one of the best public systems in the country.
University hospital
The goal of this budget is to make changes to meet the needs of the future.
Take a look at the University Hospital.
I observed firsthand the exceptional care and quality staff at this hospital when my wife Sue Ann was there for cancer surgery.
This is one of the best research hospitals in the country. But the truth of the matter is that University Hospital is going to have problems surviving as it is now. It simply cannot survive as another department of the UW.
We are unshackling our education system to compete in a new world. We need to do the same for the University Hospital.
We are proposing to make the University Hospital a public-private partnership, creating a University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Authority effective July 1, 1996.
This will continue state partnership with the hospital, but also allow it the freedom and flexibility to expand and compete in an increasingly competitive health care market.
Changing to meet the needs of the future.
Reorganizing state government
Meeting the pressures of this budget -- and doing so without raising taxes -- forced us to take a whole new look at state government in Wisconsin.
We are making changes ... Changes rooted in common sense.
A new century will bring new priorities and new pressures with it. This new state government will be prepared to meet them.
Over the past eight years, Wisconsin has made changes recognizing the changing needs of people on welfare. Because of our foresight, we are no longer reforming welfare ... We are replacing it.
This spring I will present a bill to you that replaces welfare in the state of Wisconsin by 1997. I am asking you to work with me on that legislation.
Welfare is going to be a jobs program in Wisconsin. It will no longer be an entitlement. It will be the connection between looking for help and looking for a job.
So it only makes sense to move the current Welfare Division out of our Social Services Department and over to a new Department of Industry, Labor and Job Development.
Recognizing the demands of the future ... And making changes to meet them.
That's a new government for a new century.
Juvenile justice
Juvenile delinquents used to be troubled kids causing some trouble in society.
Today, too many juvenile offenders are violent criminals who need to be removed from society.
That's why we are moving our two most secure juvenile detention facilities from the Division of Youth Services at our Social Services Department ... Over to our Department of Corrections.
We are drawing the line between kids who society needs protection from ... And children who need to be protected.
Division of children
Once we remove the toughest kids, the Division of Youth Services will be able to concentrate its resources on children who still have a good chance of turning their lives around.
We plan to consolidate the complete spectrum of services for children-at-risk into a division of children at the new Department of Health and Family Services.
Child care, child support, child protection, children's mental health, substance abuse ...
This consolidation will reduce the likelihood of children slipping through the cracks between a multitude of different programs ... And it should also reduce the ultimate loss of these young people to the adult correctional system.
And because we are moving two institutions to the Department of Corrections, the state is going to need a new boys school. I will be making an announcement about this in the next month or so.
Changing to meet the needs of the future ... A new government for a new century.
Privatizing gaming
The State Gaming Commission is a perfect example where the private sector can do a better job than state government.
Why should we have three Gaming Commissioners when there is hardly enough work to keep one busy full-time?
We plan to streamline and privatize Wisconsin's lottery, leaving the Gaming Commission free to focus on their most important duties -- the regulation and security of state gaming.
Civil service reform
We are taking a new look at civil service in the state.
The current civil service system is an inflexible relic of another time.
We are working with employees and unions to find the best ways to change the system ... And we are going to repeal civil service laws at the Department of Revenue and the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations to see if we can develop new and more efficient personnel policies.
New ideas for a new government.
Employment commission consolidation
We currently have three state agencies serving as hearing examiners for various employment and personnel actions ... The personnel commission, the Wisconsin employment relations commission, and the labor and industry review commission.
We propose to merge these three agencies into one overall Wisconsin employment commission. The number of commissioners will initially go down to five ... And eventually down to three.
Common sense for a new government.
Department of financial institutions
We currently have four separate commissions overseeing the financial services industry in this state ... The Banking Commission ... The Commission of Savings and Loans ... The Securities Commission ... And the Commission of Credit Unions.
We propose to bring these under one roof in a new Department of Financial Institutions.
Distinctions between various parts of the financial industry are becoming blurred and the public often has a hard time figuring out where they need to go for help. This new department will create a one-stop shopping location for Wisconsin consumers.
Department of commerce
Wisconsin's strong economy has been the driving force behind everything we have been able to accomplish in the last eight years.
Economic development is going to remain a top priority ... And we plan to consolidate all economic development functions into one new Department of Commerce.
The Department of Commerce will offer one central location for business. It will mean a more focused approach to business development ... And it will mean more jobs and an even better economy for Wisconsin.
Common sense for the future.
Tourism and parks
We are also proposing the creation of a new Department of Tourism and Parks, bringing together the Division of Tourism and the Bureau of Parks and Recreation.
Let me be clear: this is not a scheme to commercialize our state parks. We're not putting water slides on Devil's Lake.
This new department will switch the focus from simply protecting the parks to protecting them and promoting them at the same time.
DNR will still monitor the environmental preservation of the parks. The same people will still be managing them.
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We are simply going to enhance promotion in order to provide the revenue and the financial security we need to preserve our parks for generations to come.
