[Madison, Wisc...] The Joint Committee on Finance will debate funding for the UW System on Thursday for the first time since more than $1 billion in cash reserves was found in the university system's bank accounts.

Of the $1 billion in cash reserves, $648 million was considered to be surplus by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The MacIver News Service previously reported on Governor Scott Walker's revised budget for the UW System.

The Governor's new budget proposal would freeze tuition at all UW System schools for the next two years, and reduce funding by $94 million from his original budget proposal. Walker also asks that the UW System use funds from the block grant program to pay for several economic development initiatives.

Walker proposes the UW System provide funds for a $20 million incentive grant program, $3.75 million for the UW-Madison Carbone Cancer Center, $3 million for the Wisconsin Academy of Rural Medicine program, and $1.95 million for the UW Flexible Degree program.

The new plan also reinstates a funding lapse that the UW System was exempt from in the previous budget. This would reduce funding for the system by $66 million over the next 2 years.

Even with these cuts in place, the UW System's cash reserves would only be reduced to $900 million in June 2015.

The UW System is expected to be a hotly debated topic at JFC after so many legislators expressed outrage at the discovery of the $648 million surplus. Lawmakers seemed particularly frustrated by the fact that tuition has increased 5.5 percent the last four years even though there was a $414 million surplus in that account.

While lawmakers seem united on freezing tuition for the next two years, some Republicans in the legislature view the administration's proposal as not going far enough. Rep. Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater) has called for a four-year tuition freeze and the firing of UW System President Kevin Reilly.

Representative Nass has also asked for a continued prohibition on the Board of Regents approving any new differential tuition plans requested by individual universities because it could be a backdoor way for universities to raise tuition in defiance of the tuition freeze.

However, some legislators may still want to increase funding to the UW System.

Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) recently attempted to move $3 million in General Purpose Revenue over to the UW System. His motion failed.

Will JFC Republicans vote for even greater cuts to the UW System? Will Democrats join their GOP colleagues to reduce funding, or will they fight more spending?

The MacIver News Service will provide updates to this article as they are available and will provide real time updates on Twitter.

Will Common Core State Standards be the impetus that Wisconsin needs to improve local standards? Or will it be a federal over-reach that interferes with local control and classroom curricula across the state?

The Senate and Assembly Education Committees held a joint informational hearing on Wednesday to answer this very question. The legislators heard testimony from nine experts on the future of Common Core, a set of statewide educational standards, in front of an overflow crowd at the Capitol.

The Common Core Standards is a national initiative to implement new educational benchmarks for each grade level in mathematics and English language arts. The program was adopted in Wisconsin in 2010 and is projected to begin during the 2013-2014 year. Although states voluntarily adopt the program, nearly all fifty states have chosen to take part.

Daniel Thatcher, Senior Policy Analyst with the National Council of State Legislatures said that the reason Common Core is now emerging in Wisconsin is because much of the business community has been pushing for the program.

Thatcher maintained that while the standards would be the same across the states, districts would still have a fair amount of autonomy in how the curriculum or text book choices would be made.

"Whatever pathway a state has created for itself to develop and adopt standards is the best way for that state to go forward...I respect that process" Thatcher said.

"These changes relate to standards, not curriculum...this allows districts to focus on the 'how' instead of the 'what'" reinforced North Fond du Lac administrator Aaron Sadoff.

When questioning Thatcher and Sadoff, legislators raised concerns about the potential low standards of the program, and the lack of support gifted and talented students would receive.

"We have created a basement rather than a ceiling with this program. What are the incentives to reach beyond?" Senator Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) said. Other legislators pointed out that if Wisconsin does not adopt Common Core, schools could potentially lose federal grant dollars.

Karen Schroeder, a retired teacher from Advocates for Academic Freedom said that Common Core would however severely limit the local control of schools. The integrity of school choice programs would be undermined as a result of this policy, she said.

Schroeder also mentioned the censorship of conservative materials and the lack of education students receive about Wisconsin history. She also argued that Common Core standards are not as rigorous as other sets of standards, and may let student creativity fall between the cracks.

"The federal government should not be having the same level of interference in the public education system that they have now had for a very, very long time" Schroeder said.

The Joint Committee on Finance postponed a vote Tuesday on the implementation of the ACT and Smarter based standardized tests in Wisconsin's K-12 schools. Both tests would adhere to the Common Core standards, and their implementation has been endorsed by both Superintendent Tony Evers and Governor Scott Walker. The Finance Committee did not say when it will revisit this budget paper.

[Madison, Wisc...] The Joint Committee on Finance voted on Tuesday to require able-bodied childless adults to find a job or participate in a work-training program to receive FoodShare benefits.

The work requirements are a big part of Governor Scott Walker's plan to take on entitlement reform.

The Committee adopted a modified plan of the Governor's proposal. Funding for the plan would be reduced by $2.36 million in both General Purpose Funding and federal funding in 2014-2015. This modification was made to reflect the revised estimate of Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) currently enrolled in FoodShare.

The motion will also require the Department of Health Services to provide a report to JFC that would include the results of an evaluation of the program, an estimate of the number of ABAWDs that are subject to the three-month time limit, and the impacts of the work requirement policy.

Lastly, the motion requires that JFC budget all funding for the work program, "including base funding in new GPR and FED continuing appropriations, rather than as part of the income maintenance county allocations."

Under the new work requirement program, ABAWDs will be required to be employed at least 20 hours per week, participate in a work-training program at least 20 hours per week, or a combination of the two.

Representative Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) called the program mean-spirited in a statement about the new requirements. "Forcing taxpayers to pay more for less never makes sense, but when it means taking food away from our struggling neighbors and friends, that's unconscionable," said Richards.

Republican members of the Committee echoed Governor Walker's view about moving people from government dependence to independence.

Representative Dean Knudson (R-Hudson) said that the new work requirements would help people find a job and get training. "It's not about taking away the fish, It's about teaching someone to fish," Knudson said during the debate.

JFC also approved a measure from Walker that would allow the state to sell or lease state owned assets like heating, cooling, and power plants.

The provision would allow the Department of Administration and the Building Commission to sell or lease properties if it is in the best interest of the state. Committee members added more oversight to the program to ensure all sales would go through a fair and transparent process.

The state would not be allowed to sell assets that were at least 50 percent funded by federal funds or private gifts or grants. All properties would be required to be assessed by DOA and at least one privately owned assessor and JFC would have final say on the approval of the sale.

Opponents to the measure decried the proposal saying there would be no-bid sales of UW dormitories, Camp Randall, and the Capitol Building.

"I don't think any Governor should be allowed to craft back room deals and sell state highways, power plants, or UW buildings without an open and transparent competitive bid process," said Senator Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) in a statement.

Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) said that there would be oversight to keep the bid process transparent and ensure a good deal for taxpayers. "Who on this committee would allow a sale if it hadn't been transparent?" Darling asked of her colleagues during debate referring to the fact that JFC would make the final decision on any sale.

JFC also debated the administrative budget for the Department of Public Instruction and approved most of the Governor's proposals including $3.3 million in funding to track student growth using the WISEdash system, $1.1 million to implement stronger career counseling in grades 6-12, and $500,000 annually for Teach for America in Milwaukee.

The Committee was scheduled to discuss new testing standards and the implementation of new standardized tests in schools, but they did not debate the proposal and will discuss it at a later hearing.

The next executive session of JFC is on Thursday at 10am. The Committee will debate budget items for the Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, and the UW System.

MacIver News Service | May 21, 2013

[Madison, Wisc...] Governor Scott Walker hopes to lower high healthcare costs the state faces each year by offering state employees the option of selecting a high deductible health plan (HDHP) with a health savings account (HSA) in addition to plans already offered by the state.

The state currently offers employees three options; a fully insured HMO plan from 25 different carriers with a uniform schedule of benefits, a state maintenance plan that is available in counties that do not have a tier one HMO plan, and a standard plan that is a self-insured, preferred provider plan with a schedule of benefits comparable to the first two options.

Under the current plan, state employee health insurance costs are expected to total $1.084 billion with 88 percent or $954.1 million provided by state taxpayers in the form of employer contributions. Employee contributions total $130.1 million and cover 12 percent of the total costs.

Although health care costs in Wisconsin increased at a rate 4.1 percent below the national average from 2008-2013, a HDHP paired with an HSA is seen as a way to reduce costs even further by giving those covered under the plan an incentive to minimize the amount they spend.

HSAs help employees save money for healthcare expenses using pre-tax money earning untaxed interest to help cover increased costs that an employee would face from a higher deductible when they seek treatment. The HSA remains an asset of the employee until the funds in the HSA are depleted, even if the employee is no longer working for the state. The money can be used on medical expenses, like laser eye surgery, that are not covered under the uniform schedule of benefits provided by the state plans currently available.

Additionally, money can be withdrawn anytime for non-health related expenses, but money withdrawn for non-health related expenses is taxed, and if the individual withdrawing the money is under 65 years of age, subject to a 20 percent penalty.

The fact that HSAs are an asset of the employee even if they are no longer working for the state is seen by some as a problem since the unused portion of the employer contribution becomes property of the employee at the end of each year. They also see the ability to use the plan for medical expenses not covered under the other plans as unfair. However, supporters say that the plan can reduce costs for the state and save taxpayer money.

The Joint Committee on Finance voted on Tuesday to adopt the Governor's plan and add additional parameters to the program. The provisions added by JFC require the Government Insurance Board and Office of State Employment Relations to clarify "the required deductible amounts, the out-of-pocket maximum limits, projected premium rates, the employer contributions to the HSAs, and any other relevant factors to complete the program plan," according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

The plan from JFC would also require an actuary to then recommend changes to the program that would make it more cost effective. This plan would require the actuary's recommendations be reported to the Governor and JFC no later than January 31, 2014.

At this time, there are not enough specifics in the plan to accurately determine the cost to implement the HDHP/HSA or the savings that it might offer, but savings from the plan were estimated to be $6,867,700 in 2014-15 according to the administration.

On Tuesday, the Joint Committee on Finance will take up legislation that could change the way students are measured in Wisconsin.

JFC will discuss the Department of Public Instruction's administration and funding heading into the 2013-2015 biennium. This will include several important issues that will affect teachers and students across the Badger State. The 16-legislator panel will discuss and vote on items like new standardized tests, new requirements for teachers and professional development, and state funding for Teach for America educators.

The most notable policy being taken up is the administration of SMARTER Balanced assessments for students in grades 3-8 and ACT tests for high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. These tests would replace the ineffective WKCE and are a major part of the state's waiver to free Wisconsin schools of No Child Left Behind regulations. These programs would be field tested in 2013-2014 and moved to statewide implementation in the following year.

Bringing in these assessments will raise testing standards in Wisconsin. However, there may be some controversy surrounding their implementation. Adopting these tests will continue Wisconsin's buy-in to national Common Core State Standards for instruction. The state had announced that it would join the 46 other states that currently adhere to these standards back in 2010, but the looming reform associated with these tests has made Common Core a hot topic amongst the education community.

While these new standards will likely be a magnet for debate, there are several other issues in play as well. The committee will discuss Governor Walker's expanded commitment to keeping Teach for America educators in Milwaukee. They will also debate the merits of new data collection systems to help legislators, families, and children better understand how schools, teachers, and students are performing. We'll have live updates as they unravel at the Capitol on Tuesday.

MacIver News Service | May 21, 2013

[Madison, Wisc...] The Joint Committee on Finance will decide today if able-bodied childless adults will be required to get a job or take job training to receive food stamp benefits.

Governor Scott Walker's budget includes several entitlement reform proposals. FoodShare recipients would "be required to work an average of 20 hours per week, participate in and comply with the requirements of a work program for 20 hours per week, spend 20 hours per week in any combination of work and participation in a work program, or participate in and comply with a workfare program."

Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine), member of the Joint Committee on Finance, criticized the proposal as "a really bad idea".

Only recipients aged 18-50, physically and mentally fit for employment, and who do not have a child residing in their home would be required to have a job or participate in the work program.

Federal law requires "able-bodied adults without dependent children (ABAWD)" to either meet work or job training requirements to collect food stamp benefits. However, Wisconsin received a waiver from the federal government nullifying the work or job training requirement.

Under Walker's proposal, able-bodied adults without dependent children would either need to have a job or participate in the FoodShare Employment and Training Program. If the individual does not meet these requirements, he/she would collect FoodShare benefits for only three months every three years.

Currently there are about 63,000 ABAWDs in Wisconsin who don't have an individual waiver excusing them from the work or training requirements. DHS originally estimated there were 76,000 in March 2012, and said only about 6,000 participated in the Employment and Training Program.

Based on the state of Delaware's experience imposing similar work requirements, DHS believes that 50% of non-exempt ABAWDs would drop out program rather than meet the new requirements, saving $71.9 million dollars.

In general, FoodShare recipients in Wisconsin more than doubled from 2007 (388,491 recipients) to 2011 (816,215 recipients). In 2011, $1.14 billion in benefits were distributed. In 2012, there were 840,000 recipients and $1.17 billion was distributed.

The program was surrounded by controversy last year after the Legislative Audit Bureau revealed numerous cases of fraud in two separate reports.

From July 2010 to June 2011, $32.9 million was spent out of state from the Wisconsin FoodShare Program. Some of these were legitimate purchases made by recipients who live near the state line.

"However, we found out-of-state purchases are not limited to contiguous states. In FY 2010-11, FoodShare purchases were made in every state in the nation, three United States territories, and the District of Columbia," The Legislative Audit Bureau Reported last year.

There have also been documented cases of fraud where a benefit card was swiped at a store in Wisconsin, and then on the same day, the card number was manually entered in a store on the other side of the country.

The Legislative Audit Bureau also estimates that 293 prison inmates have received FoodShare benefits while incarcerated worth about $413,000, and 847 fugitives collected about $1.4 million.

The MacIver News Service will update this article when JFC votes on the measure.

May 20, 2013

by James Wigderson
Special Guest Perspective for the MacIver Institute

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright continued his grand tour of speaking engagements Friday night in Milwaukee. The occasion was a $50 per plate dinner in honor of MICAH's 25th anniversary. The headline after-dinner speaker did not disappoint the estimated 350-400 people in attendance.

Wright kept the shock to the minimum, standard leftist fare during his speech. Taking pains to condemn the Holocaust, he also demanded "justice" for the Palestinians who are the subject of "ethnic cleansing" by the state of Israel.

Continuing the litany, Wright also demanded justice for the people who were denied health care, "sacrificed on the altar of political expediency" for the benefit of the pharmaceutical companies and "the fat cats of the AMA." He demanded justice for poor black men that are locked up by the criminal justice system "while rich white men go scott free."

Wright demanded "justice for the war crimes at Abu Ghraib." That was followed by "justice for the war crimes committed at Guantanamo." He called for, "justice for the murderers of 9-11." And then "justice" for the "murders" of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.

The last was an echo of a speech he gave shortly after September 11, 2001, when he declared the terrorist attack on the United States were, quoting Malcolm X, "the chickens coming home to roost."

During the litany, Wright did call for "children to be educated based upon their ability to learn, not on their ability to pay." But since these were all quick hits, we don't know if he was calling for the expansion of school choice.

Prior to Wright's speech, there was singing, speeches, awards for volunteers, more speeches, and dinner donated by a local Italian restaurant who was more than willing to continue the "rubber chicken" tradition. The site of the occasion was on the east side of Milwaukee in 145 Renaissance Hall, an elegant setting.

MICAH's anniversary attracted some of Milwaukee's political leadership, including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Board Chairman Marina Dimitrijevic, neither of whom stayed long enough for the Wright speech. Barrett even issued a proclamation honoring the interfaith liberal organization throughout the city.

(By the way, there's a form on the city website where you can request a proclamation for your organization. I can't wait to see the proclamation honoring the Bradley Foundation.)

If there was a humorous, slightly politically incorrect moment for the evening, it was when Father Tomas Mueller presented the Volunteer Award at the dinner to the co-chairs of the Immigration Task Force. Poor Father Mueller could not remember the brand of frozen pizza everyone at the dinner was boycotting. (I sympathized with Mueller and boycotted an awful looking fettuccine Alfredo that was offered for dinner.)

But the main attraction was Wright. What little he provided in fireworks he provided an insight into the mind of President Barack Obama and the spirit of the leftwing that has captured the Democratic Party.

Wright explained that while Europeans believed in the Cogito Ergo Sum of Descartes, "I think therefore I am," Africans did not believe in the autonomous human being, but in the community in forming the human being. He said they believed, "I am because we are."

"Justice," the Reverend defined for us as, "fairness." And echoing so many liberal protests chants before, Wright reminded the audience that without justice there can be no peace. He said there could be a truce, but no peace.

Wright also told the audience that America has not acknowledged its original sin of slavery because to do so would require reparations. That would be news to the heirs of the fallen at Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Antietam, and Fredericksburg.

But if justice is fairness, as defined by Wright, and the only way to define the individual is as part of a community, then one begins to see the whole underpinnings of the redistributionist nature of modern liberalism.

And it's in that identity of the community as the self that the Reverend Wright misses his greatest opportunity to teach the flock. For Wright came from humble beginnings and worked his way up the educational ladder. He is an accomplished man, with a doctorate in theology from the University of Chicago and is able to speak several languages, a fact he proudly demonstrated for his audience.

From his position as Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, Wright was able to travel the world to South Africa, where he learned about their struggles while teaching them his version of the social gospel.

Wright's story is the Great American success story, the man who rose from poverty and ignorance to become the former pastor of the current President of the United States and a nationally demanded lecturer. As an individual he has achieved great things for himself. Perhaps he could just say thank you to the country that gave him the opportunity to succeed as an individual, and lead his flock by his example.

[Madison, Wisc...] Wisconsin's Medical Assistance (MA), BadgerCare Plus, and other MA-related program costs will increase by $73.5 million in 2013-2015, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB).

In the memorandum sent to members of the Joint Committee on Finance on Friday, LFB said Governor Scott Walker's original budget plan provided $660.6 million in additional General Purpose Revenue (GPR) for MA and BadgerCare Plus programs, but revised estimates indicate the proposal would now require an increase to $734.1 million in GPR.

Of the $73.5 million hike, $21.5 million in GPR would be used for the MA cost-to-continue item. The rest of the increase would relate to changes for BadgerCare Plus and other MA-related programs, which would include the proposed eligibility change.

The MacIver Institute has previously reported on the increased costs that have faced MA-related programs in Wisconsin. In fiscal year 2010, under Governor Jim Doyle, the MA program spent $207 million more than originally budgeted.

From 1998 to 2011, MA program enrollees nearly tripled from 400,000 to 1,175,927, mostly through the sprawl of BadgerCare.

The memo also provided reestimates for SeniorCare and School-Based Services that provide health based services for MA eligible students. When combining the additional revenue from these programs with the increased costs for MA and BadgerCare Plus, the total three-year change to the General Fund Balance is a reduction of $700,000.

The recent report that BadgerCare and other MA programs will have an additional cost to taxpayers came shortly after LFB indicated that Wisconsin will bring in $575 million more, or an increase of 1.4 percent, over the next three years in additional revenue.

According to the LFB, this change is due to the strength of individual income tax revenues.

The MA and BadgerCare Plus programs are joint federal and state programs that offer health services to low-income individuals.

See the full memo from LFB here.

Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post fact checks the statements made by the IRS on the question if the agency was targeting tea-party groups and other conservative organizations filing for tax-exempt status.

In the days since the Internal Revenue Service first disclosed that it had targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, new information has emerged from both the Treasury inspector general's report and congressional testimony Friday that calls into question key statements made by Lois G. Lerner, the IRS's director of the exempt organizations division.

The clumsy way the IRS disclosed the issue, as well as Lerner's press briefing by phone, were seen at the time as a public relations disaster. But even so, it is worth reviewing three key statements made by Lerner and comparing them to the facts that have since emerged.

"But between 2010 and 2012, we started seeing a very big uptick in the number of 501(c)(4) applications we were receiving, and many of these organizations applying more than doubled, about 1500 in 2010 and over 3400 in 2012."

Read the entire article here, Kessler finds the explanation to be full of lies:

The Pinocchio Test - In some ways, this is just scratching the surface of Lerner's misstatements and weasely wording when the revelations about the IRS's activities first came to light on May 10. But, taken together, it's certainly enough to earn her four Pinocchios.

[Madison, Wisc...] Brett Healy and Nick Novak of the MacIver Institute joined their friends at Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin to participate in Tax Townhalls all across Wisconsin last week.

The two traveled to Appleton, Green Bay, Green Lake, Oshkosh, and Wausau to speak with taxpayers about Wisconsin's tax code, the state's income tax, and Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget that includes a $343 million income tax cut.

The chart above compares the Wisconsin income tax with its neighboring states and was passed out at each townhall.

Wisconsin currently has five tax brackets ranging from 4.60 percent to 7.75 percent, depending on taxable income. The per capita individual income tax collections in 2011 were $1,128 according to the Tax Foundation. This is higher than every neighboring state except for Minnesota.

Under the current tax code, an individual with taxable income of $11,000 in the State of Wisconsin would pay a higher state income tax rate than a millionaire in Illinois, Indiana, or Michigan.

Under Walker's proposal, the bottom three tax brackets would see a rate reduction, resulting in overall taxpayer savings of $343 million.

The Joint Committee on Finance is currently debating Walker's budget proposal and may propose changes to the Governor's tax cut. Any major changes are expected to be introduced in late May or early June.

Why was the IRS interested in efforts to ensure the recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was legitimate?

As the Obama Administration seeks to pivot to a new explanation for their activist Internal Revenue Service (IRS), we find out they took particular interest in the Verify the Recall effort which took place in Wisconsin during 2012.

Two of the three groups involved in Verify the Recall experienced delays in receiving their non-profit status. More ominously, the IRS asked at least one other conservative organization, in another state, about their relationship with the effort.

The North East Tarrant Texas Tea Party (NETTTP) never told the IRS they were working on the Verify the Recall project. The group may have posted the nationwide appeals for data entry volunteers on their website, but the project was being driven by the two Wisconsin-based tea party organizations. Yet the IRS asked the NETTTP to tell them all they knew about the Verify the Recall project.

Read the entire article here.

Walker's expansion uses these report cards - a major piece of his 2011 educational reform package - to gauge how the state's large districts are performing. Any district with two or more schools that earned either "fails to meet expectations" or "meets few expectations" grades - the equivalent of a "F" or "D" on a A-F grading scale - and more than 4,000 students would see their students eligible for vouchers to attend local private schools.

Wisconsin State Superintendent Tony Evers has recently criticized the idea, saying that the report cards are currently a pilot program and that these report cards aren't ready to be a piece of high stakes educational policy.

However, that's not what Evers and the Department of Public Instruction said as these report cards were being developed to replace an ineffective No Child Left Behind (NCLB) system back in February of 2012. Superintendent Evers praised the report cards - the biggest piece of the state's NCLB waiver - saying that the "waiver request keeps my promise to hold all schools accountable." In Wisconsin's waiver request, DPI stated that schools persistently failing to meet expectations based on the accountability index score, or report card, could be subject to closure. If a school failed to show demonstrable improvement after three years, "the state superintendent will intervene." NCLB waiver report cards were good enough to close down a poor performing school or to allow the State Superintendent to take over a school, but now the report cards are not ready to allow a child to leave a failing school.

Wisconsin's NCLB waiver relies on report cards to replace old "adequate yearly progress" measurements that often told educational stakeholders little about how their local schools were performing. With the report card, schools are graded in four different categories that include student achievement and student growth. With higher standards already in place for future years, a more comprehensive testing program for grades K-8, and the probable adoption of ACT Suite testing for high schools, these report cards will be able to tell Wisconsinites more about their local schools than ever before.

In the NCLB waiver, report cards were also intended to be indicators of school performance that could be tied to funding. DPI wrote that these grades would allow the state to tie incentives to "high progress schools" and "exemplary schools." At the time, Superintendent Evers and DPI believed the report cards were high-stakes enough to reward the best performing schools with performance-based grants.

The Department also reinforced the idea of using report cards as a financial lever when they requested funding for competitive grants based on school grades. DPI asked for $9.3 million in state money for low performing schools. Under their proposal, schools with "meets few expectations" or "fails to meet expectations" grades would have been eligible for intervention-based grants. In this case, these report cards were deemed high-stakes enough to merit additional funding.

Report cards were created all along to be the basis of high stakes decision-making. That was their purpose when they were developed to replace NCLB - one of the most recognizable national education reforms in the past two decades. While questions may still exist about their implementation - particularly in voucher schools, a policy that the Governor has supported in the past - suggesting that these report cards weren't built to be the research basis for educational reform seems to ignore a large piece of their original purpose.

Wisconsin's report cards will expand over time to incorporate better data and create a more comprehensive review of how schools are performing. Criticisms over the program's first year of data collection are rooted in some validity, though. But that is because DPI has been using the flawed WKCE testing package for so long, not because there is a problem with the report cards themselves.

With better standards and testing protocol on the way, this a problem that will not last. Giving students greater options when their local schools fail, however, is something that will last forever.

Robert Mentzer, the opinion editor at the Wausau Daily Herald, is grateful that my op-ed last week for the MacIver Institute was free of "Obamacare = death of freedom" rhetoric, even as he finds my arguments opposing Medicaid expansion to be less than compelling. I'll leave the cataclysmic rhetoric to Democrats like Senator Max Baucus and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who described President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act as, "a huge train wreck."

In the critique I did of the proposal to expand Medicaid spending in Wisconsin to 133% of the federal poverty line, I pointed out that the federal funding for such an expansion is likely to be temporary while the so-called temporary expansion of spending is likely to be permanent. I even quoted House Budget Committee Chairman Congressman Paul Ryan as saying that such increased federal reimbursement would be, "The fastest thing that's going to go when we're cutting spending in Washington is a 100 or 90 percent match rate for Medicaid."

In his blog response, Mentzer dismisses such pessimism, and even accuses Ryan of enjoying cutting federal aid to the poor. "Slashing discretionary spending on programs that benefit poor people is kind of Ryan's thing!" he wrote in bold type. At least Mentzer also didn't accuse Ryan of enjoying pushing granny off a cliff.

He also criticizes Governor Scott Walker's health care reform as the product of presidential politics. "In order to avoid seeming to be heartless and unconcerned about the hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who will not get health coverage as a result of his decision to run for president..." My advice for Mentzer would be that if he's truly interested in a substantial discussion of the proposal to expand Medicaid coverage, he should stick to questions of policy rather than demonizing those that disagree with him.

However, Mentzer has good news. He assures the reading public that "there would be no actual risk to Wisconsin taxpayers to taking the Medicaid match on a short-term basis," again in bold type, because Obama will protect the Affordable Care Act with his veto pen until 2016. We'll just file that with "if you like your insurance, you can keep it," and the promise that families will see the cost of health care premiums go down.

Obama has already accepted changes to the Affordable Care Act, including the elimination of the tax on medical devices. Will Obama retreat on the other 18 unpopular taxes, such as the 40 percent excise tax on "Cadillac" health plans? Or the $55 billion tax on individuals who don't purchase health insurance? What about the raid on Medicare? How will Obama pay for the "doc fix" every year?

If the current level of federal reimbursement is around 60%, then it's not unreasonable to expect that Medicaid reimbursement would drop to that level again. The White House already proposed "a blended rate" for Medicaid reimbursement as part of Obama's 2013 budget that would have shifted more costs to the states. They dropped the "blended rate" during the "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations, but that does not sound like Obama is going to defend Medicaid reimbursement rates with his veto when he has already proposed lowering them.

But despite Mentzer's assurance that taking the federal money would only have to be short term, he concedes that the proponents of the Medicaid expansion are not thinking short term at all. He says this is a "hail Mary" position of those who wanted Walker to create a Wisconsin-based exchange. Why would they ever concede going to the governor's plan once they got what they wanted?

So Mentzer and the Wisconsin Hospital Association would tie Wisconsin to a plan with what will likely be a temporary source of funding and a long-term funding obligation. Welcome back to the era of Jim Doyle budgeting.

Or we can adopt the governor's plan. No wait lists. Badger Care would cover 100% of those below the federal poverty level. Meanwhile, an additional 224,000 people will have health care coverage. And if the health care exchanges aren't ready, Walker's plan will wait.

For all of Mentzer's questioning of Republican motives, the more fiscally sound and compassionate plan is the governor's plan.

MacIver News Service | May 16, 2013

Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Reggie Newson announced today that Wisconsin's economy added over 62,000 private sector jobs in 2011-2012. According to the Department, the 62,000 jobs number is based on "actual jobs data" found on reports submitted "from nearly 160,000 Wisconsin employers."

The Department went on to state, "The private sector job gains under Governor Walker are the best two-year gains under any Governor in over a decade."

See the press release here.

Legislators from both parties were quick to react:

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester)

"It's a proven fact that Wisconsin is creating jobs. Our reforms are paying off for the state; more people are back to work. We are moving Wisconsin forward. However, our work is not done. We will continue to reform government to eliminate burdensome and unnecessary regulations and provide the best environment possible for businesses to grow and hire new workers. We will reform our income tax code and provide the largest possible tax cut so more of your hard-earned dollars stay in your pocket."

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha)

"If Republicans spent half as much time creating jobs as they do spinning lackluster job numbers, Wisconsin might not be falling so far behind in job creation. Wisconsin also ranks 45th in wage growth according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and dead last in short-term job growth according the conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce."

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau)

"We are not surprised that we are seeing job creation and economic expansion in the state. Last week we added over $500 million in additional revenues and saw that income tax collection was up. Now we are seeing data that we created over 62,000 private sector jobs, which are the best two year gains under any Wisconsin Governor in over a decade."

Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee)

"Despite the spin, even their selective numbers confirm that Wisconsin has failed to capture the nationwide economic recovery, leaving us stalled at 44th in the nation in job growth, and last in the Midwest. The nationally accepted measure of job performance shows we're back of the pack and heading in the wrong direction."

State Representative John Nygren (R-Green Bay), Assembly Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Finance

" Wisconsin has gained over 60,000 private sector jobs in the last two years, compared to the Doyle administration that lost nearly 134,000 jobs over his final term. Our manufacturing job growth is strong and the state experienced a large increase in construction jobs."

by Christian D'Andrea
MacIver Institute Education Policy Analyst

The Forward Institute recently released a new look at poverty in Wisconsin's public schools, and while this white paper mostly seeks to derail the expansion of school vouchers, it takes a pointed swipe at one of the state's most underrated success stories--independent charter schools. In doing so, Forward advocates for shutting down one of Milwaukee's most successful ventures when it comes to improving the educational performance of students from low-income families.

From Scott Wittkopf's study:

"Charter schools eligible for state aid should be allowed only under the auspices and as an instrumentality of an existing public school district to ensure public accountability in fiscal, academic, staff, and student functions."

This recommends that the state's non-instrumentality charter schools should no longer exist going forward. It is a bold statement, and one that does not line up with the rest of the study's mission - to provide high quality education for low-income students. Milwaukee, which is home to all but one of the state's independent charter schools, has seen great results in these institutions. They commonly outscore public schools and instrumentality charters in both WKCE and School Report Card metrics while educating a high population of low-income students.

These schools, which run outside of the Milwaukee Public Schools hierarchy and are granted charters by either the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee or the City of Milwaukee, have shown tremendous growth despite educating students who traditionally struggle on state testing. According to Department of Public Instruction data, these schools had nearly 6.5 percent more low-income students enrolled in their classrooms than the citywide average in 2010-2011. In all, impoverished students made up almost 84 percent of the total enrollment of these independent charter schools that year - though recent data suggests that this number has dipped to 81 percent.

The fact that these schools educate such a high percentage of disadvantaged students is important; an earlier Forward Institute study found an observational relationship between high levels of impoverished students and low State Report Card scores. However, in these independent charter schools, the state's grades are much better than that relationship would suggest. Here are their results on last year's report cards:

The state's independent charters, despite educating a greater percentage of low-income students than the MPS average, posted considerably better report card grades than both traditional MPS schools and MPS's charter institutions. In fact, the difference was significant enough to grade these schools a whole category higher than their peer institutions. On an A-F scale, that's the difference between a "C-" and "D-".

That trend carried over to WKCE scores in both 2011 and 2012. A look at fourth-grade reading in 2011 shows that 72 percent of the students in independent charters rated at either "proficient" or "advanced" on the state test. For the rest of MPS, this figure was just 62.3 percent.

A look at the performance in these schools for 2012-2013 showed that independent charters posted proficiency scores in math that were 55 percent better than the MPS average. These schools held a smaller advantage in overall reading scores as well.

The Forward Institute's recommendation to avoid non-instrumentality charter schools ignores the key data that these schools are outperforming both traditional public schools and instrumentality charter schools in Milwaukee. According to the Department of Public Instruction, they are also educating a greater number of low-income students - students that are typically tied to lower test scores across the state. So why, if these schools provide a better education for students using the WKCE - the metric that Forward uses to discredit voucher schools - and the state's School Report Cards, would anyone seek to avoid these institutions?

Non-instrumentality charter schools are providing better educational options for students from low-income families. However, the Forward Institute suggests that the state stop allowing these schools to exist in a study that they wrote to examine the effects of public education on low-income students. That doesn't seem to make much sense. Is it because these schools operate outside the bureaucratic reach of local school boards and local teachers' unions? Or is it because they show that schools in Milwaukee can glean results with less funding thanks to reform-driven ideas?

These non-instrumentality charter schools are set to take off in Milwaukee, particularly thanks to the budding expansion of Rocketship Academies in the city. Rocketship, which has been successful in the inner-city environments of San Jose, California, will take aim at the city's achievement gap when their first elementary school opens its doors in Brew City next fall. It's just one of many organizations that is looking to provide a dynamic education for an ever-growing, ever-changing group of students. Data from both Rocketship's past endeavors and the operations of independent charters across Milwaukee suggest that these schools will help shape students and turn out better educational outcomes than Milwaukee's traditional public schools. Why, then, would you want to shut that down?