School vouchers are usually opposed by teachers unions and their Democratic allies, but a dirty little secret is that some suburban Republicans oppose them too. The latter is the case in Wisconsin, where GOP Governor Scott Walker's plan to get more kids out of failing schools is facing opposition from short-sighted members of his own party. Read More »

The announcement by a pair of Republican senators of an alternative budget plan for education spending should send shivers down the spines of their colleagues. The plan being touted by Senator Mike Ellis and Senator Luther Olsen would raise education spending by $382 million. That's more than the $343 million tax cut proposed by Governor Scott Walker. Read More »

John Stossel explains that the union is not the biggest problem in public schools. In states with weak unions, K-12 schools stagnate, too. Education reformers have a name for the resistance: the education "Blob." The Blob includes the teachers unions, but also janitors and principals unions, school boards, PTA bureaucrats, local politicians and so on. Read More »

We must take action now. Our budget will expand opportunity in major areas like energy. It will protect and strengthen key priorities like Medicare. It will encourage social mobility by retooling welfare. It will fix the broken tax code to create jobs and increase wages. Read More »

We tend to forget now just how dire was Wisconsin's fiscal condition when Governor Scott Walker took office. The state not only had a structural deficit of over $3 billion, it had an immediate budget shortfall of $137 million. With Act 10, and other reforms in place, Walker was able to stabilize many of the funds that Governor Jim Doyle was taking money from to fill gaps in his own budgets. Read More »

So why are some state senators so afraid of expanding the private school choice option? On Up Front with Mike Gousha this week, Assembly Democratic Minority Leader Peter Barca repeated State Senator Mike Ellis' claim that eight or nine Republican state senators are opposed to the Governor Scott Walker's proposed expansion of school choice in the state budget. However, if there are any senators who fear expanding the private school choice option, their fears are misplaced. Read More »

James Wigderson discusses Wisconsin's budget challenges including increased spending on training State Patrol recruits, the decision to stop raiding the Transportation Fund, and proposed road construction all included in the state's proposed $6.4 billion in spending on transportation. Read More »

James Wigderson responds to Sen. Ellis' comments on the proposed expansion of school choice. "After all, the point of state aid to local school districts is not to build buildings, hire administrators, and to make superintendent jobs easier. The whole point of state aid is to provide the means for educating each of Wisconsin's children." Read More »

From our founding four years ago, The MacIver Institute has been ahead of the curve when it comes to the analysis and coverage of the major public policy issues facing Wisconsin. Read More »

Forbes wanted to know where everyone was moving, so they contacted United Van Lines. Based on a survey of 125,000 moves in 2012, Americans need more freeways. Actually Forbes was able to compile the top 10 states people are leaving for where the grass is greener. Are Walker's reforms enough to keep Wisconsinites from moving away? Read More »