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Our number one issue in Wisconsin is Education!
Education is the key - to everything.
Better education means better jobs. Better jobs mean greater earnings. Greater earnings correlate to higher quality of life and more tax revenues per taxpayer, which in turn can lead to still higher quality of life.
Better education means better choices by better citizens.
Wisconsin long enjoyed a reputation for statesmanship at the state and local level. From Milwaukee's socialist mayors to fighting Bob and Lee Dreyfuss, Proxmire, Nelson and others, we were blessed with good leadership, even great leadership though much of our history. Unfortunately many recent State reps are indicted or arrested and Milwaukee's Norquist blew a wide-open opportunity for progressive government of a great city. My knee-jerk response to our number one political issue was honesty and ethics in government. Thinking about it further, I believe the best way to get better leaders is via a well-educated and active electorate.
A highly-educated populace attracts and retains more of the best and the brightest. Leaders from among these leave legacies for all of the rest of us to enjoy.
Education isn't a panacea, but I've got to believe kids, including poor kids of color, will do better in uncrowded classrooms with great teachers. I believe that positive educational environments would result in better choices - even among our youth, including our young people with the biggest challenges.
I'm all for school uniforms. Hang the 'freedom of expression' argument. Let our kids express themselves in music, art, debate, science, mathematics and literature - and not via pocketbook power at the Gap. Walk through a high school between classes and you'll find the atmosphere charged - not with learning and education but with angst, attitude and overt sexuality.
We're in the information age now. It isn't just about training good workers, it is about training good thinkers.
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