Wins on justice, education and taxes are only the start of Wisconsinites’ work
Patrick McIlheranTo win the vote is merely to start the work. As the Wisconsin Legislature wraps up a biennial budget that has both ups and downs — it spends much more…
With school choice deal, Wisconsin aligns its dollars with parents’ investment
Seeing how often Wisconsinites have been told that public school districts are starving, it isn’t surprising that when asked to guess how much tax money districts spent per student, they…
Personal property taxes: More trouble than they’re worth
Among the bills Republicans are considering in the Legislature is one eliminating the last remnants of Wisconsin’s personal property tax. The bill, AB2, sponsored by Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown), would…
Why public school-goers support choice
The idea of school choice is so popular in Wisconsin that it raises a question. And it is popular. A new poll last month asked 700 likely voters, “Do you…
When parents choose a public school with more options for their children, the state provides less money. Why?
When Jalisa Hawkins decided to transfer her daughter from one Beloit public school to another, the state cut the sum taxpayers spend on the child’s education by about 40% for…
Legislature protects Milwaukeeans from $15-per-rider fare-free trolley folly
In need of quiet solitude not long ago, I did the obvious: I got on Milwaukee’s streetcar, The Hop. It did not disappoint: In all, five people Hopped on, then…
Economist vindicates Act 10 and common sense
Rewards for good teaching, wins for kids Recently a Yale professor wrote something that was astonishing because it shouldn’t have been astonishing. Barbara Biasi, a labor economist, vindicated the labor…
Economics of the fist: Unions favor telling to asking with Wisconsin’s right to work
The strong-arm tactics of Act 10 antagonists Among the winks and nudges offered by Janet Protasiewicz on her way to the Supreme Court was that Act 10, the Gov. Scott…
The underfunded part of Wisconsin public schooling
Innovative, unconventional — and unexplainably made to operate on 60% of what other public schools get As you watch four kids in a low-ceilinged basement space soldering parts for the…
If we don’t pay for roads, we don’t get mobility
Vos is correct: Even if we stop using gas, we need to fund the roads that let Wisconsin grow Robin Vos spoke a hard truth the other day, something unpleasant…