Meh.
MADISON (WITI/AP) — Governor Scott Walker has abruptly backed off his proposal to eliminate the University of Wisconsin System’s public service mission statement.
Walker tucked language into his budget proposal that would have replaced the statement, known as the “Wisconsin Idea,” with the charge of meeting the state’s workforce needs. The move drew the ire of UW System President Ray Cross, who says the Wisconsin Idea is the reason the system exists.
The Wisconsin Idea was created back in 1904.
It’s a statute. The fact that it is 111 years old should make it a likely target for updating and reform, not a piece of sacrosanct text. Walker should have stood firm and made the argument for reform.
I think he made a very dumb mistake here and could have accomplished the same thing by keeping the text and just adding the workforce development part. Then starting the debate of what the function is of all these UW campuses. I don’t know who got the bright idea to mark the text up the way they did, but that person needs to be fired.
I believe the State should support their UW system, but in exchange they need to get the less prestigious schools to focus on needed workplace skills and at the same time make UW Madison more accessible to the average Wisconsin high school student. In my lifetime UW has gone from a great school that a middle to upper tier WI student could attend to much more highly selective place. Many very intelligent Wisconsin high school students can no longer get into Madison.