Expect education to be campaign focus
Election day will have big impact on schools
Republican Rebecca Kleefisch released the first television ad of her campaign for governor recently. All 30 seconds focused on education issues.
Consider it an early sign of two things: Nov. 8, the election day just under 10 months from now, will be the biggest date of the year (and probably of several years) for Wisconsin education. And school-related issues are going to be somewhere between hot and really, really hot.
I’ve read pre-election stories for many years that predicted education was going to be a pivotal issue in campaigns for major offices. I’ve written some myself. It almost always turns out to be not quite the case, as other things end up dominating attention.
This time for sure. (Or almost for sure – who takes anything as certain these days?)
Look at the role Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has played since his election in 2018 if you want to see why education will draw huge energy from both sides in the governor’s race.
Republicans dominate both houses of the legislature, and that is all-but certain to remain the case after the November
election. The Wisconsin Supreme Court clearly has a conservative majority and has ruled in ways favorable to Republicans in many ( not all) recent cases. And divisions between Democrats and Republicans on a list of issues are polarized and unbending.
All this leaves Evers as the person standing between big success (if you’re a Republican) in pushing needed changes on school issues — or dangerous changes (if you’re a Democrat) that will undermine critical parts of schooling. Evers has used his veto powers to stop Republican bills on a lot of fronts and, so far, his vetoes have stuck because Republicans don’t have enough votes to override them.
All of this means a lot depends on who is governor come a year from now. That will have a big – I’d even suggest dominant — impact on key aspects of the state budget for 2023-25. And it will be central to what gets a green light signature or a red light veto from the governor.
In short, Evers stays on and the stalemate on change continues. A Republican becomes governor, and lots happens, whether you like it or not.
Based on conversations I’ve had recently, it’s clear the Republican action plan is already forming. Here are a few of the issues:
School choice
Expanding Wisconsin’s set of programs that provide funding for
parents to send children to private, predominantly religious schools is a high priority for some. That could well include variations on existing ideas, such as “backpack” funding that would allow parents to choose different options for various aspects of their children’s education.
Spending
Perhaps surprisingly, overall spending might not change that much whoever wins. If it’s Evers, deadlock will probably mean funding stays at close to current levels. If it’s a Republican, the way money is used might change in ways favored by conservatives. Either way, those involved in public schools who want to see substantial increases in funding aren’t sitting pretty right now.
Response to pandemic issues
Will this still be a hot matter in November? Doesn’t seem to be going away, but who knows? You know how polarized and heated masks, vaccinations, and “going virtual” have been.
Parent power
Empowering parents to decide a range of things for their children might not lend itself easily to specific legislation, but it may well be a theme in Republican campaigning. It certainly was in the recent election for governor in Virginia, which Republican Glenn Youngkin won.
Milwaukee Public Schools
This has come up in several recent conversations I’ve had. Many Republicans think something needs to be done about MPS. But what? Change the governance structure? Break up the district? Ideas that have been dormant for years might move to the front burner. Who knows what might result?
Teaching race-related content
Evers has stood in the way of legislation limiting what teachers can bring
Reading reform
This is a less contentious issue, but Evers vetoed legislation recently calling for screening children’s reading ability in early grades because it didn’t include funding. But there is broader disagreement on what to do to change low reading proficiency statewide. Calls to promote phonics and related reading approaches can be expected to move forward in a Republican-controlled state Capitol.
Hot-button social issues
Conservative-backed stands on issues involving gender identity, sexual orientation, diversity in general, what books should be available in school libraries and so on have been blocked until this point. But in 2023, you know the answer: It’s going to depend on who the governor is.
Advocacy in recent months in many school districts in Wisconsin and nationwide has been intense, sometimes to the point of being inflamed. School board elections in April will be another venue for fighting over the future of education in some communities. Look at the passions around school board policies that have already been shown in Mequon-Thiensville, Port Washington, and other communities. Is there any reason to think that is over?
But the race for governor is the big time of Wisconsin school politics and policy.
In her 30-second ad, Kleefisch attacked school closings and teachers unions and said she would expand school choice, direct more money to classrooms, and raise education standards. It’s an agenda that will bring agreement from others who will seek the Republican nomination.
It’s also an agenda that will bring denunciation from Evers and his supporters, taking a central role in his case for re-election.
And the ad was just an early salvo. Alan J. Borsuk is senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette Law School. Reach him at alan.borsuk@ marquette.edu.