Damaging public education

I grew up in a rural, central Wisconsin village with no stop-and-go lights, no fast food and where the largest employer in town is still the K-12 public schools, housed in one building.

The Wisconsin Idea, manifested through strong rural public schools, granted me the necessary opportunities to work hard and achieve a world-class education, an enriching career and economic security. Neither of my hard-working middle-class parents went to college. They gave me a template for mastering hard work, common sense and giving back to one’s community.

However, it has been the Wisconsin Idea, Wisconsin culture and Wisconsin politics that granted me a path for surpassing my family’s economic well-being and become a successful family physician. I am concerned that this incredibly home-grown Wisconsin path to prosperity is currently being dismantled.

The privatization of public schools is an example of how many Wisconsinites, including those in my parents’ shoes, may not have a secure opportunity for their children to do better than they have done economically. The wealthy in Wisconsin will not have trouble building a private system that supports their own children.

The egregious aspect of these policies is that Wisconsin has long been a jewel regarding public education at all levels. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue in Wisconsin. Tommy Thompson did more as a Republican governor for public education and health care than any other governor in recent times.

These policies will help some of you, but please know it damages many of your fellow Wisconsinites. I think this change in policy is being pushed by extremely wealthy people outside of Wisconsin ensuring that the incredibly wealthy and powerful stay there while the poor, rural and largely non-white in Milwaukee have no opportunity for getting out of the trap of poverty, debt, crime or violence.

Zachary J. Baeseman, MD Waupaca