Walker Advocates School Choice Agenda in Washington Speech

Thank you for bringin the School Choice Movement to the National Stage

"Washingyon, D.C. - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker brought his

school-choice message to an American Federation for Children 'policy summit' here Monday night.

The national school choice advocacy group hailed the governor as a

'great innovator.'

Walker reminded the crowd of about 300 that it was former Gov. Tommy Thompson who in 1990 instituted the first school voucher program in the country, allowing low-income parents to send children to high-performing private or parochial schools.

He touted the program's success to date as something that he hopes to build on going forward.

One of Walker's goals outlined in the state budget for 2012 is to

expand the existing program, which currently serves about 20,000

low-income students in the city of Milwaukee, to all low-income

children in the city.

Walker said he would eventually grow the program to include all of

Milwaukee County (and later, to cities like Racine, Beloit and Green

Bay) and raise the income eligibility to include more middle-class

families.

"Every kid deserves the opportunity to have a great education," Walker said. "Until we fix the education system - not just for the 20,000 in the choice program - until we fix it for everyone, we're not only going to miss out on the moral imperative,we're going to miss out on the economic opportunity.That's where these reforms come into play.'

Walker spent a large portion of his speech linking the 'moral

imperative' of ensuring that all children can receive a great

education to the economic necessity of a well-educated workforce in

the 21st century.

'It's not only good for our children; I think when you make a

commitment to true education reform it's also good foryour state's

economy,' he said. 'In the end what is ultimately going to sustain

economic growth for generations to come is an educated workforce.'

Walker also sought to place his effort to expand school choice in the

broader context of other, more controversial budget reforms, for

example the restrictions placed on collective bargaining power of

public unions that he said will give local governments greater

flexibility in terms of how to operate their school systems.

He said this particular aspect of the budget, limiting power of

teachers unions, for instance by doing away with the 'seniority

system that emphasizes length of tenure over teacher quality, was "one of the most important things we did.'

'Because of our reforms . there aren't going to be groups out there

with the power to say we're going to put a grievance against that

86-year-old senior citizen who wanted to volunteer in Wausau to be a crossing guard; there isn't going to be a group out there that can

stand up and say they're going to defend the teacher in Cedarburg who was watching pornography on a school computer and yet his union stood up and backed him up; instead we're going to allow teachers to do what they really want to do, and that is educate kids.'

Walker acknowledged the contentious nature of the policies he was

proposing. In fact, several dozen union protestors picketed the hotel where the summit was being held.

But Walker said true leadership requires making bold, sometime

unpopular decisions. 'It's real simple,' he said. 'You have to ask

yourself a gut question - at least when you're in politics - do you

care about the next generation, or do you care about the next

election?'

All indications, Walker said, suggest his boldness was paying off --

Wisconsin is 'headed down the right path.'

He cited a recent survey of CEO's published in Chief Executive

Magazine, which ranked states from 1-50 in terms of the best places to do business. Wisconsin ranked 41st last year, but as of last week is ranked 24th, the biggest jump in the history of the survey.

'And I'm not satisfied [with] 24,' he said. 'To me there are 23 more

states I need to leap over to get to the top.'

This was the governor's second trip to the nation's capital in a month.

In April, Walker testified before the U.S. House Committee on

Oversight and Government Reform at a hearing to examine the challenges of state and municipal debt, where he defended the steps taken by his administration to close a $3 billion budget shortfall.

It is yet another example of Walker's rising prominence on the

national political stage.

When asked by reporters following the speech if he was considering a run for higher office in the near future, Walker said he is focused

solely on the task at hand of creating a better business environment

in the state of Wisconsin.

'Until I get that I really can't focus on anything else,' he said.

Read: Walker pushes school choice agenda in Washington speech - Leader-Telegram: Daily Updates