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Doyle urges students to utilize Covenant
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Gov. Jim Doyle told students across Wisconsin if they do their part, there is an opportunity for them all in higher education, highlighting education’s role in the Grow Wisconsin strategy he introduced in his State of the State address Wednesday.
Doyle said fostering innovation through research and development would be a priority in his plan to improve Wisconsin’s economy, and “it all begins with a commitment to education.”
“Today our universities and public institutions are global centers for research and development,” Doyle said. “We must drive private sector investment in research and development as well.”
Doyle reiterated his Wisconsin Covenant program — a pledge for eighth graders guaranteeing that if they keep a high grade point average during high school, they will be admitted to a UW institution.
“Seventeen thousand kids said they wanted to go to college — and they’re willing to work hard to get there,” Doyle said.
The governor also praised the recent University of Wisconsin stem cell breakthrough by UW biologist James Thomson. Thomson and his team “embarked on the next frontier of stem cell research,” Doyle said.
The breakthrough involved using skin cells to create stem cells, which can become any of the 220 types of cells in the human body and could cure diseases like Parkinson’s, diabetes and spinal cord injuries.
“Because [Thomson] kept politicians out of it, Wisconsin remains the world leader in stem cell research,” Doyle said.
The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, soon to be built on the UW campus, will enhance both the economy and human health in general, Doyle said. “We’ll bring biotechnology, nanotechnology and information technology together to turn new discoveries into economic opportunity,” he added.
In contrast to the optimism surrounding UW’s accomplishments and students’ futures there, Doyle called the system of compensating teachers “broken.”
“Nearly one third of Wisconsin teachers — some of the most dynamic and energized we have — leave the profession within five years for a new career and more sustainable future for their families,” Doyle said.
Rep. Kim Hixon, D-Whitewater, said he was pleased to hear Doyle’s attention to education, being a professor himself.
“I’m more than aware of the problem of our teacher pay in Wisconsin. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous and horrifying that we are No. 48 (in salary ranking) for teachers starting out,” Hixon said. “I’m really glad that the governor’s going to address that.”
Doyle also mentioned adding a mandatory third year of math and science for high school graduation.
Despite mention of “deep cuts and hard sacrifices,” the address was low on details for these cuts.
“We need to significantly reduce state spending for the rest of this budget cycle,” Assembly Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, wrote in a statement. “Tonight, no specifics were offered from the governor on how that will be accomplished.”
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That Convenant thing is such crap. How about instead of promising handouts the state can’t afford, we actually create some incentives for graduates to stay in WI by cutting personal and business taxes and cutting spending. It doesn’t matter how many kids you keep sending to UW schools when they all leave the state to get jobs in IL, TX, CA, MN, and NY. They get paid more there AND get to keep more of what they earn.
No instead we jack up the min wage to hurt businesses and force them to layoff the poorest, most unskilled laborers. Hmm, I wonder if Miller-Coors is going to keep its headquarters in Milwaukee?
@ Anonymous (January 24, 2008 @ 9:29am): Republican jackass.