As students across Wisconsin prepare for school this fall, Gov. Scott Walker went on the radio to address the school reforms he passed last spring.

On Thursday morning, Walker’s first ever weekly recorded radio address was played on stations throughout Wisconsin. In the address, titled Back to School, Walker said the education cuts and regulations – including collective bargaining – he promoted last spring ensure students across the state will be more prepared for a globalizing economy.

The reformation of the state school system has given school leaders the power to hire educators based on their individual performance, Walker spokesperson Cullen Werwie said. This merit based system, he said, gives students the best and most desired teachers their districts can afford.

The reforms last spring require teachers to cover 12.8 percent of their health care costs, Werwie said. He said this pales in comparison to the amount many in the private sector and at the federal public level are required to pay.

In addition, with the elimination of teachers’ bargaining rights for their health care coverage, the reforms allow school districts to search for more affordable health care for their teachers, allowing outside health insurance companies to bid on the school’s coverage.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Graeme Zielinski said the very decision to have a weekly radio address is a waste of taxpayer dollars and another example of Walker’s many attempts at self promotion through media.

“He’s a political animal, plain and simple,” Zielinski said. “No objective person [can] say a two billion dollar cut would improve education in the state.”

Werwie disagreed, saying the effects of these reforms are already being seen in individual school districts across the state. He noted an Appleton area school district saved $3 million when its current health insurance company lowered its prices to compete with an outside bid.

He said another school district in Kaukauna set aside nearly $400,000 for its teachers with the money saved by shopping around for health coverage.

“Letting school districts put their health insurance on the market not will provide Wisconsin students the better teachers,” Werwie said. “It also means big savings for taxpayers.”

Zielinski said facts given by the Walker administration have been “cherry-picked” to support their irrational claims that eliminating bargaining rights for teachers will create better school districts.

Teachers looking for jobs around the country, he said, have no doubt avoided taking jobs in Wisconsin due to the elimination of rights at those positions. He said many teachers will flat out leave the teaching profession, creating massive demand for skilled teachers in districts across the state.

The ability of school districts to shop around for their health insurance provides a small amount of savings when compared to the massive amount of cuts instituted by Walker and the Republican lead legislature, Zielinski said.

“There’s no question students from middle class families will suffer,” he said. “We’re seeing school districts preparing to cut lunch and gym programs. Frankly, when Walker says this will benefit students, frankly, he isn’t telling the truth.”