MADISON-Following is the statement of Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate following the release of a definitive report by the Department of Public Instruction that shows massive cuts by Scott Walker are destroying public education.
“Scott Walker’s rhetoric met reality today, with a report that is as sad as it is shocking for the future of our public schools. Contrary to months of propaganda supported by corporate front groups, Wisconsin’s schools are suffering at the direct hands of Walker’s immoral budget. When seven of 10 students attend a district with fewer teachers and nine out of 10 students saw a cut in staff, when 40 percent of our schools have larger class sizes and when more than 60 percent of our school districts say they see more drastic cuts coming, Scott Walker should be ashamed to claim that his assault on public education is working.
According to the data, even one of the anecdotes that Scott Walker trots out most regularly, the Kaukauna School District, is a sham, with that school at the top of the list in losing teachers and increasing student-to-teacher ratio.
The propaganda machine for Scott Walker is well-funded – as we see with his shameless fundraising trip to Arizona, Kansas and California in the next week that begins today. The corporate front groups that have infested our state have tried mightily to fool, confuse and lie to the Wisconsin public. Today’s report is a damning rebuke to any of those who yet believed Walker’s hollow empty rhetoric that cutting education in Wisconsin by $2.6 billion, to fund tax cuts for the very rich, would help our schools.
Scott Walker is NOT working for Wisconsin and our future. Today, there is ample more evidence why he must be recalled.”
