The Milwaukee Public Schools system should be replaced with ten to twelve smaller school districts, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker said Thursday in an “On the Issues” session at Marquette Law School.

Asked by host Mike Gousha, the Law School’s Distinguished Fellow in Law and Public Policy, what he would do about problems facing MPS, Walker said, “I’d legally eliminate it and start all over. . . . Wipe it out, start over again, legally redefine the school district.”

Walker, Milwaukee County Executive since 2002, said his two children attend schools in Wauwatosa and a district of that size or smaller is better managed, can better focus on students, and can benefit from more of a sense of community supporting it. The existing MPS structure is too big, and it is too difficult to make effective improvements, he said. 

Walker also said he supported “putting more power and force behind the choice movement and the charter movement in Milwaukee.” That would include lifting the cap of 22,500 students on the program that currently allows more than 20,000 children to attend religious and other private schools in the city, and making it easier for schools to receive charters that entitle them to operate with public funds outside of the conventional public school system, he said.

Statewide, Walker said he would push for greater accountability for schools and students by use of better standards and tests. He spoke positively of a system in Florida in which the state gives schools grades for their overall success, with financial benefits and consequences based on the grades. He said the need for improving academic success is not confined to Milwaukee and that employers statewide are concerned whether a high school diploma can be counted onto mean that a student has the abilities you’d expect of a graduate.

Walker said that ten years ago, when Republican Tommy Thompson was the governor, Wisconsin was at the forefront of education reform, but that it had slipped from that role. He said he was not surprised that Wisconsin was knocked out of the first round of competition for large “Race to the Top”
grants for school improvement.

School employees statewide, like other employees, need to accept less generous health insurance and other benefits because of high government spending statewide that needs to be reigned in, Walker said. In general, Walker said, his approach as governor to the state budget would emphasize reducing spending both through program reductions and wage and benefit reductions for employees.

In his comments on Milwaukee, Walker said he did not support the proposal from Gov. Jim Doyle and Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat who is running for governor, to give Milwaukee’s mayor control of the schools.

The Republican candidate said that in cities where mayoral control has been successful, there is a clear plan for school improvement and a strong mayor. “I don’t think we have either in this community,” he said.

Walker said that if he becomes governor, he will involve parents, teachers, education advocates, and community leaders in developing a plan to break up MPS. One huge question to resolve would be what to do with about $2.5 billion in unfunded obligations MPS has to retirees for future benefits other than pensions. He said the unfunded benefits are “a damaging albatross” around the neck of MPS and he wanted a solution that would honor the obligations while, in one step, getting them off the books for the future.

Walker has generally taken a low profile on education issues so far in his campaign, and his comments at the Law School appeared to be the first time he had floated the idea of dissolving MPS in such a public way. He said after the session that he had come out in favor of the idea earlier, but it is not included in issue statements on his campaign Web site.

In other comments, Walker highlighted the difference between him and Barrett over whether Wisconsin should accept about $800 million in federal money to created high speed rail service from Milwaukee to Madison and from Milwaukee to Chicago. Barrett favors the idea, while Walker says it will lead to higher government spending, create few jobs, and provide service that is not really needed.

The rail dispute has been a hot button issue for some in recent weeks. Gousha asked if Walker thought it was a defining issue in the race. “I absolutely think so,” Walker said.

Walker also emphasized his approach to job creation, which emphasizes reducing government spending and government regulation of businesses. Walker said he does not view the role of government as one of creating jobs, but as one of creating the environment in which private employers create jobs.