Wisconsin Schools and Unfunded Mandates: Interview with Gov. Walker

Written By: Karen Schroeder  |  Posted: Sunday, October 16th, 2011

             Now that Governor Walker has brought fiscal stability to both the state and the school budgets, the Governor is focusing on the impact of unfunded mandates on local governments and school districts. Some state mandates create obstacles which may actually limit student academic success and create costly health, safety, and legal issues for districts.

            Governor Walker defines his mission: "We'd like to pull back mandates as much as possible and put the power back into the hands of the people, the school board, and the school districts. We've looked at the past when mandates were simple to implement by hiring reading specialists rather than mandates which dictate curriculum such as requiring the teaching of the history of labor. All of these things are mandated, some of which may be good and some which may not be. All of these decisions should be made by the school district. This will assure that those decisions will be based on the needs of their students and the expectations of parents."

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