Category: State news

Teaching assistants on the Madison campus may hold the key to the future of domestic partner benefits in the University of Wisconsin System.

“Unlike most other state employee unions, we are still negotiating our 2007-2009 contract,” says Tim Frandy, co-president of the Teaching Assistant Association at UW Madison. “Consistently, we’ve heard through our negotiations with the state, that the UW System would love to have all UW employees with domestic partner benefits,” says Frandy.

Carolyn “Biddy” Martin, the new chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, warned Thursday of allowing the prestige of the Madison campus to slip during these tough economic times. Martin stopped by the office for her first meeting with the Editorial Board.

“For a relatively modest investment, one can maintain one of the great research institutions in the world – not just Wisconsin,” Martin said. “I’m going to keep making that case.”

It’s a good case. And is similar to the one that UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago makes when he argues that building a second major public research institution at UWM is essential for the economic health of southeastern Wisconsinl. We agree with Santiago, and so, apparently, does Martin, who was to meet with Santiago this afternoon. She said she supports his goal.

Domestic partner benefits may soon available to employees of the UW System.

The Teaching Assistant Association at UW-Madison is still negotiating its next contract. Leaders are hopeful Democrats will gain control of the state Assembly in Tuesday’s elections. They say the Democrats will be more receptive to meeting their demand for the program, which would cover any unmarried couple, regardless of sex.

The leaders of the group say if they are successful the program would most likely have to be written into future contracts covering other employees.

UW-Madison is the only Big Ten school not to offer domestic partner benefits.

About half of the classrooms participating in the state’s school class-size reduction program in 2006-’07 exceeded its 15-student limit at least part of the school day, according to a recent report.

Dwindling resources and enrollment fluctuations were the main reasons given for the variation, according to the report by the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

High School freshmen surpassed last year’s class when it comes to signing up for a guaranteed spot in Wisconsin colleges or universities and possibly financial benefits to boot.

Last year just more than 17,000 freshmen in Wisconsin high schools signed up for the Wisconsin Covenant, a plan by Gov. Jim Doyle to make college available for Wisconsin students, regardless of their economic background.

This year, 18,200 freshman took advantage of the program, although some of its specifics and a method of funding for the proposal has not been worked out. The program started with last year’s freshman class and will not be fully implemented until that class is ready for college.

MADISON â?? The national economic downturn could put a chill on state salaries and lead to fewer state workers.

Gov. Jim Doyle has warned that the state budget could be heading into the red by $3 billion. Todd Berry, president of the research group the Wisconsin Taxpayer’s Alliance, said the state’s finances could have repercussions on state jobs.

Find a problem drinker and an enabler is likely hovering nearby.

The roots of Wisconsin’s culture of drinking are sunk deep in the state’s history, its ethnic heritage and the natural inclination of its residents to fit in. But a culture of drinking is inseparable from a culture of enabling – and much of this enablement resides in Madison, embodied in state laws and what is deliberately left out of them.

Evan Zimmerman was convicted of homicide, but with the help of the Wisconsin Innocence Project (WIP), he convinced the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to overturn the conviction. On retrial, an Eau Claire judge dismissed all charges against him. Zimmerman was released in April 2005, after three yearsâ?? incarceration.

Two years and two months later, Zimmerman, age 61, died of cancer.

Stung by the crisis in the national economy, the state faces a possible $3 billion shortfall in its next two-year budget, a gap that could spell shared pain for students, state workers and the poor and unemployed, Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday.

The Democratic governor, facing what is at least the worst state budget since he assumed the office in 2003, said he would have to consider a long list of difficult fixes â?? job cuts, delays of approved expansions in health programs for the needy and scaling back new state money for public schools and universities.

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Jim Doyle said the nation’s economic woes are taking a toll on the state and could greatly impact the state’s budget.

Doyle laid out the state’s financial picture Wednesday afternoon saying the last two months have hit the state harder than expected, and that he anticipates a deficit of more than $3 billion.

Doyle said Wednesday that job cuts and spending reductions across all of government could be part of the mix. Doyle said he wants to protect his priorities, including education, but he can’t promise anything will be off limits.

Elizabeth Burmaster, state superintendent of public instruction since 2001, said Monday that she will not seek a third term as the stateâ??s highest ranking kindergarten-through-12th grade education official.

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will decide whether to grant pay raises to four UW System chancellors Friday.

Following a failed chancellor search at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, a consultant released a range of suggestions Friday for the system to improve future searches.

Wisconsin cannot afford to skimp on higher education without hurting its economy and future.
That’s the warning state leaders need to hear loud and clear in the wake of another troubling report on University of Wisconsin System funding.

Wisconsin lagged behind every other state except one in providing funding increases for higher education over the last five years, according to a report last week by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, a nonpartisan state budget watchdog.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced today her 2009 budget proposal will include funding for a brand new pilot project intended to provide early intervention to middle school students to help prevent them from abusing alcohol in future years. Falk also announced her budget will fund additional drunk driving enforcement by the Dane County Sheriffâ??s Department on Friday and Saturday nights.

More drunken driving law enforcement, middle school alcohol intervention and development of a community-based coalition to change the alcohol-fueled culture are three of five budget initiatives being introduced by Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk.

Falk announced the budget initiatives at a press conference Wednesday morning.

“The painful effects of over-consumption are being felt by people of all ages, costing taxpayers millions, and jeopardizing public safety,” Falk said. “Through very thorough study we’ve learned about new techniques to help confront the crisis of alcohol abuse. There is hope we can make a difference.”

MADISON, Wis. — A new report shows that state spending on the University of Wisconsin System has trailed inflation and overall state spending.

The report released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance shows that between 1983 and 2007 state funding for UW nearly doubled. But in that time, state aid and tax credits for primary and secondary schools more than tripled. Overall state spending was up more than 200 percent and inflation went up 115 percent.