Gary Kohlenberg has devised a financing structure and a branding concept that would help Gov. Jim Doyle as he tries to push guaranteed funding for students pursuing higher education through the Legislature.
Doyle’s Wisconsin Covenant has been running into heavy resistance in the Legislature, mainly because its financing has been purposely left unclear.
Providing a package of loans and subsidies for every eighth-grader who signs a pledge to earn a B average and exhibit good behavior in high school makes a lot of sense in a state where only 25% of the population holds a baccalaureate, two points below the national average.
There is almost unanimity that education is the ticket to prosperity in an innovation economy.