For years living in rural Wisconsin, Frugal Ron listened to Tea Party predecessors recite their solution for solving our nation’s ills, “We need to get Jesus back into schools!”

Religion

Of course, before the Supreme Court’s 1962 decision striking down state sponsored prayer in public schools, we didn’t have all this homosexuality and abortion nonsense.  So, according to current Republican logic (or lack thereof), if we can put the fear of God into today’s children for several hours a day while they are in school, we won’t have any more of this liberal decay of our society.

For sure, God-fearing children won’t choose homosexual lifestyles or have promiscuous sex.  (Editor’s note: We don’t want to complicate this argument with facts. Please ignore, as Republicans do, that almost all peer-reviewed current literature suggests sexual preference is determined before birth and among those born in the 1940s and turning 15 from 1954 to 1963, 82% had premarital sex by age 30, and 88% had done so by age 44).

Education

Not deterred by a simple Supreme Court ruling, using voucher schools, which are almost all religiously affiliated, Wisconsin’s Republican Governor Scott Walker found a way to use taxpayer money to get Jesus back into schools. Unfortunately, with education, like so many other things, you get what you pay for. Voucher school teacher pay is a fraction of  public school teacher compensation and results mirror that.

A 2011 study found students participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program scored proficient or advanced on standardized tests at a rate of 34.4 percent in math and 55.2 percent for reading. Students in Milwaukee Public Schools scored proficient or advanced at a rate of 47.8 percent in math and 59 percent in reading on the same assessments, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. And, this was comparing against Milwaukee public schools, some of the worst in the country.

But, Governor Walker seems to have a plan to fix this learning gap. Continually expanding the voucher school program by taking money away from public schools will put more downward pressure on public school teacher salaries.  This will result in an exodus of teachers able to get jobs elsewhere and an influx of lower skilled instructors taking their places. In this race to the bottom, we will see public school student performance drop to the voucher school level.

Job creation

For any organization,  attracting the right people is the secret to success. So, what does Wisconsin offer companies who must attract well-educated and creative employees? The first thing managers note are the exorbitant health insurance costs in Wisconsin compared to neighboring states that accepted the federal Medicare funding Walker spurned.

If your work has anything to do with stem cell research, the state legislature delivered a strong message that you aren’t welcome here. Gay employees must accept they are second class citizens in Wisconsin. Why would they want to move here?

Employees with children will demand outstanding schools. Don’t expect Walker’s church affiliated voucher schools that teach the earth is 6,000 years old to impress them. They want the outstanding teachers Republicans sacrificed to fund their minuscule tax cuts and voucher schools.

C They are the direct result of his policies. Walker is a lifetime politician who violates the first rule of marketing;  always design your product to meet your target customers’ needs and wants , not yours.  While Walker and his supporters want to take Wisconsin schools back to the 1950’s, companies with 21st century technology and information needs will look elsewhere.

Note: Frugal Ron is adding a new section to his website! While liberals are continually doing really stupid things, Frugal Ron misses out on the fun of pointing out their foibles in the long article format used so far on this website. This new section will aim for shorter posts on current news. Hope you enjoy them!

Capital Times editorialist Dave Zweifel’s April 13, 2014 column , Gophers find a way that eludes Walker, focused on the differences between Minnesota’s fifth place tie in job creation compared to Wisconsin’s bottom third in the US placing.  Zweifel brought up the large difference in health insurance costs that Frugal Ron documented months ago in Competitiveness and Health Care Costs.

While Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his legislative allies focused on their goal of “keeping low-income citizens from becoming more dependent on government” by refusing the expansion of Medicaid in Wisconsin, they did nothing to keep these folks from getting free medical care at the Emergency Room. About  70 percent of the costs they don’t pay are passed on to those of us who buy health insurance and 30 percent to state government.

So, while Walker campaigns on the $1.25 extra per two-week pay period the average taxpayer gets due to his tax cut, potential employers look at the extra hundreds of dollars per month they will pay in health insurance if they make the mistake of locating in Wisconsin and not Minnesota.  Yet, that isn’t the biggest long-term problem Walker will leave us with.

Walker focused on bringing manufacturing to the state with reduced environmental regulations, an anti union atmosphere, subsidies through his Economic Development Commission and lower taxes. Unfortunately, Wisconsin cannot compete with China and other developing countries for these jobs and Walker’s job creation record attests to his failure.

While Macy’s may charge $80 for a pair of slacks imported from Bangladesh that have about $5 of cost  in them when they arrive in the US, the other $75 of value is added here. Walker focuses on getting manufacturing jobs, Minnesota’s Governor Mark Dayton wisely goes after employers that add the big value to products.

Walker’s white, over 50 , non college graduate core supporters are cheering when he cuts teacher salaries, tries to restrict stem cell research in the state and makes no effort to give Gays equality. However, the college educated upwardly mobile “Idea People” who are the real job creators and value adders in our information age economy migrate to states committed to great schools, supportive of disease fighting research and accepting of Gays having the same rights as everyone else.

Unfortunately for Wisconsin, we have a governor who says he is pro-business. In contrast, Minnesota has one that walks the walk for today’s entrepreneurs. Their job creation records leave no doubt who is most effective.