The new budget proposal by Gov. Scott Walker provides a $72 million cut to technical schools in Wisconsin. The common argument is that we have to reign in our spending to prove fiscal responsibility. Then we have the GOP budget proposed by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, which reduces top federal income and corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent.
I can hear Ayn Rand shifting happily in her grave. I always thought of her followers as intellectual snake salesmen, peddling their love of a product that has no proof of actually working. On the state level, Walker should be focused on providing more funding to technical schools instead of his effective deregulation mentality.
The Laffer curve (based on the idea that we can still maintain or even improve revenue by reducing taxes) has never been proven. Laissez-faire economics don't work. Deregulation was a big focal point for Ken Lay and Enron where they took advantage of energy crisis in California to ruthlessly pursue profits. Unregulated industries lead to disasters like the BP oil spill. Rational objectivism, as proposed by Rand, is something that you will find in a fiction book, but not something that has worldwide applicability.
We need investments in education. Ryan's budget indicates that by 2021, the unemployment rate will be 2.8 percent. As pointed out by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, the last time the unemployment rate was at that level was briefly during the Korean War in the early 1950s. Incredibly, the GOP budget makes little mention of education.
Our tech schools are dying. Where do you think people learn technical skills to go into real world jobs? Many states are facing a shortage of workers. Why is that? It's because many of the workers who were laid off had not learned skills to be in any other jobs than the industry they were previously working for. Many workers in Detroit are taking advantage of programs that offer classes and hands-on training in computers and technical communication as well as other applicable skills.
So, if we want to create jobs, why are we cutting the budget for technical schools? Technical colleges are facing a 30 percent decrease in aid this year in Wisconsin. Walker cites a goal of creating 250,000 jobs, but how exactly are you creating jobs when you are providing colleges less money to train the workforce? Many technical colleges are seeing a boom in attendance, because people are looking to learn new skills that are applicable to businesses. Northeast Wisconsin Technical College enrolled 7,600 full-time students for the 2010-'11 academic year, up nearly 150 students from the previous year. We should be focusing on things that have proven to be linked to job growth like technical education. Madison College has to face tough decisions in deciding whether to put students on waiting lists, provide a lower quality education or firing teachers.
You can look at Walker not having finished his education at Marquette as a reason why he places little value in schools, but the real evidence is what he's doing in his latest budget proposal. It shows how little respect he has for education.
Soren Nieminen is a senior majoring in Communication Arts. The Daily Cardinal welcomes all feedback. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com
