Bucks Are More Important Than The University?

This morning’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel features an opinion piece by Alex Molinaroli, the chairman of Johnson Controls, Todd Teske, chairman of Briggs & Stratton Corp, and Tim Sullivan, former CEO of Bucyrus International.
They were touting the proposed Bucks arena as an important asset for Milwaukee and Milwaukee regional firms and why government should get involved in financing it. I will write more on that later.

In their opinion piece they also mention in passing, the importance of education to the growth of the region:

People may not come to Milwaukee for the weather, but they will stay for the quality of life. We must invest in assets that bolster our quality of life, and our quality of place, to keep us distinctive and attractive as a business location.

Our educational options, quality health care, environmental sustainability and diverse neighborhoods are all factors that define quality of life. Investments in the cultural, arts, recreational and entertainment offerings help distinguish our quality of place. Smartly investing in these assets provides Milwaukee with attributes that make it, well, a smart place to locate if you want to retain and attract talent. We spend almost $2 billion per year on K-12 education, and we should. Quality education helps ensure Milwaukee’s livability.

Quality education helps insure MKE’s livability…yet the leaders of three of Milwaukee’s biggest businesses decided to write an opinion piece in favor of a new sports arena instead of calling out Madison for cuts to public education and Wisconsin’s world class university. Where exactly do they think their next generation of employees is going to come from?

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