Since introducing Wisconsin Act 10, the so-called budget repair bill that actually strips public employees of many of their collective bargaining, Republican Gov. Scott Walker and his Republican allies in the legislature have been telling anyone who will listen about how Act 10 gave local governments – including school boards – more “tools” to control costs and reform how they administer services, but what those “tools” amounted to were a giant sledgehammer.
With that sledgehammer, local governments and school boards were able to effectively smash union contracts to pieces, allowing them to dictate to employees how much those employees would pay for health insurance benefits, but despite (or perhaps thanks to) Gov. Walker’s “tools,” at least one school here in southeastern Wisconsin (Hillside Elementary School) will be closing due to the financial constraints state-imposed revenue limits have placed on the Elmbrook School District. Republicans lowered those revenue limits by 5.5 percent as a part of Wisconsin Act 10, and those limits will force Elmbrook to collect about $6 million less in property taxes on December tax bills.
Yep, I’m sure lots of parents in the Elmbrook school district are going to give Gov. Walker a big “Thank you!” for giving them the “tools” that helped close one of their elementary schools…
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