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we should be standing in
support of them being able

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to do that.
>> Republican candidate for

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governor, Josh Schoemann,
dropped out of the race

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after President Donald
Trump endorsed Tom Tiffany

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this week. Tonight, Zac
Schultz talks with

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candidates about funding
for public education and

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what they would like to see
happen with the school

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voucher program.
>> Calling Wisconsin's

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school funding formula
broken is one of the oldest

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refrains in state politics,
but the sheer number and

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size of operating referenda
around the state show

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school districts and voters
agree the state is not

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providing enough money.
>> Well, you can't do it

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without money, and we've
been asking schools and

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teachers to do more and
more with less and less and

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less. Our kids haven't even
gotten an inflationary

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increase for 15 years. That
to me is unacceptable. So

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money is essential. But
it's not only money, right?

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Teachers also need
professional development

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time and training and the
respect that they deserve.

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As professionals, the
single most important

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factor in a kids success is
the quality of the teacher

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at the front of the
classroom. So investing in

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teacher retention so that
we have the most

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experienced, the most
capable, skilled teachers

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able to stay in the
classroom and stay in the

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education field and mentor
newer teachers, I think is

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absolutely essential.
>> I think, you know, we've

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got to make sure that we
look absolutely at how do

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we spend more on public
education in Wisconsin? One

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of the challenges, I think,
is that we're still working

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on a system. Tommy Thompson
took a snapshot of what

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things looked like in 1993,
and we're still looking

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we're still working with
that system 32 years later.

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I think it would be
courageous and necessary

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for us to look at exactly
what we need to do for 2026

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and moving forward, rather
than trying to make the

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best of a 30 year old
systems.

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>> We used to fund our
public schools to the tune

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of two thirds, and we no
longer do that. And now,

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not just our teachers, but
our young people are

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hurting every single day.
And I think that we need to

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actually take a step back.
We need to take a step back

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and look at not just our
revenues, but how we're

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spending money. I think
that we should put in place

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a blue ribbon commission on
taxes. This isn't something.

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This is something that
hasn't happened since the

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mid 80s. But this gives an
opportunity for university

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officials to be at the
table. Business leaders,

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government folks, you know,
just the public to have a

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transparent conversation.
What's working in other

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states, what can we bring
here to make sure that we

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have a system of revenue
and spending that works for

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everyone and works to the
future?

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>> The reform is in our
inequitable school funding

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formula that pits
communities against one

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another, that raises
property taxes, but also

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makes it so that the
disparities among students,

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especially those who are
lower income, are not being

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addressed. And so
increasing special

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education for 90%
reimbursement at some

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sufficient levels and
making sure that we're

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increasing general aids.
Our schools have been

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defunded for over a decade
now, and if we do not

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prioritize public education,
which is one of our last

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remaining democratic
institutions, we as a state

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will not succeed.
>> We need to make sure

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that we are investing the
money, because what we see

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all across the state is
that there are all of these

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referendums, and people are
voting to increase their

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own taxes, not to pay for a
new science lab, not to pay

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for a new middle school,
but to pay for operational

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expenses, teachers salaries.
And that is just

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unsustainable moving
forward. So we have to put

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more dollars into the
public school system, but

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we also have to look at
reform to make sure that

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kids are getting the
education they need to be

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able to succeed.
>> I'm I would be fine if

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we put more money into
education. In fact, I

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expect that we will. But we
need to make sure that it

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goes to goes to children
and families. We should pay

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good teachers more, and I
think we should reward

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administrators that are
successful in their schools.

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We have to get back to
where we reward success in

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education. And I think
that's one of the ways we

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we fix this problem of us
falling behind Mississippi.

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And but I'm not averse to
putting more money in. But

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it there has to be
accountability.

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>> I believe that every
school in the state of

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Wisconsin can be a world
class school, but it takes

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the investments. If we
can't compare students who

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have every single need met
versus those who have

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hardly any needs met, we
have to invest in the whole

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child. And that's the kind
of overhaul that I'm

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looking at, ensuring that
all of our students are fed,

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all of our students are
housed, all of our students

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have the health care,
mental and physical health

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00:04:49,489 --> 00:04:52,459
care and make sure that all
they have all their needs

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met. So when they're
showing up to school, they

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are ready to learn so that
when they go home, they

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have a foundation that
retains the education that

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they got in that school
building. Until we start

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looking at complete
outcomes for all of our

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children, then the
conversation about was, is

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it funding? Is it not
funding? It's immaterial.

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>> You know, right now
we're in this situation

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where we have said that
competition is good. We

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decades ago, we decided,
you know, competition is

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going to make our public
schools better. But one

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thing that we're not doing
is looking at the rating of

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how other schools are doing
that are receiving public

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funds, whether those are
charter schools or other

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types of choice schools. We
need to have a scale that

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helps us understand how are
they competing. It isn't

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necessarily that something
must be better than public

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schools. It's let's have a
real accountability. Make

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sure our kids are achieving
and getting the quality

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that they need in order to
succeed.

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>> Wisconsin School Voucher
Program was created in the

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1990s in Milwaukee and
expanded statewide in 2011.

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As the cost of the program
has grown, the question we

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put to the candidates is
whether it should expand

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contract or stay the same.
>> I think that we need to

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look and make sure that we
have good accountability

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and transparency first,
before we start making

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decisions about stopping or
starting or eliminating, we

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need to understand what are
they providing for our

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children and our families,
because there are families

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that are counting on those
voucher schools. But at the

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same time, it can't come at
the cost of public schools,

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and it can't come at the
cost of making sure that

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we're funding special
education.

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accountability. That's the
most important thing we can

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do. That has to be
paramount. We have to

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ensure that there are
structures in place that

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don't create a playing
field, where some schools

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operate by one set of rules,
and another set of schools

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operates by a different set
of rules. Any public

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funding should come with
public accountability. And

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that's a that's the bottom
line.

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>> You know, we've had
choice in Wisconsin and

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it's worked for thousands
of families across the

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state of Wisconsin. And we
should continue to have

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that program. But I'm a
product of public schools

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as well as my seven
brothers and sisters. All

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three of my daughters went
to public schools up in the

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Minocqua area, and public
schooling has a long, proud

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history in Wisconsin. We
need to make sure that we

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have a strong private,
public, and parochial

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system. Regardless of how
you choose to educate,

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we've got to make sure we
have a strong educational

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system.
absolutely address the

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voucher system. We need to
make sure that the voucher

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system is what it was
originally intended to do,

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which was for low income
families to be able to have

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some choices. And right now
we do not have an income

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limit on the voucher system,
and we're going to be

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00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,622
taking off the cap for the
vouchers. That is going to

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be funneling public money
into private schools. We

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00:07:39,326 --> 00:07:42,029
cannot afford to have two
separate school systems

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within the state of
Wisconsin. So we're going

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to have to have some reform
in that area as well.

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>> I am very concerned
about public dollars going

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to private schools and a
system that is

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00:07:53,974 --> 00:07:56,910
unaccountable and not
transparent in how they may

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00:07:56,977 --> 00:08:00,514
or may not be serving our
kids. And so it's critical

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00:08:00,581 --> 00:08:03,884
that we look at a program
that seems more and more to

168
00:08:03,951 --> 00:08:07,154
be like a scam.
>> I think one, we need to

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00:08:07,221 --> 00:08:09,156
fully fund our public
school systems. You cannot

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00:08:09,223 --> 00:08:12,125
get rid of the voucher
system unless our schools

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00:08:12,192 --> 00:08:15,629
are in a place to actually
educate all of our students

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00:08:15,696 --> 00:08:18,699
in every community across
Wisconsin, and that means

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fully funding our public
school systems. But any

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00:08:21,034 --> 00:08:24,271
system that is receiving
public dollars should be

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00:08:24,338 --> 00:08:27,374
held to the same standards
of our public schools. They

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00:08:27,441 --> 00:08:29,643
need to be transparent,
they need to be held

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00:08:29,710 --> 00:08:32,145
accountable, and they need
to make sure, again, to be

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00:08:32,212 --> 00:08:34,214
held to the same standards
that public schools are

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held to, no matter what
community they're in. In

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00:08:36,617 --> 00:08:38,185
Wisconsin.
>> The voucher system has

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00:08:38,252 --> 00:08:41,522
now been in place for the
last 30 years. I'm not

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00:08:41,588 --> 00:08:44,057
interested in a dramatic
expansion of it, but I also

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00:08:44,124 --> 00:08:46,293
think there's challenges of
trying to put that genie

184
00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:48,729
back into the bottle. I
think the most fundamental

185
00:08:48,795 --> 00:08:51,865
thing for us is around
accountability for

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00:08:51,932 --> 00:08:53,834
everybody in education,
making sure that we have

187
00:08:53,901 --> 00:08:56,904
the right investment in
kids and making sure that

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00:08:56,970 --> 00:08:59,873
we're holding ourselves,
holding schools accountable

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00:08:59,940 --> 00:09:02,643
for the challenges that we
have in education. But at

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00:09:02,709 --> 00:09:05,846
the same time, you know, as
in anything with education,

191
00:09:05,913 --> 00:09:08,148
there are lots of problems
that come to the

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00:09:08,215 --> 00:09:10,384
schoolhouse door that have
nothing to do with what

193
00:09:10,450 --> 00:09:13,120
happens inside that
schoolhouse.

194
00:09:13,187 --> 00:09:15,889
voucher system brought to a
responsible close. We

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00:09:15,956 --> 00:09:19,293
simply cannot and should
not try to fund two

196
00:09:19,359 --> 00:09:23,130
different, separate school
systems. Their taxpayer

197
00:09:23,197 --> 00:09:26,099
money needs to be
accountable to taxpayers,

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00:09:26,166 --> 00:09:30,737
and public dollars should
fund the public school