Today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel offers a strong editorial in support of greater flexibility for UW System. The paper notes that while state support for the system has increased slightly when measured in real dollars, it has fallen markedly when measured as a percentage of the total budget — from 33% in 2000 to less than 24% in 2009.
In July, Regents Charles Pruitt and Jay Smith outlined in their paper, “Principles for Progress and Prosperity”, how UW would increase the number of graduates and help create new jobs if the state could offer greater management flexibility, stable funding, and adequate financial aid.
Writing in support of the proposal, the Journal Sentinel argues that “the new governor and Legislature have three choices: Give the UW more freedom — perhaps even cut it loose entirely; return to the days of paying for a greater share of the cost of educating Wisconsin’s college students; or do nothing and risk a slow slide into mediocrity.”