Republican state Representative Rob Swearingen thought last week's forum on education had other motives...
".....you have a retiring Senator....along with a freshman Representative from the Wausau area. So coming up into the 12th Senate District or the 34th Assembly district appears to be a political stunt...."
Swearingen is talking about Republican State Senator Dale Schultz and Republican Mandy Wright from Wausau. Both legislators held a forum on rural school funding in Rhinelander.
Schultz and Wright talked about how shifting priorities within state government are endangering the future of Wisconsin schools. Wright said a proposed expansion of the state voucher program giving public funds to private schools would weaken an already shaky rural school system.
Swearingen said he was not officially asked to attend the meeting in his hometown, though he heard about it through a press release. He did not attend.
He did say that vouchers could appear on the docket when the legislature returns in January...
".....it certainly was indicated across the press, across the state that vouchers might be part of the front burner on some member's plates. I expect we'll be having that discussion after the first of the year..."
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who Wright listed as a promoter of vouchers, named Swearingen to lead the Speaker's Rural School Task Force. They held several meetings across the state and issued a report in May. Swearingen thinks those findings will also be addressed in January.
