State Representative Mary Czaja of Irma thinks a model developed by Three Lakes could help northern school districts facing critical budget problems.
Three Lakes schools have opened a Fab Lab which is a public-private partnership as Czaja explains. It's a type of 3-D computer-based manufacturing. Czaja says the goal is to have a Fab Lab in every K-12 school in the 12th Senate District....
"....we can get these public-private partnerships. In order to be a Fab Lab, M.I.T. certified, you have to open that FAB LAB up to the public and the private sectors so businesses can come in and help grow their small businesses. In turn, they actually help fund the Lab..."
Czaja says the majority of future jobs in the north will require education between high school and college degrees....
"....looking to develop that workforce, my thought is we're going to have companies that are going to look at us as an area for investors also. That's the only way we're going to turn around the Northwoods or rural areas..."
Three Lakes is the first K-12 District in Wisconsin to have this state of the Fab Lab.
Czaja was named to the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee. She was part of the Rural Schools Task Force chaired by Representative Rob Swearingen of Rhinelander.
Interview courtesy of Wisconsin Eye.
