Fed data shows low wages cause Wis "skills gap"

I find it remarkable how this meme of a "worker skills gap" continues to find its way into discussions about Wisconsin's manufacturing economy. Here's the latest example from the Fox Valley's "New North Business to Business." And the complaints by business owners should sound familiar.

This “skills gap” – the difference between the increasing number of available positions with New North region employers and the comparably small number of job applicants qualified to fill those roles – is a growing concern as unemployment creeps downward and our skills-based economy demands more workers with associate’s degree technical training, or the leadership and strategic management knowledge that’s often regarded with a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Add to that a number of veteran employees in mid- to highly-skilled jobs looking toward retirement in a few years, and the skills gap becomes all the more dire.

“People just don’t understand what the real problem is and just how close we are to crisis,” said John Petak, one of the co-owners of Oshkosh-based industrial saw producer Marvel Manufacturing Co., during a mid-July workforce summit conducted by Competitive Wisconsin Inc. in Oshkosh. Petak indicated his own company is anticipating 25 percent of its workforce will retire in the next five years, and despite proactive measure to hire replacements before those veteran employees leave, Marvel is having trouble finding qualified job candidates. It’s not alone....

The above-mentioned job candidate shortage for machine operators pales in comparison to the needs of the transportation industry. In Wisconsin alone, there is a need for 8,000 to 10,000 truck drivers and more than 400 diesel technicians annually, according to the Wisconsin Trucking Consortium, a statewide industry group that’s actively looking to tackle the worker shortage.

As a former Econ teacher, I can tell you that a shortage comes from more demand than supply. And this alleged worker shortage can be solved in 1 of 2 ways- reducing demand for these workers (unlikely given what the article describes), or increasing the supply.

A quick look to the manufacturing stats in the recently-released Quarterly Census on Wages and Employment gives some of the answers to why there's a worker "shortage" in Wisconsin.

Average weekly manufacturing wage, Midwest
Ill. $1,284
Mich $1,278
Minn $1,158
Ohio $1,119
Ind. $1,099
Iowa $1,090
Wis. $1,079

Kinda hard to get the candidates you want when you pay the least of all of the states in your region, isn't it? Econ 101 tells you that raising wages would help Wisconsin employers lower this skills gap, and encourage more people to enter the work force.

Now there was some progress made in 2012 on the wage stats, as Wisconsin's 4.3% increase was only behind Illinois for the best weekly wage increases in the Midwest. But even that number is misleading, as it's on the heels of a major drop in wages during Year 1 in the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, which was something that didn't happen even during the worst years of the Great Recession.

Average manufacturing wage, Wisconsin Q4 2008-2012
2008 $973 (+2.4%)
2009 $1,007 (+3.5%)
2010 $1,074 (+6.7%)
2011 $1,035 (-3.6%)
2012 $1,079 (+4.3%)

And manufacturers only added 8,000 jobs in Wisconsin manufacturing in 2012, the lowest increase in the 3 years the state has added jobs since the end of the Recession, so it's clear that employers are choosing to squeeze out more hours of their current workers in exchange for mild raises.

So instead of the WMCs and Competitive Wisconsins of the world whining about the tech schools and the employees being produced, maybe they should step up to the plate, and pay these people what they're worth. I imagine a lot of their problems would disappear if they'd pay on a scale closer to Minnesota and Illinois than to Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Basically, the business community complaining about the "skills gap," is like the Bucks whining about Dwight Howard playing for the Houston Rockets instead of wanting to be in Milwaukee, when the Rockets are the ones offering top dollar. The corporate media wants to keep the zombie lie of a skills gap alive as long as possible, and it's up to us to debunk it at every turn.

Once again, it's the US, not Wisconsin's causing "surplus"

I was interested to see the Wisconsin DOR release its June 2013 numbers this week, and not just because I'm a geek. In the first two years of the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, June numbers had been combined into the end-of-the-fiscal year figures that get released around Labor Day, so I wondered if there was some kind of angle going on here (particularly when combined with the Guv's many closed-door media events trying to prop up this budget).

The numbers themselves are mainly in line with what the LFB predicted in May, which gives us a year-end cash surplus between $550 and $670 million. As I've mentioned before, a lot of this is due to a huge runup in capital gains and related taxes resulting from a booming stock market.

Interestingly, these Wisconsin numbers just happened to come out the same week that the CBO reported the U.S. government ran a surprising $116.5 billion surplus in June, and that the total deficit for the federal fiscal year was down by nearly $400 million compared to June of 2012.

What caused this development? Well, some of it is due to $66 billion in dividends paid back by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the government, as part of the feds bailing Fannie and Freddie out in 2008, (which makes the June surplus a bit fluky). Some of the lower deficit is due to lower spending due to an improving economy and the sequester and related moves in 2013 (outlays are down about 4% vs. this time last year). But the biggest reason is higher tax revenues.

Individual income taxes and social insurance (payroll) taxes together increased by $224 billion (or 15 percent).

Taxes withheld from workers’ paychecks rose by $130 billion (or 10 percent), mainly because of higher wages and salaries, the expiration of the payroll tax cut in January 2013, and increases (beginning in January) in tax rates on income above certain thresholds.

Nonwithheld receipts rose by $89 billion (or 27 percent); $66 billion of that increase occurred during the tax-filing season (February through April). The increase during the filing season largely reflects the fact that final payments for the 2012 tax year were much larger than the final payments for 2011 that were made last year. Some of the increase in nonwithheld receipts also reflects an increase in estimated payments for the 2013 tax year and some payments for the 2012 tax year made earlier (such as quarterly estimated payments in January).

When you drill down further, you see that federal income taxes are up 18% compared to this time last year, which sort of makes the state of Wisconsin's 6.7% year-over-year increase in income tax revenues look kinda lame, doesn't it? And the 10% increase in U.S. corporate tax revenues vs. June 2012 are in stark contrast to Wisconsin's 14.1% month-over-month DECLINE in corporate tax income, and our lame 0.7% full-year increase in corporate taxes in a time of record profits.

So just like as we've seen with the Walker Administration's claims of "lower unemployment claims" or "gaining jobs", it's fairly evident that the credit for Wisconsin's increased tax revenues aren't due to anything being done by Scott Walker or the GOP Legislature, but instead are a result of the Obama Recovery continuing, and the easy money policy that's allowed another Wall Street bubble to inflate.

The question becomes, what happens when that stock market bubble and the real estate bubbles pop as interest rates go up? (note that the 10-year note has gone from 1.6% to 2.6% since the start of May) There's nothing being done in Fitzwalkerstan that has sustainable wage and job growth that'll allow our budget to weather any kind of fiscal disruption that could come along, and the Koo-Koo tax cuts signed into law with this budget will only make the situation worse for the state's balance sheet.

Scotty's just hoping he can snag re-election in November 2014 before that fiscal crash happens, which would allow him to skip town to "make some real money" in the only job he seems qualified to do- professional grifter and groveler- while we are left to pick up the pieces from this wreck.

Back from the North- didn't meet any GTac goobers

Took a trip up by Hayward earlier this week to do some work, saw some great scenery, made an excellent stop at the Angry Minnow Brewpub, and got to see the Moccasin Bar's colorful wildlife display. Oh, and I was fortunate not to run into these guys.





As you may have heard, these guys work for Bulletproof Securities in Arizona, and were hired by Gogebic Taconite to provide "security" for the area around their proposed open-pit mine in northern Wisconsin. The Blue Cheddar blog was among the first to reveal this story over the weekend, and has done an excellent job staying on top of the developments throughout this week. The Blue Cheddar article also relays this quote from a GTac CEO-sucking d-bag spokesman.

Gogebic spokesman Bob Seitz laughed at the suggestion that the company would remove the guard detail, which he said was hidden in the forest photographing illegal campers before they were noticed at a test drill site recently. The campers were believed to be potential vandals, Seitz said.

“That’s why none of those (guards) was visible, is because they have been monitoring people on our lands,” Seitz said. “I’m not very concerned about what (weapons) a security firm selects. They have to provide a safe workplace for their people, too.”

Yes, apparently a 26-year-old enviro-protestor wearing a mask is someone that could jeopardize the entire operation, and must be responded to with the potential lethal force. Dear God, these people are afraid of their own shadow. They and Walker are supposed to be the "Unintimidated" ones?

And referring to the Gogebic site as "Our lands," Bob? That might come as news to a lot of the Indian tribes in the area, who have hunting, fishing and harvesting rights in these lands that have been affirmed by treaties for 2 centuries. It also may come as news to the many campers and hikers traversing public lands in this area. See, you guys at Gogebic had to pay thousands of dollars to corrupt GOPs in the state legislature because this area is NOT private land, and is subject to state regulation and management. Here's how the original mining bill explains it.

Managed Forest Law Withdrawal Fees and Taxes. It appears that much of the private land in the area where mining activity is likely to occur, which may initially be located in the towns of Morse in Ashland County and Anderson in Iron County, is currently enrolled in the managed forest law (MFL) program under multiple MFL orders. In lieu of general property taxes, owners of land enrolled in the MFL program are required to make annual acreage share payments to municipalities in amounts determined by the date the land was entered into the program (79¢ per acre for land entered through 2004 and $2.14 per acre for lands entered after 2004) as well as pay an annual yield tax or severance fee of 5% of the timber harvested on the land (based on the average price of species harvested). The municipality retains 80% of these payments and sends 20% to the county. In addition, under the MFL program, a landowner has the option of closing a maximum of 160 acres per municipality to public access if an additional fee is paid for each acre closed (currently $1.08 per acre entered through 2004, and $8.54 per acre after 2004). These closed acreage fees are deposited in the forestry account of the segregated conservation fund. However, DNR staff indicates that most of the affected acres are in the open program.

And while it took the Journal-Sentinel 3 days to say something about this story (24 hours after Charlie Pierce mentioned it in a nationwide outlet, apparently the J-S REALLY didn't want to talk about this), Jason Stein had a good report pointing out that the mining bill allowed for public access of the lands in return for a large lowering of property taxes, meaning everyday citizens could be hiking or camping in the area, and then come across our masked buddies from Bulletproof.

But today is the even more fun part, as apparently Gogebic forgot to license their little Blackwater-style outfit, and were illegally carrying weapons without the proper permit from the state's Department of Safety and Professional Services. Oops.

Bulletproof Securities President Tom Parrella said Wednesday that his firm, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., holds a number of federal and out-of-state licenses for its experienced staff and has applied for the Wisconsin license. Parrella said Wednesday that Bulletproof had been hired with little notice and had not expected the public attention that has focused on the firm's role in the proposed mine site in Iron County.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Safety and Professional Services, which licenses security firms, said in an email that Bulletproof "has indicated its intention to submit a license application" to the agency and that the state would provide an update "if any new licenses are issued."

You got papers, son?

To his credit, Northwoods State Sen. Bob Jauch spared no words in letting these corporate thugs have it.

These actions demonstrate that GTAC has no respect for the public and no regard for the law. Had GTAC not been in such a hurry to hire a militia that’s armed more for war than defense of property, they could have hired a legally licensed Wisconsin firm and provided Wisconsin workers the opportunity to provide a safe working environment at the job site.

GTAC continually plays the victim but in fact they have no one to blame but themselves for hiring a security firm that has not complied with Wisconsin law.

Any reason we're not considering this guy for Gov in 2014? That's the kind of fight this state needs and deserves.

And to finish, I'll point you to James Rowen's excellent post on this, because it's not like this skirting of the law has been abnormal behavior for GTac, or Republicans in general. These guys clearly believe rules only exist in order to impose restrictions on the other guys, and are not something to be followed by them. They think they can lie, cheat, and conceal their way into huge amounts of power and money, and it took undercover journalism outside of the mainstream papers to uncover this Pinkerton-style setup.

This incident is a damning indictment of GTac, and not just because of the strong-arm tactics. Between the incompetence of not having your security properly licensed, and being such lousy business people that they had to resort to shelling out big bucks to hire lobbyists that wrote the mining bill for the GOPs. Like a lot of the "job creator" braggers, apparently GTac isn't not good enough to make it if they have to play by the same rules and pay the same taxes as everyone else. No wonder they fit right in with the WMC crowd- a bunch of bullying oligarchs who can't stand the light of transparency, and don't have the game to win in a fair fight.

Don't break out party hats yet on jobs

At first glance, yesterday's U.S. jobs report looks to be really good, both for the month of June as well as the two months prior to it.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 195,000 in June, in line with the average monthly gain of 182,000 over the prior 12 months. In June, job growth occurred in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, health care, and financial activities...

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in June at 34.5 hours. In manufacturing, the workweek increased by 0.1 hour to 40.9 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 3.3 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours.

In June, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 10 cents to $24.01. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 51 cents, or 2.2 percent. In June, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 5 cents to $20.14.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised from +149,000 to +199,000, and the change for May was revised from +175,000 to +195,000. With these revisions, employment gains in April and May combined were 70,000 higher than previously reported.

So 265,000 more jobs than first known, 2.35 million private sector jobs added in the last year, and wages still going up. Even the labor force is up by a seasonally-adjusted 600,000 people, which is the only thing keeping the unemployment rate at 7.6%. Seems like a really good report that continues the consistent job growth of the last 3+ years.

So why am I not so thrilled by it? Well, take a look at the following stat on Page 26 (table A-15).

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons,
March 2013 13.8%
April 2013 13.9%
May 2013 13.8%
June 2013 14.3%

Why's there such a bug jump in the U-6 numbers for June? The BLS report has a clue earlier in the report.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) increased by 322,000 to 8.2 million in June. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

In fact, this "involuntary part-time worker" number is up by a seasonally-adjusted 588,000 since March, and it's also reflected in the sectors that had the largest increases in jobs for June, as these positions often have part-time and/or seasonal workers.

Job increases, June 2013
Food services/drinking establishments +51,700
Retail trade +37,100
Administrative/ Support services +35,900
Health care/ Social Assistance +23,500

Take these four areas out, and we only had an another 47,000 jobs for every other area of the economy. And health care is the only area of these four that would be conducive to permanent full-time jobs and growth (it's added over 355,000 jobs the last 12 months). The retail and food service and admin job numbers are seasonally-adjusted- the BLS counts on a certain amount of added hiring for Summer, but what happened in June is well above what is typical Summer additions to the staff. Makes you wonder if we see a large "decline" around September as these students go back to school and the other part-timers aren't needed as much for touristy-related jobs.

On the flip side, manufacturing dropped by another 6,000 jobs, and is down 24,000 on a seasonally-adjusted basis since February. Democurmudgeon has more on this, and he is even more alarmed than I am, as he sees it as a turn toward even lower wages.

So while the top-line numbers look very good from this jobs report, a lot of it seems to be due to higher-than-normal seasonal hiring, which makes me wonder if the underlying strength isn't that big. It may bump up the numbers for a couple of months, but we need more growth in sectors with permanent jobs before I start saying we're in a new phase beyond the slow and steady recovery we've had the last 3+ years.

Happy 4th, all!

What I'd have to say on my own might skew dark, and it's a nice day to celebrate our Independence. So instead I'll give you these two items to chew on.

1. Here's the reason we're off work today- the Declaration of Independence. READ IT, and realize what a radical call to arms it is.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--

These are words to live by, and not to settle on, as far too many Americans are content to do.

2. Not surprisingly, a Brit best can tell us former colonists the way things appear in this country today. Here's an excellent montage of "USA!USA!" items from John Oliver of The Daily Show



Have a great Fourth, and it's back to the business of getting things right in this country tomorrow.

Sometimes they make it too easy

Was cruising around the Internets today, and caught this nugget from the Governor's Office, which of course, the Walker-endorsing Journal-Sentinel ran with like the mindless stenographers that they are.

Wisconsin Jumps 29 Spots in Leading Economic Indicator
April ranking revised up 9 spots

Madison— Wisconsin jumped to 20th in the nation this month, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s leading index.

First of all, if April was revised from a horrible 49th-place outlook to a still-bad 40th, and then you go to 20th, that's not a 29-spot improvement. 40 - 20 = 20. No wonder this administration is failing....and absurdly cynical.

And yeah, I'd looked at the report earlier in the day, and I wouldn't be bragging if I was the Walker boys if I was them. That great outlook they're trying to prop up says that Wisconsin is projected to have its economy grow a tepid 1.11% the next 6 months, which puts it below the rate of U.S. growth for the same time period, and middle of the pack for the Midwest. And even when you include this sunnier outlook, Wisconsin would still be well below all of its Midwestern neighbors in the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, 12 months away from the 2014 elections. (I'll link to the actual report once its website is back and running).



It's also telling that Wisconsin is the only state in the Midwest that still hasn't had its economic index come back to the levels it was at in December 2008- a time that has had the U.S. grow by more than 5%, and several Midwestern states grow by more than that. And note the main part of that lag started in December 2010.



The context-free blatant cynicism of the Walker Admin taking the time to do a press release on one barely favorable outlook tells me 2 things.

1. They really do think the media and their supporters are so stupid that they'll accept these things at face value without looking into them (given the record of the last 3 years, that's a good bet).

2. They're really desperate for any good economic news, which tells me that the reality of Walker's failures is getting through to the public, and taking its toll in the polls. They're leaking oil, they know it, and they're just hoping to sneak that fact by the clueless bystanders the next election. Then they can let the state REALLY go to hell with their deficit laden budget and lack of options to fix it.

Which is why people like me have to keep writing things like this, so they're not allowed to get away with their failures. And despite the Walker boys' spin, they're still failing big-time.

School aid shockers- 2013 version

The DPI came out with their initial estimates of state aids for school districts for 2013 today (you can check your district here). As usual, there were some places that got huge decreases in K-12 aid from the state, and will face major increases in property taxes or massive cuts coming in the next year.

The Wisconsin State Journal's Matthew DeFour gives a good rundown on the district facing the largest cut in state aid- Madison's.

The Madison School District stands to lose $8.8 million in general state aid this fall -- the maximum amount allowed under state law -- primarily because spending grew faster than in other districts, according to the Department of Public Instruction.

District officials had anticipated the reduction when coming up with a preliminary budget for 2013-14, which calls for a 6.8 percent property tax increase on the December tax bill. Lower state aid generally means the ability to raise higher property taxes under state revenue limits.

State law caps the amount a district can lose at about 15 percent of the previous year's aid. Madison's total aid is projected to be $49.6 million next year.

And a big reason Madison's "spending increased"? It added 4-year-old kindergarten last year, which requires more teachers per student compared to what you'd have in a high school, and it's in stark contrast to last year, when the MMSD got a big bump in state aid, and kept its taxes down as a result.

Madison's aid amount is about the same as it was in 2010-11. The district received a $15 million boost in aid last year mostly because 4-year-old kindergarten enrollment added about 2,000 students.

The Madison School Board taxed the maximum amount allowed last year, resulting in a 1.75 percent property tax increase. That amount was low compared to previous years because of the state aid increase. The additional funds allowed the district to spend more on building maintenance and a plan to raise low-income and minority student achievement.

Madison was far from the only place to take a school aid hit. Despite a 1.11% increase in overall state aid, 54% of the state's districts will lose money compared to last year, and approximately a fifth will lose 10% or more in state aid vs. what they got last year. Here are some of the other larger districts looking at big property tax increases for next year.

State school aid losses, 2013-2014
Kettle Moraine -$1,401,334 -15.07%
Menomonee Falls -$1,250,590 -15.07%
Ashwaubenon -$1,176,394 -15.07%
Waterford Graded -$956,085 -13.94%
Grafton $657,312 -11.76%
Whitewater $748,731 -10.50%
Cedarburg $725,255 -8.09%
La Crosse -$2,497,015 -8.01%
Monona Grove -$796,354 -7.54%
Merrill Area $1,249,711 -6.72%
Milwaukee -$1,407,778 -0.27%

When you compare with the rundown of last year's school aid losers, and special congrats are in order to the pro-Walker communities of Kettle Moraine, Menomonee Falls, Ashwaubenon, Grafton and Cedarburg, as you are BACK-TO-BACK LOSERS in Walker school budgets! Hope it' paying off for you.

Another sidelight of the school aid numbers are the huge amounts of small rural districts facing aid losses. They're a large amount of the districts getting the max loss of 15%, and many of these places don't have a lot of valuable parcels that'll make up the difference. For example, I'm betting my Aunt and Uncle who have a place in Vilas County are going to be less than pleased when they see their tax bill next year, given the decline the Lakeland District is facing. And a lot of these communities also backed Walker in June 2012. You wanted these aid cuts and property tax increases, so now you get them. Enjoy!

Yes, there are some winners as well, including a very intriguing district to end up Number 1. Remember, 1.11% is the overall state aid increase, so if you're under that, you aren't keeping up with the rest of the state.

State school aid increases, 2013-2014
Beloit +$1,928,367 +3.37%
Green Bay Area +$4,919,267 +3.85%
Sheboygan +$3,001,627 +4.50%
Eau Claire +$3,032,393 +5.48%
Waukesha +$3,078,988 +6.75%
Racine +$11,286,945 +9.23% (most in the state)
West Allis +$3,858,111 +9.76%
Sun Prairie +$3,820,528 +10.98%
Hudson +$3,040,935 +12.92%
Verona +$3,275,018 +16.18%
Oconomowoc $1,825,249 +35.54%

You'll notice a lot of districts that were originally part of the limited-voucher plan that was in Walker's original budget (and later expanded to potentially go statewide). It's almost like they don't want people to remember big property tax increases resulting from vouchers when they go to the polls in November 2014. Almost...

The Oconomowoc figure should raise some eyebrows, as not only is it a Baggerific Walkershaw County exurb (voted over 70% for Walker last year), but it's also the hometown of Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and her multiple-voting husband, Rep. Joel Kleefisch. But DeFour says it's really a reflection of Cooney's property values going down the tubes more than GOP favoritism.

Oconomowoc is projected to receive a 35 percent increase in aid, the largest statewide.

Like Madison, Oconomowoc has high property values per student, but that amount dropped 7.1 percent last year, compared to a statewide average of 3.4 percent. Madison's property value per student dropped 2.4 percent. Also, Oconomowoc's spending per student grew 2 percent, below the state average.

In addition, Oconomowoc had their school aids drop for the 2012-2013 school year by more than 15%, so they're up less than a million compared to where they were in 2011, so this becomes easier to digest as a Madisonian. I also have to smirk at the loss in land values in Oconomowoc over the last year- you think denigrating teachers and cutting school aids would make properties less desirable in far-out suburbs? NO WAAAAYY!!!

So while Walker is making photo-op appearances at camapaign contributors while signing his budget, many of Wisconsin's communities will be seeing their property taxes go way up as a result of that budget, and the bad results of the prior one. You know the WisGOPs are going to try to cynically pass off these inevitable tax hikes as the fault of local government over the next 16 months, instead of admitting that the hikes are in no small because of their decision to pass Koo-Koo tax cuts instead of adequately use state tax dollars to fund public schools. So it's our job to show these facts and make sure the average citizen knows the shell game that Walker and company are trying to play.