Dana Wachs

In 1974, General Electric was headquartered in New York City and was looking for a new home. Many of GE’s executives already had moved to Fairfield, Conn., drawn by the good schools, small town atmosphere and suburban lifestyle. GE decided that these amenities were important enough to relocate there, and, for 40 years, hosted its employees in a leafy, suburban campus far removed from city life.

This January, however, GE announced that it was leaving Fairfield and moving to Boston, a city that is second only to San Francisco as a wellspring of research and development and home to some of the wealthiest tech investment firms in the world. Announcing the move, GE said, “Greater Boston is home to 55 colleges and universities. Massachusetts spends more on research and development than any other region in the world, and Boston attracts a diverse, technologically-fluent workforce focused on solving challenges for the world.”

GE realized that it had to compete in a global economy increasingly dominated by businesses that embrace new technologies. The firm realized that the best way to change its corporate culture was to locate where a supply of highly educated graduates and access to new and exciting technology was guaranteed.

Meanwhile, here in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker just informed the University of Wisconsin System that it will receive no new funding in his next budget.

Walker will seek to freeze tuition, which may be helpful in the short term, but, combined with a zero-growth budget and inflation, our colleges and universities essentially will face another budget cut. This is in addition to the $795 million in state funding our colleges and universities have lost since Republicans took control of state government. Only eight states invest less in their higher education system than Wisconsin. This has led to larger class sizes, fewer class offerings and the loss of excellent faculty and staff to termination, early retirement and employment opportunities elsewhere. UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Jim Schmidt has pointed out that staying for a fifth year of college will cost that unfortunate student $50,000 in tuition and lost wages.

The independent, non-profit, non-partisan Wisconsin Technology Council recently issued a report that said, “Further cuts in public support for higher education in Wisconsin will harm the state’s economy, which relies on colleges and universities for talent, technology transfer and business development in the communities those institutions serve.” The council found that when a kindergartener today eventually enters the workforce, 62% of Wisconsin’s jobs will require a post-secondary degree. Despite that, the council reports, Wisconsin ranks 30th among states for adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 27th in per capita student aid. We should be investing in our colleges and universities, and adopting student debt relief programs such as the Wisconsin Democrats’ “Higher Ed, Lower Debt,” to help new graduates entering the workforce. Walker and the Republicans’ inexplicable, continuous attacks on our colleges and universities, among the best in the world, are sowing the seeds of economic disaster for our children and our state’s future.

I’m afraid that if we continue with Walker’s policies, Wisconsin won’t be the first, second or third choice for talented graduates to stay and start businesses, or for businesses to locate. Does anyone really think GE would have relocated here given the assault on our higher education system? Our trajectory should be toward becoming another high tech haven like Massachusetts, but right now it’s hard not to feel like we’re heading toward becoming a Mississippi.

Dana Wachs, an Eau Claire Democrat, is the ranking Democratic member on the state Assembly Committees on Judiciary and on Colleges and Universities.