Saturday, February 14, 2015

Despite deliberate actions, Scott Walker calls change to university mission a "drafting error" - Tom Kertscher, Politifact

As shown in a photo accompanying this story, Walker’s budget deletes a number of phrases contained in the statute. Among the statements that are removed: "Extend knowledge and its application beyond the boundaries of its campuses"; and "Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth." With some added language, the edits to the language emphasized the mission should be to "meet the state’s workforce needs." Walker’s "drafting-error" explanation suggests the rewriting of the UW System's mission was some kind of mistake -- changes made inadvertently. Walker’s spokeswoman told us the governor had learned shortly before sending his tweet that "there was a miscommunication during the back and forth of the budget process." But the evidence indicates the changes to the Wisconsin Idea language were intentional. http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2015/feb/06/scott-walker/despite-deliberate-actions-scott-walker-calls-chan/