Wisconsin’s Education System: All it needed was an oil change.

Picture yourself as the proud owner of a beautiful, state-of-the-art, in mint condition, 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III V-12 baby-blue convertible. It is your pride and joy. Actually it is much, much more. In 1937, your great grandfather bought it as a wedding present for your great grandmother, who passed it down to her daughter, (your grandmother), who passed it down to your mother, who passed it down to you. Each kept it spotless and well maintained. Each loved and valued it. You heard family stories from them about the roles it played in vacations, picnics, the birth of children, “the Sunday drive in the country,” and much, much more. Now it’s yours and you absolutely love it.

One day you take it to a service station and requested “a simple oil change.” It was the only thing you wanted the mechanic to do to your beautiful Rolls Royce: “Change the oil.” The mechanic told you “No problem, I will have it done in 45 minutes.”

You told him “I will run some errands and return in one hour to pick up my car.”

He replied “That fine!”

One hour later you returned to see a nightmare beyond your wildest dreams. The mechanic had taken every section of your car apart. He had removed the doors, the motor, the transmission, the chassis, the tires, the headlights, the hubcaps, and everything else including the windshield wipers. The scattered pieces of your disassembled car lay on the floor of the automotive garage like the pieces of a picture puzzle. And things were about to get worst, for it was then, in your conversation with the mechanic that you learned that although he was the owner of the automotive repair station, he had never worked on a car before. So although he did not consult you about taking your car apart, he expected you to help him to put it back together again ― because he considered it to be your responsibility!

The feelings of bewilderment, frustration, anger, disappointment, helplessness, and betrayal that you would feel, as the results of this mechanic-imposter’s actions, would be identical to the feelings that teachers in Wisconsin are experiencing, as the results of Governor Scott Walker’s education reform policies:

Public education in Wisconsin was a beautiful, state-of-the-art system of teaching and learning based on best practices. It was a systematization of strategies, procedures, processes, and arrangements based on the most current research studies in the field of education. Indeed, its relentless pursuit of excellence, as indicated by student achievement, was its hallmark ― and the legacy the previous generations of Wisconsin teachers passed down, (in mint condition), to the current generation, who loved it. It was their pride and joy ― until they took it to Governor Scott Walker “to get an oil change!”


Now it lays on the political floor of Walker’s rubbles in scattered, unidentifiable pieces, as Walker suggests to the teachers that they are responsible for helping him to reassemble the parts.


I think what the people of Wisconsin need to do is to reassemble their government by thinking "RECALL," "RECALL," RECALL!" SCOTT WALKER!