Group Pledge of $40 Million To Higher Ed Flunks GOP Critics

Remember when Gov. Jim Doyle's administration was signing up Wisconsin students who could maintan at least a "B" average in high school for a guaranteed spot in a Wisconsin college or university - - and Republicans said the program was an empty promise?

Wisconsin philanthropists have now come forward with a $40 million privately-pledged endowment to get the Wisconsin Covenant program off the ground.

Private money...spurring educational commitment...keeping good kids in schools...making college a wider reality...expanding workforce development...stimulating the economy: that kind of success has got to be hard for some GOP talkers and pols to swallow, even though it is precisely the kind of public policy innovation that any political party in Wisconsin should embrace.