BELMONT - Gov. Scott Walker was joined by State Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) at the Belmont School District Tuesday afternoon to announce a sparsity aid program increase for rural schools. The visit was billed by Walker as "highlighting investment in rural school districts."
Walker spoke to Belmont High School's Youth Apprentice students, visited the BHS technical education area where he saw BHS' 3-D printer and CNC router, and got a sign shaped like the state presented to him.
The governor then spoke to a group of students, staff and the Belmont School Board. Belmont was his third stop at small school districts in the area, following Wausaukee and Cadott.
Walker said his support to increase sparsity aid for rural school districts are for places like Belmont that have a small number of students spread out over a large geographical area.
Walker touted the per-student state aid increases of $204 per student this school year and $200 per student next school year as a result of what he has called the "reform dividend." The budget also increased funding for school "Fab Labs" and students' taking college or technical college courses before graduating from high school, he said.
"K-12 education is the building blocks that build us a strong workforce," he said. "You guys have unbelievable opportunities in front of you. You can pick about any career you want, and there is high demand for employees."
Walker also touted the state's economy, with low unemployment in most counties and the fifth highest rate of workforce participation among the nation.
One way to boost rural areas, he added, was "anything we can do to help small business." He noted the seventh annual Small Business Summit held in Rothschild in late September identified four small business issues - business costs, workforce, barriers to work and helping small businesses recruit employees - in addition to access to capital.
"It's not just going to be one big employer," he said. "It's going to help a lot of small businesses."
In talking to students, Walker noted only one student at one of his earlier trips was able to correctly identify where the state's first territorial capital was - Belmont.
Walker also discussed with reporters the pending U.S. Supreme Court case challenging the Legislature's 2011 redistricting, which he called "completely ridiculous."
"There are many places, not just Wisconsin, where there are concentrations of votes" by party, he said, listing Madison. "They have to question should judges be involved in setting boundaries, which is a political thing no matter what party is involved."
Walker, who was at UW-Platteville one month ago to tout funding for a new engineering building and academic building renovation, is returning to Southwest Wisconsin today to discuss broadband expansion initiatives at Iowa County Health and Human Services in Dodgeville.
Walker spoke to Belmont High School's Youth Apprentice students, visited the BHS technical education area where he saw BHS' 3-D printer and CNC router, and got a sign shaped like the state presented to him.
The governor then spoke to a group of students, staff and the Belmont School Board. Belmont was his third stop at small school districts in the area, following Wausaukee and Cadott.
Walker said his support to increase sparsity aid for rural school districts are for places like Belmont that have a small number of students spread out over a large geographical area.
Walker touted the per-student state aid increases of $204 per student this school year and $200 per student next school year as a result of what he has called the "reform dividend." The budget also increased funding for school "Fab Labs" and students' taking college or technical college courses before graduating from high school, he said.
"K-12 education is the building blocks that build us a strong workforce," he said. "You guys have unbelievable opportunities in front of you. You can pick about any career you want, and there is high demand for employees."
Walker also touted the state's economy, with low unemployment in most counties and the fifth highest rate of workforce participation among the nation.
One way to boost rural areas, he added, was "anything we can do to help small business." He noted the seventh annual Small Business Summit held in Rothschild in late September identified four small business issues - business costs, workforce, barriers to work and helping small businesses recruit employees - in addition to access to capital.
"It's not just going to be one big employer," he said. "It's going to help a lot of small businesses."
In talking to students, Walker noted only one student at one of his earlier trips was able to correctly identify where the state's first territorial capital was - Belmont.
Walker also discussed with reporters the pending U.S. Supreme Court case challenging the Legislature's 2011 redistricting, which he called "completely ridiculous."
"There are many places, not just Wisconsin, where there are concentrations of votes" by party, he said, listing Madison. "They have to question should judges be involved in setting boundaries, which is a political thing no matter what party is involved."
Walker, who was at UW-Platteville one month ago to tout funding for a new engineering building and academic building renovation, is returning to Southwest Wisconsin today to discuss broadband expansion initiatives at Iowa County Health and Human Services in Dodgeville.