Gov. Scott Walker took some time off on Wednesday to teach an impromptu class on the U.S. Constitution to a classroom full of fourth- and fifth-graders, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
Last week, a Dane County judge ruled Walker’s 2011 law limiting the bargaining powers of public employee unions (Act 10) unconstitutional, partly because it treats various classes of public employees differently. Unionized employees can only bargain for wage increases up to the Consumer Price Index, but non-unionized folks can negotiate for whatever they want. Plus, police and fire unions were exempted from the changes altogether.
Republicans (including Walker) have assailed the judge’s credibility, but the governor held the vitriol on Wednesday when taking a question from a WSJ reporter at Lindbergh Elementary School in Madison.
Asked to comment on having his signature law deemed unconstitutional in the midst of a four-stop tour to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, Walker in good humor said it fit with what he had taught … “Certainly the Constitution is important, and each of us have different interpretations,” Walke said. “That’s why there are checks and balances built into that, so not only no one person can govern, but no one judge has the final say.”
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has asked Judge Juan Colas to stay the ruling. Colas says he’ll issue a written opinion once all briefs have been filed. (The deadline is Monday.) Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s office is backing a stay.
