WisPolitics Budget Blog

In just her second term serving in the WI Legislature, Rep. Debi Towns has established herself as a genuine leader for Republicans on all things Education (story).

Most legislators want to be viewed as being whole – someone who can move in and out of issues ranging from energy distribution to environmental equity. But in reality, legislators who enjoy a successful tenure are often identified with a specific issue. The private sector calls this branding. And, as voter apathy increases, it becomes exponentially important that voters connect to a phrase and associate it with a given candidate or incumbent.

Increasingly, think of Debi Towns, and voters will recall school, education, local control.

Even though Debi is a farmer, married to a farmer, and her extended family farms (father-in-law Dick Towns is a Rock County Board Supervisor), she has branded herself not as a land-use, agriculture legislator, but rather, she has elevated herself to the intellectual superior of current Department of Public Instruction Superintendent, Elizabeth Burmaster.

Burmaster, on a good day, might be allowed to have an original thought, but on most days, she receives her daily talking points from WEAC - the state teachers union.

Debi is more than a Republican holding the Democrat-leaning 43rd Assembly District; Rep. Towns is an emerging treasure for our state’s education system.

And the thing is, most classroom teachers agree with Towns, though Burmaster wears the crown.