Damn the constitution! Full speed ahead!

I don't know whether the state constitution is taught in Wisconsin schools. But it might be time for a little study hour in the legislature's Republican caucuses.

There is an epidemic of Republicans messing with the constitution.

Some want to amend it -- to ban gay marriages, to require photo IDs for voters, and maybe anything else they can't get past the Democratic governor.

Others simply want to ignore it. State Rep. Scooter Jensen writes a motion ordering the Commissioners of the Board of Public Lands to sell all of the land they own to the DNR, although the constitution clearly says no one can tell them to sell their land.

Now comes State Rep. Dean Kaufert, co-chair of Joint Finance, who says he supports cuts in 4-year-old kindergarten programs. "I just worry about it being subsidized day care for certain children," he said in a JS story, not specifying just which children that might be.

That causes one Dem who follows education issues to ask, "Wasn't that the same position Gregg Underheim took on his way to getting beat 61-39? If the last election gave Bush a "mandate" to privatize Social Security, what did (DPI Superintendent) Libby Burmaster's election give her on 4K?"

FACT: Four-year-olds have been attending public schools in Wisconsin for over 100 years. Wisconsin made a constitutional commitment to early education in 1848 when the state constitution, Article X, called for school districts to be as uniform as practical and free "to all children between the ages of four and 20 years."

Maybe if the Rs can't cut over 200 school districts and get 18,000 4-year-olds out of the program they can pursue a constitutional amendment to eliminate it. The Democrats would be happy to let the people decide.