The rest of the story on MATC hearing

If you read the newspaper coverage of last week's public hearing on Milwaukee Area Technical College's budget, you would have been left with the impression that, while all of the testimony was positive, it consisted almost entirely of union representatives there to support a tax levy increase.

From the JS story:

Local labor groups played a role in the lopsided turnout, with representatives from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Service Employees International Union and the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals all advocating for the proposed budget and expanded programs at the school.

Union members were asked at last week's meeting of the Milwaukee County Labor Council to turn out in support of MATC, and the response was gratifying to Michael Rosen, the president of the union representing the college's teachers.

As Paul Harvey would say, now for the rest of the story:

Twenty-three people spoke at the hearing. Despite talk radio's efforts, not a single person showed up to oppose the proposed 5% levy increase.

Besides the union people, speakers were primarily employers of MATC grads, with a couple of alumni and one retired staff member. One person talked about how MATC has changed the lives of three generations of her family.

Employers of MATC grads who spoke were: Modern Food Inc.; Bell Ambulance; P & H Mining Equipment; Bucyrus Erie] Port Washington Fire Department; and St. Anne's Home For the Elderly.

To be fair, the article did mention that former students,ex-teachers and some employers supported the budget, and that was mentioned in the headline. But the story focused heavily on organized labor.

Earlier post: Tech school taxes: The rest of the story.