THE HISTORY OF

THIS “STRETCH TARGET” ENDEAVOR

When the Green Bay Packers work to accomplish a long term “Stretch Target”, a Super Bowl win, the challenge is very complex and the endeavor difficult. Without a well understood, simple scorecard/weekly NFL standings for this complex game we fans would not be able to track Packer progress or hold them “accountable”. The same applies for businesses and nonprofits with complex challenges and a need for radical change. Do these targets & a scorecard not also apply to the economy and education of our great state? Please read on.

SO, WHO IS THIS GUY WHO STARTED THE ENDEAVOR?  I, DAVE BASKERVILLE, am not a politician, economist, educator or activist. My votes over the past 55 plus years have been very ‘independent’. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, I have spent over forty years in international business, mainly for two USA companies. Since 1993, I retired with my wife back to our hometown, Madison, where for another twenty-two years, my post retirement work has been consulting for companies headquartered around the United States {BaskervilleInternational.com}. I have lived twenty years in East Asia, and on both coasts of America. I have traveled to over 100 countries for work and also for church/NGO-related volunteer activities. I have observed literally hundreds of offices and factories in many countries; and eventually looked into the education backgrounds of those entering the work force.. Closer to home, for many years my work took me to the Twin Cities, and I sensed there was a major difference between the Minnesota and Wisconsin economic climates.

A check of the data consistently confirmed that our beloved Wisconsin indeed was economically doing very poorly with slow good job growth vis a vis our neighbor to the north and other states. The data also confirmed my observations that American workers at most levels were ill prepared vis a vis their counterparts elsewhere in the world. In math, science and reading, problem solving.  American kids at every level were behind their First World peers as they entered the workforce or higher education. I was  very aware that such basic skills related very directly to where companies invest and create  good paying jobs… and to how social justice and equality of opportunity in Wisconsin can be improved!

I have also noted that most fellow Wisconsinites that I have interacted with do not believe that our great State has long term direction or goals. Nor can citizens readily evaluate over time the impact of complex policies proposed or implemented with considerable rhetoric by both political parties. Does not Wisconsin need a sense of direction and a couple of critical long-term goals that will greatly improve our lot? And, yes, a scorecard that we can all at the grass roots level understand and track, a Wisconsin Global Scorecard?

I, needless to say, am not leading this endeavor alone. Retired UW-Madison Professor and advisor on mathematic testing, DICK ASKEY, has been invaluable in motivating me to ‘stay the course’. JIM ZELLMER , entrepreneur and long time operator of the blog, schoolinfosystem.org, is the main reason, I, Baskerville, began devoting a major share of my time to “Stretch Targets”. (The endeavor would not have happened without Jim!) PETER GASCOYNE is a Berkeley-trained economist and Senior Analyst who doggedly assures the numbers and analysis that we use are well documented and the most reliable. CHAN STROMAN, prominent real estate lawyer with a passion for ‘much better’ Wisconsin education supports and critiques our efforts at every turn. CURT FUSZARD, retired bank executive and financial advisor, is a constant developer of contacts around the State. GREGORY ST. FORT, who is the CEO of LetsKeepBuilding Inc  and Executive Director of 100 State is responsible for marketing and for this excellent Web page, and assures that the  endeavor remains very relevant to his fellow Millennials. MARNIE GINSBERG of marnie@readingsimplified.com , a specialist in special education and KERRYANN DILORETO, senior analyst at the UW Survey Center have also been most helpful, especially with the launching and managing of Facebook!

If enough Wisconsinites buy into these bipartisan “Targets”, and read the  Scorecard, AND persistently relay it and their concerns to their families and colleagues, the Governor, other political candidates, our local School Board Members, educators and the teachers unions…finally we WILL see , under our Statewide pressure, policies/focus/results that will in the long term enable us to reverse our 38 year economic slide vis a vis Minnesota…and allow us to again become one of America’s top education states…and  in the top 10 among the nations!

MANY OTHERS are stepping forward to volunteer their time and talents during this ‘do or die’ 2018  year…or just signing up to read/pass on the Scorecard and the “Stretch “ challenge. They include school teachers, students, business executives, economists, legislators,  craftsman, construction workers and civil rights advocates. Some are Republicans and/or ‘far Right’. Some are Democrats and/or ‘far Left’. Most are politically somewhere ‘in between’. But increasingly, they are Wisconsin PEOPLE of ALL WALKS OF LIFE who simply want much more from our great state. i.e.very significant but doable positive change! A  long shot? Indeed…POSSIBLE? You bet!