16-04-2025
New U.S. Education Department appointee worked on Scott Walker's education policy, Act 10
One of the newest U.S. Department of Education appointees worked on Wisconsin's Act 10 and private school voucher expansion under former Gov. Scott Walker, according to a Department of Education news release.
Michael Brickman, now-senior adviser at the education department, worked on education policy for Walker from 2011 to 2013, and worked in communications on Walker's campaign from 2009 to 2010.
In that time, Walker passed Act 10, which banned most collective bargaining among public employees, including teachers and professors. The act was overturned last December but put on hold, meaning it's still in effect while the case is in progress.
Walker, with Brickman as an adviser, grew private school voucher programs, creating the statewide Wisconsin Parental Choice Program and eliminating the enrollment cap for Milwaukee's choice program. In a Fordham Institute post from 2013, Brickman cites the Walker administration also expanded charter schools, virtual schools and open enrollment.
The early Walker administration also led school accountability efforts, like the school report card system. It initially tied state test scores to NAEP standards, a move that's been back in the news in recent months after state superintendent Jill Underly decoupled score benchmarks from those national standards. Gov. Tony Evers recently vetoed a Republican-led bill that would have reversed Underly's decision.
Brickman has worked for the Department of Education and the conservative think tanks American Enterprise Institute and Cicero Institute in the past. He has also served as a senior education fellow for the Institute for Reforming Government, a conservative nonprofit.
Contact Green Bay education reporter Nadia Scharf at nscharf@ or on X at @nadiaascharf.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: New U.S. Education Dept. appointee led Scott Walker's education policy
