Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, says that the governor's choice to eliminate the Learnfare program indicates that the state doesn't care whether children go to school.

Learnfare is available to dependent children age six through 17 whose parents are in the W-2 program. It requires that the children are enrolled in school.

Bicha said the decision to eliminate the program was based on a recommendation from the Legislative Audit Bureau that it was not achieving the anticipated outcomes.

"We should be innovative in Wisconsin ... but we also must recognize when something is not working and that it's OK to say it's not working," Bicha said.

Olsen said if the program was ineffective, a new program should be devised instead of just scrapping the effort.

"This tells me the state doesn't really care if these kids go to school or not," Olsen said.

-- By Greg Bump