WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |Gov. Walker Stops in Stoddard

STODDARD, Wisconsin (WXOW) – Governor Scott Walker stopped in Stoddard Friday as part of the state's "Read to Lead" program.

The Governor said a task force was created last March, with the goal of improving the reading standards in Wisconsin for children in the third grade and younger, and the Read to Lead Program was the result of nine months of research.

Walker added the current state budget has allotted $600,000 for the program – which will be used to screen the reading levels of pre-kindergarten students.

He said the program could also lead to increased emphasis on reading in school curriculums and teaching evaluations down the road.

"What this all comes down to is early in life, we learn how to read," Walker said. "Then for the rest of it, we use reading to learn."

While the Governor was in town, he also discussed the recent arrests of former Milwaukee County Housing Director Tim Russell and former Milwaukee County Veteran Service Commission Member Kevin Kavanaugh.

The pair both worked with the Governor during his time as Milwaukee County Executive.

They're now charged with embezzling a total of more than $60,000 from a fund designated by the county executive's office meant to help war veterans and their families.

Governor Walker said he had no idea about the thefts.

But he added, immediately after his former Chief of Staff spotted irregularities in the account, the two of them took action and alerted the District Attorney.  

"Obviously the DA spent a fair amount of time on this investigation. We appreciate the effort they looked into this with," the Governor said.

"I'm glad they were able to look into it and take action over it," he added. "But I'm very disappointed  that anyone would take advantage of money that was supposed to be helping veterans."