They pulled this in the state of Nevada, as well. Tax hikes needed “for the children” promising to maintain or reduce class sizes. They forced a tax hike through the state Supreme Court. The teachers got raises and the class sizes got bigger.
We also need to remember where all this started in Wisconsin. The teacher’s unions had it written in their contracts that the union would a act as the broker for medical insurance. That meant that they would get a cut of every employees premiums going straight into their coffers. All their anger and vitriol wasn’t because they were losing their collective bargaining rights, it was because they think the taxpayer should foot the bill for their union activities.