MILWAUKEE — Gov. Scott Walker on Friday told a standing-room only crowd of Wisconsin school board members that he would give them “tools” to manage district budgets and to hire and fire teachers based on performance. But he offered no specifics other than calling for assurance that all future fourth-graders can read at a third-grade level.

Speaking on the last day of the Wisconsin State Education Convention, Walker said past state governments have cut funding to local governments without giving them the tools they need to manage the dollars they have.

“We’re going to give you more tools,” he said, citing the “need to make sure of certain benchmarks throughout a child’s development.”