Karol Markowicz The lives of our children were destroyed by lockdowns — and long lockouts — from school during the pandemic. This policy was largely forced through by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. But we now know that President Biden and his wife-teacher, Jill Biden, were the ones who overruled their own medical […]
I think this is broadly correct, but there are strong teacher unions across Europe too. They were overruled by a political consensus in favor of kids. The US lacked this consensus. We don’t put kids first. https://t.co/OqW1XfnWa6 pic.twitter.com/H0jn2VFHUl — Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) May 12, 2023 Pre-pandemic test score results (blue bubbles) show enormous district-level inequality. […]
Given the academic and social challenges that students face, many local education agencies are planning to use #Covidrelief money to hire more staff members and beef up training, benefits and pay for those already on the payroll. https://t.co/UiT0INSU8N — FutureEd (@FutureEdGU) January 25, 2022 Mandates, closed schools and Dane County Madison Public Health. The data clearly indicate that […]
NEW: The Chicago Teachers Union says its planned vote tonight would see members refuse in-person work until Jan. 18 or until the city’s COVID-19 wave falls below the threshold Chicago Public Schools set last year, whichever happens first. — Nader Issa (@NaderDIssa) January 4, 2022 Maureen Kelleher: If ever there was a moment to ensure […]
There are no hidden complexities that could possibly explain this misalignment of social priorities. #openschools@GavinNewsom pic.twitter.com/GfPCXWEq8b — Jeanne Noble (@JeanneNoble18) April 3, 2021 Related: Catholic schools will sue Dane County Madison Public Health to open as scheduled Notes and links on Dane County Madison Public Health. (> 140 employees). Molly Beck and Madeline Heim: which pushed Dane County this week not […]
The ultimate nightmare scenario for teachers unions isn’t a case like Janus but large numbers of African-American parents rejecting them as legitimate and not viewing them as partners in a shared cause. And this is why the Warren affair is so important. — James Merriman (@JamesMerriman6) November 25, 2019 Item 10.11: $100,000 contract to WestEd […]
Luca Dellana: The fact that (almost) all degrees have the same duration regardless of the complexity of the underlying field is the best evidence that education has been built around the universities’ needs, not the students’.
This week, President Obama called for the hiring of 10,000 new teachers to beef up math and science achievement. Meanwhile, in America, Earth, Sol-System, public school employment has grown 10 times faster than enrollment for 40 years (see chart), while achievement at the end of high school has stagnated in math and declined in science (see other chart).
Either the president is badly misinformed about our education system or he thinks that promising to hire another 10,000 teachers union members is politically advantageous-in which case he would seem to be badly misinformed about the present political climate. Or he lives in an alternate universe in which Kirk and Spock have facial hair and government monopolies are efficient. It’s hard to say.Related: Madison School District 2010-2011 Budget Update: $5,100,000 Fund Balance Increase since June, 2009; Property Taxes to Increase 9+%, and Ripon Superintendent Richard Zimman:
“Beware of legacy practices (most of what we do every day is the maintenance of the status quo), @12:40 minutes into the talk – the very public institutions intended for student learning has become focused instead on adult employment. I say that as an employee. Adult practices and attitudes have become embedded in organizational culture governed by strict regulations and union contracts that dictate most of what occurs inside schools today. Any impetus to change direction or structure is met with swift and stiff resistance. It’s as if we are stuck in a time warp keeping a 19th century school model on life support in an attempt to meet 21st century demands.” Zimman went on to discuss the Wisconsin DPI’s vigorous enforcement of teacher licensing practices and provided some unfortunate math & science teacher examples (including the “impossibility” of meeting the demand for such teachers (about 14 minutes)). He further cited exploding teacher salary, benefit and retiree costs eating instructional dollars (“Similar to GM”; “worry” about the children given this situation).
Thanks much for taking the time from your busy schedule to respond to our letter below. I am delighted to note your serious interest in the topic of how to obtain middle school teachers who are highly qualified to teach mathematics to the MMSD’s students so that all might succeed. We are all in agreement with the District’s laudable goal of having all students complete algebra I/geometry or integrated algebra I/geometry by the end of 10th grade. One essential component necessary for achieving this goal is having teachers who are highly competent to teach 6th- through 8th-grade mathematics to our students so they will be well prepared for high school-level mathematics when they arrive in high school.
The primary point on which we seem to disagree is how best to obtain such highly qualified middle school math teachers. It is my strong belief that the MMSD will never succeed in fully staffing all of our middle schools with excellent math teachers, especially in a timely manner, if the primary mechanism for doing so is to provide additional, voluntary math ed opportunities to the District’s K-8 generalists who are currently teaching mathematics in our middle schools. The District currently has a small number of math-certified middle school teachers. It undoubtedly has some additional K-8 generalists who already are or could readily become terrific middle school math teachers with a couple of hundred hours of additional math ed training. However, I sincerely doubt we could ever train dozens of additional K-8 generalists to the level of content knowledge necessary to be outstanding middle school math teachers so that ALL of our middle school students could be taught mathematics by such teachers.
Open Record: It’s a FOX6 investigation that sparked change before it even went to air. Thousands of tax dollars poured into a school program — but was it for the kids or a school leader’s relationship? In this episode of Open Record, FOX6 Investigator Amanda St. Hilaire explains how she came upon AVID and the […]
William Andrekopoulos Fortunately, I had a mostly strong and supportive board with the courage to pass those recommendations even when there were hostile reactions from the public. These included closing under-enrolled schools, changing school start times for transportation savings, moving to central kitchens, and negotiating benefit changes. There is not enough space here to talk […]
National Literacy Institute: WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators Legislation and Reading: The Wisconsin Experience 2004- “Well, it’s kind of too bad that we’ve got the smartest people at our universities, and yet we have to create a law to tell them how to teach.” The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a […]
Scott Girard: While the walkout was focused on Assad, as Yang continually reminded the group when conversation drifted to other resources and solutions, it also highlighted a larger concern: many of the students there said they couldn’t trust any other adult in the school. “If you’re not a minority, you wouldn’t understand the impact of […]
Emily Oster: Local governments are relaxing pandemic restrictions at a dizzying pace, removing mask requirements and vaccine entry rules for businesses. Politicians are generally pushing for a return to normalcy. But for one group, change is not forthcoming: children. The removal of mask mandates in schools is likely weeks, if not months, away in some […]
Mike Antonucci: As is plain from the numbers, we spiked in both during the summer of 2020, and everything returned to normal soon after. Not one of the above stories, nor any news report on the issue I have seen, contains any mention that public education employment has the second lowest quit rate of any […]
Wisconsin Supreme Court: For the respondent, there was a brief filed by Remzy D. Bitar, Sadie R. Zurfluh, and Municipal and Litigation Group ̧ Waukesha. There was an oral argument by Remzy D. Bitar. For the petitioners Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools, et al., there was a reply brief filed by Richard M. […]
Wow! NPR tonight. Teachers justifying why it’s better for schools to be closed. “Kids are resilient. Parents tell me their kids are falling behind but they have to understand they are falling behind in arbitrary developmental goals we’ve set”. ? — Victoria Fox (@drvictoriafox) December 23, 2020 Related: Catholic schools will sue Dane County Madison Public […]
Heather MacDonald: The United States is being torn apart by an idea: that racism defines America. The death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer in late May 2020 catapulted this claim into national prominence; riots and the desecration of national symbols followed. Now, activists and their media allies are marshaling […]
Scott Girard: Madison Teachers Inc. has filed a complaintagainst the Madison Metropolitan School District related to a survey sent out to staff last week. The Prohibited Practice Complaint was filed Monday with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission and seeks an immediate cease and desist of the survey and asks that the district be made to destroy […]
Logan Wroge: To help students make the transition to a higher-intensity setting, two Madison School District teachers spend time at Goodman South instructing courses with solely STEM Academy students and some with a mix of traditional college and high school students. “We thought it was really important to have high school teachers be part of […]
ABC 7: The Albany Teachers Association is currently in negotiations with its district. Their contract expires in the fall. They feel the real battle though is with the state and plan on addressing school funding with Governor Gavin Newsom. “Because the districts can do what they can do, but the state has a lot more […]
Nate Bowling: That’s an injustice and there’s no way to spin that. There shouldn’t have been a strike. I found the last two weeks mind-numbingly frustrating because it was preventable. If the McCleary Settlement was done with transparency, rather than dead-of-night-last-second deal making, we wouldn’t be here. If a fair contract had been offered from […]
Chris Rickert: Like the rest of the board, both also voted to approve the 304-page employee handbook that replaced union contracts beginning in summer 2016. District legal counsel Dylan Pauly pointed to two board policies that include provisions related to managing conflicts of interest among board members. One says board members should “avoid conflicts of […]
Laura Waters: Plenty, according to members of the “Save Camden High School” cadre, who have rebranded themselves under the New Jersey Communities United banner and are planning a confrontation tonight at the Camden Board of Education meeting. Instead of following Sheriff Wilson’s example of placing children’s academic needs on top, this group has decided a […]
CATO all Americans must confront three uncomfortable truths: These three challenges were either worsened or created by the growth and metastasis of an unwieldy federal government and its associated administrative state. The government tries to do too much, so it overspends and overregulates the private sector. The federal government tries to be all things to […]
Andy Pierrotti For the past 30 years, Georgia State University has run a program for experienced teachers to learn a curriculum called, Reading Recovery, which is intended to help children learn how to read. Reading Recovery is one-on-one instruction in the classroom for the lowest performing students in first grade struggling to read. School districts in Georgia […]
Quinton Klabon: ACT 20 READING UPDATE@wispolitics had this letter from Superintendent Underly to the Legislature. Good news: DPI recommended what ELCC did (HMH: ugh), no additions. Bad news: DPI says rulings say they decide curriculum, not JFC. News: DPI criticizes Act 20 funding conflict. —— Much more on the Wisconsin DPI’s ongoing rigor reduction campaign. […]
Wisconsin public policy, forum: The rise in gross levies this year is driven primarily by increases to K-12 property taxes — the largest local property tax most residents will pay. The $325 increase to per pupil revenue limits in the current state budget is one factor, but so was the willingness of many referendum voters […]
David Blaska: You are not a Dane County judgei n good standing if you have not ruled against Act 10, the statutory limitations on government employee collective bargaining. Bonus points if you supported the recall of Act 10’s author, Gov. Scott Walker. The latest judge to make his progressive bones here in Madison WI is […]
Abbey Machtig The union representing Madison School District teachers and staff is demanding to bargain with district officials following Monday’s court ruling that would restore collective bargaining rights for Wisconsin teachers and other public employees. “We have returned to a pre-Act 10 collective bargaining environment, and we are therefore entitled to collectively bargain over terms […]
Quinton Klabon: AAAAH! After much waiting, @urbaninstitute adjusted national 2022 NAEP test scores for state demographics. Wisconsin: 28th in reading, 13th in mathematics. top reading states: MA, FL, LA, MS, INtop mathematics states: TX, MS, MA, FL, IN, LA 2024 come out in January. —- *** No mention of the DPI’s ongoing rigor reduction efforts…. more. The data […]
Nathaniel Hansford, Scott A. Dueker, Kathryn Garforth, Jill D. Grande, Joshua King & Sky McGlynn: Reading Recovery(RR) is a constructivist reading intervention used to provide tier 3 instruction to struggling readers in the first grade. The program has been previously evaluated and found effective by Evidence for ESSA (John Hopkins University), What Works Clearing House […]
Kaylah Huynh: State Superintendent Jill Underly wants to put the responsibility of funding schools back on the state, she recently told the Cap Times in an interview. Underly, who leads the state Department of Public Instruction, is proposing over $4 billion in spending toward schools for the 2025-2027 state budget. The plans would reimburse 90% […]
Leila Fletcher and Sandy Flores Ruiz We are concerned that Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction seems less than committed to the reforms outlined in Act 20. It’s been over a year since Gov. Tony Evers signed Act 20, dubbed “the reading bill.” Act 20 looks to address our state’s dismal reading scores with science-based literacy […]
Dave Cieslewicz To quote a Wisconsin State Journal story on test scores that were released yesterday: “The four specific categories used to calculate the district’s overall achievement score all declined in comparison with last year’s school report card. Graduate rates fell slightly, while chronic absenteeism, or the percentage of students that miss at least 10% of school, […]
Quinton Klabon: 84% of schools are 3 stars or above and 93% of districts are. We need report cards that accurately judge schools based on our national performance. Report cards change again next year, so that is the perfect opportunity. ….. DPI suppressed insanity from lowering test score standards, though it led to some bizarre […]
Christopher Peak: For decades, schools all over the country taught reading based on a theory cognitive scientists had debunked by the 1990s. Despite research showing it made it harder for some kids to learn, the concept was widely accepted by most educators — until recent reporting by APM Reports. Now, state legislators and other policymakers are trying to change […]
By Keegan Kyle and Brandon Raygo Voters all across the communities and neighborhoods in the Madison Metropolitan School District widely supported the district’s two referendums this month that will raise property taxes for decades. (more) But in the affluent village of Maple Bluff, on the eastern shore of Lake Mendota, voters expressed more aversion to hiking taxes […]
Kayla Huynh: “If they don’t go to college, they should be able to walk right into a well-paid career. The No. 1 thing is to really work with these kids to help them find a career that they will enjoy,” McKenzie said. “These are all things that are directed at attacking the cycle of poverty.” […]
wire points Now look at the SAT results as reported by the state, and how much they are down since 2017. Property taxes up, up, up. Outcomes tragic. Zero accountability. Via @Wirepoints —— Bill Maher CALLS OUT Democrats: "You're the Teachers Union Education Party and you've turned schools and colleges into a joke." pic.twitter.com/5VGCHzDUVZ — […]
WILL School board elections have a big impact on the day-to-day lives of Wisconsin families. Yet they are decided in the least democratic elections. Today, WILL is releasing a new policy report with a proposal to solve this problem. Spring elections have an average turnout of 28% in the last decade, compared to Fall elections where […]
Helen Lewis: But now, at the age of 72, Calkins faces the destruction of everything she has worked for. A 2020 report by a nonprofit described Units of Study as “beautifully crafted” but “unlikely to lead to literacy success for all of America’s public schoolchildren.” The criticism became impossible to ignore two years later, when the American Public Media […]
Naomi Martin and Mandy McLaren: At school, she panics if she has to read aloud. She’s a conscientious student and keeps her grades up, but it isn’t easy; at times she has such trouble synthesizing the novels she reads in English class, she Googles plot summaries to remind herself of what happened. Even in math, word problems […]
Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education seats 3, 4, and 5 will be on the 2025 ballot. —- Our govt’s decision to remove all subject area requirementsfor teachers will make things worse. The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic” […]
Anna Stokke Imagine hiring a piano teacher who can’t play the piano or a swimming instructor who’s terrified of water. While it’s clear that these examples are absurd, the Manitoba government seems to have missed the obvious: teachers can’t teach what they don’t know. Last week, Manitoba quietly announced significant changes to teacher certification. Manitobans […]
Kyle Koenen: Jill Underly’s proposed DPI budget would eat up 65% of the state’s budget surplus, all while allowing property taxes to continue to go up. We fund students at approximately $20k per student on average. When is it enough? Abbey Machtig: State Superintendent Jill Underly is proposing more than $4 billion in new spending […]
NCTQ: NCTQ regularly convenes reading experts — researchers, teacher educators, and experienced elementary educators — to review both textbooks and educational resources, such as journal articles or instructional videos, used by teacher preparation programs in their required reading coursework. These experts examine how well each material aligns with scientifically based reading instruction, a science rooted […]
Grace Hagerman: What is the potential problem with focusing on the Science of Reading alone? Some educators say it places too much emphasis on a one-size-fits-all model of explicit, systematic, intensive phonics instruction for all students. Ground zero for the Science of Reading movement was an article by education reporter Emily Hanford for APM Reports.Published […]
Michael J. Petrilli and Devon Nir States across the country have enacted new private-school choice programs in recent years, inevitably raising questions about accountability for participating institutions. Though it is true—as our friends in the school choice movement argue—that choice itself is a form of accountability because of the agency it provides to parents and […]
Maggie Macintosh Among them, the province is no longer requiring teachers to specialize in an approved list of major or minor subject areas to get certified. The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic” My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on […]
Quinton Klabon: ACT 20 READING UPDATE • 440 schools ignored DPI about reading retraining progress. Below describes those who responded. • The large number may be due to teachers who previously completed a program or who chose a shorter retraining than LETRS. I welcome correction. The October, 2024 Wisconsin DPI Report (PDF): University of Wisconsin […]
Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner It should be considered one of Illinois’ most egregious failures. School officials announced last week that in 2024 the state graduated high school students at a record 88 percent rate, even though the same data release showed that nearly 70% of graduating students can’t read or do math proficiently. Take black students […]
Kayla Huynh: “We are spending more revenue than we have to spend,” Superintendent Joe Gothard said. “We have a lot of work to do. Regardless of the outcome next Tuesday, we have to have some strategic direction moving forward.” “We need to be sustainable. There’s no doubt about this,” he added. “It’s frustrating to have […]
Anjney Midha: One the saddest realizations for me when we were scaling the @midjourney server at @discord in ‘22 was seeing millions of US gen z kids struggle to prompt They literally don’t have the words. Broken english. Pidgin lingo. Translating thought to language is insanely hard for them Notes and links on the Fall $600,000,000+ […]
Corinne Hess: “The Governor and DPI will very likely show that the Governor validly partially vetoed Act 100 and that DPI is entitled to the $50 million in disputed literacy funding,” Kaul wrote to the Supreme Court. “Both issues are destined for this Court, and leaving them to the ordinary appellate process would significantly harm […]
Jonathan Chait: Notes and links on the Fall $600,000,000+ 2024 referendum, here. Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average K – 12 spending. The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic” My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous […]
AJ Manaseer: Notes and links on the Fall $600,000,000+ 2024 referendum, here. Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average K – 12 spending. The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic” My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous […]
Abbey Machtig: “We are spending more revenue than we have to spend, therefore we are going to be spending one-time (reserve) funds …” Gothard said Monday. “We have a lot of work to do. Regardless of the outcome next Tuesday, we have to have some strategic direction.” Notes and links on the Fall $600,000,000+ 2024 referendum, […]
Kayla Huynh: Nearly 95,000 people in Dane County received Social Security payments in 2022. In January this year, the estimated average monthly Social Security check was about $1,900. The annual property tax bill on the average Madison home costs over $7,000 for city- and school-related taxes, according to city and school district estimates. In a few years, depending […]
Alec Johnson: Over a year after the Wisconsin Legislature approved Act 20 and Gov. Tony Evers signed it into law, the state Department of Public Instruction is still waiting for the joint finance committee to release nearly $50 million it was promised as part of the new legislation intended to improve reading among state schoolchildren. […]
Holden Culotta Mike Rowe: “We’re dealing with alarming math … For every five tradespeople who retire this year, two will replace them.” “I got a call a few months ago from a company … building four nuclear-powered subs. They need to hire 100,000 tradespeople in the next nine years. This guy called me and said, […]
Quinton Klabon: The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic” My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results 2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results Madison’s taxpayer […]
Abbey Machtig: Student/adult ratio for the school construction projects included in the referendum: Orchard Ridge 3.92 Toki Middle School: 4.84 Gompers Elementary: 4.56 Black Hawk Middle: 4.24 Anana Elementary: 4.5 Crestwood elementary: 4.78 Sherman Middle: 4.0 Shabazz City High: 4.0 Cherokee Middle: 4.96 Sennett Middle: 4.64 Notes and links on the Fall 2024 referendum, here. […]
Dave Cieslewicz: And, of course, all of the underlying reasons to send the school board a message about their priorities and their performance are still very much there. This is a district with some of the lowest test scores and some of the highest absenteeism rates in the state, a district where the racial achievement […]
Dave Cieslewicz: This morning it’s grades. They’re getting rid of them. No more letters, only “advanced,” “proficient,” “developing,” and “emerging.” Only four categories — apparently no one will fail. Actually, this is nothing new. MMSD has had this system for elementary and middle schoolers for a while and it was being “piloted” (read: phased in) at East […]
Will Flanders: Madison Percent teaching staff: 50.61% Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases via referendum this fall. Madison taxpayers of long supported far above average K – 12 spending. The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you […]
Kayla Huynh Madison children and teens are becoming increasingly involved in activities outside of class, according to a recent report on hundreds of clubs and athletics programs run by the public school district. Nearly 60% of middle and high school students participated last school year in at least one co-curricular activity sponsored by the Madison […]
Kelly Meyerhofer: Student loans and controversial debt forgiveness programs also an Education Department responsibility Managing federal student loans also falls under the department’s oversight. Under the Biden administration, the department has canceled more than $160 billion in student loans for 4.7 million borrowers, largely by adjusting the rules of existing programs. The department also issues regulations about […]
Deanna Pan and Emma Platoff On one side are Congressional Democrats, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is up for reelection this November and supports Question 2, the teachers union-backed measure to repeal the state mandate requiring students to pass their 10th grade MCAS exams. Democratic Governor Maura Healey sits squarely in opposition — along with Lieutenant Governor […]
Judith Davidoff & Liam Beran: Soglin opened the news conference at the Park Hotel noting that the room contained an array of “unconnected” folks who are “connected by their concern for the city.” Audience members included former Alds. Nino Amato, Dave Ahrens and Dorothy Borchardt; Lisa Veldran, who led the city council office for 30 […]
Abbey Machtig: Schaefer said launching the pilot program is part of a yearslong effort to have all Madison schools use a consistent grading system. Elementary and middle schools have been using standards-based grading for several years. Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases via referendum this fall. […]
Abbey Machtig: This school year, the district will get about $61.3 million from the state, according to DPI’s final calculations. Last school year, Madison schools received about $37.9 million. Any increase in state aid typically lessens the burden on local property taxpayers. In Wisconsin’s complex school finance system, the two factors are directly related: When […]
Notes and links on the Foundation for Madison Public Schools. Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases via referendum this fall. Madison taxpayers of long supported far above average K – 12 spending. The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, […]
Will Flanders: A typical Wisconsin school district now gets more than $17,900 per student. In a class of 20 kids, that’s $358,000 of taxpayer money. If a district can’t “keep the lights on” for that, it’s more than just MPS who’s cooking the books. More. Scott Manley: We spend more per kid than the tuition […]
Kayla Huynh Less is clear with the district’s plans for the $100 million referendum, which would fund day-to-day operating costs, such as salaries and programs. Approving this referendum alone would hike property taxes on the average home by over $300 in the first year, the district estimates. By 2028, the operations referendum would permanently raise the […]
Wisconsin State Journal: But taxpayers deserve a more detailed accounting of how the extra $100 million would be spent. The district has been increasing staff despite flat enrollment and a projection for declining enrollment. Moreover, it already has a higher concentration of teachers and staff — one employee for every 6.4 students — than surrounding […]
Dave Cieslewicz And the racial achievement gap in Madison was far worse than the rest of the state. Statewide the gaps were 43% for English and 50% for math. About 60% of white students were proficient in English compared to 17% of Black students. About 64% of white students were proficient or better in math […]
David Wakelyn: A lot of California policymakers journeyed to Finland to see what was in their special sauce when they scored well on PISA a few years ago. Mississippi’s growth has been more durable. We have a lot to learn if we bring an open mind. Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are […]
r/teachers: What’s mind-boggling is that students DON’T EVEN TRY. At this, I also don’t care– I don’t get paid that great– but it still saddens me. Students used to be determined and the standard of learning used to be much higher. I’m sorry if you were punished for keeping your standards high. None of this […]
Matthew Wielicki: The first step in fixing our public schools… is getting rid of the administrative class. “so the point is it was an existence proof, that there’s this entire universe of alternative cost structures that is out there” Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases […]
Nadia Scharf: The Unified School District of De Pere is under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction after board member Melissa Niffenegger accused the district’s reading curriculum and its director of curriculum and instruction, Kathy Van Pay, of violating Wisconsin law. “That is retaliation. You are retaliating against the board for disagreeing with […]
John Johnson: It is galling to hear a politician justify deliberately making test scores incomparable to previous years as a way to reduce “confusion.” More: Questions we will asking: Why changes were made? Why move to lower standards ? (Even @GovEvers disagrees with this) Why make it impossible to track data from previous years? And […]
David Blaska: The canary in the coal mine has already died when a city’s schools are in decay. So we must double down on school choice, aided by vouchers that allow the state’s school district contribution to follow the student to the school of his/her family’s choice. Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government […]
Will Flanders: Perhaps most egregious are the changes in districts where everyone knows that schools are failing kids. Milwaukee’s proficiency still looks low at 23.4% in ELA. But now they can tout that it’s gone up 8% in one year. Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending […]
Kayla Huynh: The raises require the school district to dip into its day-to-day operating budget, even though Solder warned the board “we do not have clearly sufficient ongoing revenues” to pay for the recurring expense. Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases via referendum this fall. Madison […]
Kayla Huynh: Two principals have been removed from their positions at Southside Elementary School, according to an email sent Monday to families by Madison schools Superintendent Joe Gothard. In the email obtained by the Cap Times, Gothard says Principal Candace Terrell and Assistant Principal Annabel Torres are not serving at the school “until further notice.” […]
Quinton Klabon: State test scores, out tomorrow, are inflated, biased, and unreliable. DPI knew achievement gaps for Black, low-income, and special-needs students would grow. Superintendent Underly criticized “nonsense going on with literacy” while Act 20 negotiations occurred. And So, why lower them? Because they were killing the vibes. Superintendent Underly wanted them changed in JANUARY […]
Abbey Machtig: But the nationwide search for a new leader that ended with Gothard’s hiring wasn’t an inexpensive endeavor: The district spent more than $100,000 on contracts with consulting groups, catering, hotels and travel during the search, according to records provided to the Wisconsin State Journal via an open records request. This is on top […]
Corrinne Hess: But over three decades, the number of district buildings decreased by only 3.9 percent, despite a 29.1 percent drop over that period in MPS’ full-time enrollment, the policy forum found. “The overall trend suggests that the current number of publicly supported school buildings in the city may not be sustainable over the next […]
OECD Education: How much should countries spend on education? More expenditure per student typically correlates with improved outcomes… …but only up to a point, after which additional investment shows little impact on performance. Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases via referendum this fall. Madison taxpayers of long […]
Abbey Machtig: Of those 13 successful referendums, Madison residents still are paying for five of them. If voters approve two proposals from the district in November that together total $607 million, that number would jump to seven. Voters already have authorized the district to increase its spending limit by $72 millionthrough recurring, operating referendums approved during […]
David Blaska: ——- Much more on Paul Vallas. The taxpayer funded Madison School Board aborted the proposed Madison Preparatory Academy IB charter school in 2011… Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases via referendum this fall. Madison taxpayers of long supported far above average K – 12 spending. The data clearly indicate […]
Dave Cieslewicz The district used temporary COVID relief funds to pay for 110 permanent positions that they knew they couldn’t afford once the federal money went away. Now, they’re asking voters to pick up the tab. And if they don’t, will they cut the positions? No, they’ll pay for them out of reserves (see above). […]
Abbey Machtig: John McKenzie told the Wisconsin State Journal last week the charter school would go beyond just the skilled trades. He said internship and work-study programs would extend to the airline industry, health care, banking, information technology and more. No employers have committed to offering internship opportunities yet, however, McKenzie said, adding it is […]
Jessika Harkay: When 19-year-old Aleysha Ortiz told Hartford City Council members in May that the public school system stole her education, she had to memorize her speech. Ortiz, who was a senior at Hartford Public High School at the time, wrote the speech using the talk-to-text function on her phone. She listened to it repeatedly […]
Abbey Machtig: More referendum money would pay for an estimated $15 million increase in health care costs, and for new teaching and mental health staff. An additional pay increase for district employees also is tied to the operating referendum. The district and Madison Teachers Inc. already agreed to a 2.06% wage increase, in addition to […]
Kayla Huynh Among the changes are lower scoring standards for each performance level and different labels categorizing students. In an interview with CBS 58, state Superintendent Jill Underly said students “appeared to be doing worse than they really were” under the previous system. Madison Metropolitan School District leaders this month offered the School Board a sneak […]
Linda Jacobson: Changing standards and proficiency targets is a routine process for states that some say offers a more accurate reflection of what students know. But given the cataclysmic effects of COVID on student learning, experts say now is not the time to tweak how we measure performance. “Many parents are already underestimating the degree to which […]
Dave Cieslewicz: And, again, on that score school districts like Madison, which obsess over race, have made zero progress in closing the racial achievement gap. Why do liberals cling so tightly to a system that delivers no results? A color blind society was once, not so long ago, the liberal position on the matter. But […]
Abbey Machtig: Plus, the combined tax impact of the city’s operational referendum and the two measures from the School District means will likely have to increase monthly rent for tenants living in his rental property. “This will mean about $1,500 a year, best-case scenario, which means rent for everybody will go up at least 150 bucks a […]
Dave Cieslewicz: This week there’s more. It turns out that the district is running a $3 million deficit in its food service program, which is double the $1.5 million gap it had last year. And the district’s response? They’ve got a plan to get back to even — by 2033. Really? This is an organization that plans […]