Wall Street Journal: The union also wants reparations for black students to remedy alleged historic injustices. How about instead remedying the enormous learning deficits the union has caused by protecting bad teachers and closing schools during the pandemic? Perhaps the district could extend the school year, or, better yet, provide families with private school vouchers? … Continue reading Oakland Teachers Strike for Climate Justice →

WILL Political Contributions of Wisconsin Teachers and Education Reform “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 requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you … Continue reading 94% of teacher donations went to Democratic candidates or organizations →

Laurel White: Remote learning during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was more likely to negatively affect the high school graduation rates of students from lower-income households than their higher-income peers, according to a new UW–Madison study.  The study, published in Educational Researcher, found a longer time in virtual or hybrid learning environments during the … Continue reading New UW–Madison study finds remote learning caused lower high school completion rates for lower-income students →

Scott Girard; The encouragement comes as the union and the Madison Metropolitan School District disagree over a proposed wage increase in next year’s budget, among other items. Hundreds of MTI members and supporters showed up to the April School Board meeting, where the 2023-24 budget proposal was made public, to demand an 8% increase in base wages and … Continue reading Notes on Madison tax and spending priorities →

Scott Girard: The work at La Follette, led by Findorff Project Engineer Courtney Cates, features a new gym, weight room and “athletics entry” space that includes concessions and a trophy case. That entry area will also feature pieces of the wood floor from the current spectator gym, which will be turned into classroom space, and … Continue reading Notes on Madison Lafollette’s recent taxpayer-funded referendum facility improvements →

Kimberly Wethal: Higher rates of chronic absenteeism are largely driving the increase, as about 98% of the district’s 2,231 at-risk students have been deemed “habitually truant,” defined as missing more than 10% of days in an academic year. The number of students considered habitually truant during the 2021-22 school year more than tripled from the … Continue reading “About one out of every seven Madison School District middle and high school students is considered at risk of not graduating from high school” →

Ari Kauffman: In the 23 City Schools of Baltimore, zero students are proficient in grade-level math. The Baltimore Teachers Union, unsurprisingly, is among the nation’s most influential and a top AFT ally. They partner in hurting children. Weingarten and her totalitarians love to talk about supposed “racism,”; but if her union cared about black Americans’ … Continue reading AFT, Randi Weingarten and student outcomes →

📖HUGE Wisconsin reading update📖 A bill’s coming that will do bold, Mississippi-style reforms to save Wisconsin’s kids! But some pieces aren’t funded, colleges have no compliance consequences, and low-scoring 3rd graders can pass. Do you think that it’ll work? Videos below! pic.twitter.com/gmJtmNsoHK — Quinton Klabon (@GhaleonQ) April 25, 2023 “Well, it’s kind of too bad … Continue reading An update on Wisconsin’s long term, disastrous reading results: 2023 state budget plans →

👎🏼why Wisconsin’s kids can’t read👎🏼 I’m incredibly disappointed to see Kenosha @kusd, Wisconsin’s 3rd-largest district, explicitly push back against @ehanford‘s SOLD A STORY podcast and mainstream news’ attention to PHONICS. (Kenosha ranks 403rd on 2022 Wisconsin report cards.) pic.twitter.com/Ln52kLcsrV — Quinton Klabon (@GhaleonQ) April 24, 2023 Reading proficiency of Wisconsin students has been generally stagnant for … Continue reading Notes on Wisconsin’s long term, disastrous reading results – Kenosha Edition →

DRAKE BENTLEY: In her letter, Underly stated, “Whether you realize it or not, you are, under the guise of protection, causing undue harm to students and staff. However, this damage is reversible. It is paramount that you change course now.” Underly requested that the administration reverse the policy to “foster inclusive environments,” saying the controversial … Continue reading Wisconsin DPI Superintendent’s priorities: Waukesha School District Letter →

Dave Zweifel: Although you might never know it by last week’s meeting of the Madison School Board, school districts are very much included in the law that requires government — which belongs to and is paid for by the public after all — needs to be transparent in all that it does. There is no room for … Continue reading Commentary on the taxpayer funded Madison school district’s non open records practices →

Sarah Mervosh: About one in three children in the United States cannot read at a basic level of comprehension, according to a key national exam. The outcomes are particularly troubling for Black and Native American children, nearly half of whom score “below basic” by eighth grade. “The kids can’t read — nobody wants to just … Continue reading ‘Kids Can’t Read’: The Revolt That Is Taking On the Education Establishment →

Scott Girard: Two months after announcing his retirement, outgoing Madison Superintendent Carlton Jenkins has been named a finalist for the top job in a Tennessee school district. Chalkbeat Tennessee, an education news website, reported Saturday that Jenkins is among three finalists to be the next Memphis-Shelby County Schools superintendent. The School Board there, however, was … Continue reading Madison School District Superintendent Jenkins a finalist for Tennessee district superintendent job →

Scott Girard The public records request came from NBC15 reporter Elizabeth Wadas, who requested all emails from Dec. 19, 2021, through Dec. 19, 2022, that contained her name or references to an NBC15 reporter. The district released hundreds of records related to the request, but per open records law notified LeMonds that the complaint would be … Continue reading Open records (meetings, too) and the taxpayer funded Madison School District, redux →

Anna Nawaz: “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 requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic” My Question to Wisconsin … Continue reading Study shows parents overestimate their student’s academic progress →

Jenny Peek: The hope is that the new curriculum will improve dismal reading scores across the district. According to the 2021-2022 State Report Card, prepared by the Department of Instruction, only 39.5% of K-12 students in Madison schools were proficient or advanced in reading that school year. The district’s Black students fare worse. In 2021-2022 … Continue reading After years of declining literacy scores, Madison schools move forward with new reading curriculum →

Olivia Herken: Moore said there is a growing desire among parents and students for private high schools, but not enough options in the area, specifically for Impact’s younger students on the West Side of the Madison metropolitan area. In addition to Impact Christian’s high school options, other private high schools in the area include Edgewood … Continue reading A new, private high school planned for Madison →

Scott Girard: Badri Lankella wants to serve his community. Right now, the computer engineer working with the state Department of Natural Resources believes the best way he can do that is running for Seat 6 on the Madison School Board. “Every issue, I look at the details,” Lankella said. “I’m going to talk to everyone. … Continue reading Merit and the 2023 Madison School Board election →

Olivia Herken: “A lot has changed since September of 2021,” Stampfli told the Madison School Board at a work group meeting Monday. The original mandate requires staff to have the primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is either the first two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or the single dose of the Johnson … Continue reading Madison School District looks to end staff COVID-19 vaccine mandate →

Scott Girard: “The Joint Committee on Finance does not need to bring in Dr. Underly to hear more empty promises about how DPI wants to better serve our kids,” Born said. “Republicans are gathering feedback from families and local school district officials across the state and will craft a budget that supports our kids and … Continue reading Commentary on Cost Disease and K-12 outcomes: Wisconsin DPI edition →

Scott Girard: Option A would use a curriculum developed by Savvas for both English language arts and Spanish and dual literacy programs at a cost of $1.17 million. Option B would use Open Up for English and Savvas for Spanish and dual literacy programs for $2.1 million. Whichever is selected, the district will use one-time … Continue reading Million$ more for Madison’s reading programs: Middle school edition →

Mark Seidenberg: My heart sank. Why would a person need to ask this? The goal of teaching children to read is reading, not phonemic awareness. We know that learning to read does not require being able to identify 44 phonemes or demonstrate proficiency on phoneme deletion and substitution tasks because until very recently no one who learned … Continue reading About the science in “The Science of Reading” →

Akan Borsuk: Reading instruction, on the other hand, “is one thing we can do well. … We could do a lot better in the classroom,” Seidenberg said. The education establishment, he said, has been resistant to the notion that science around how letters on a page become understood in a child’s brain can help teachers. … Continue reading “Only 37% (of Wisconsin Students) were rated as “proficient” or “advanced.”” →

Elizabeth Wadas: The Madison Metropolitan School District is being sued by one of its own. MMSD Head of Communications Tim LeMonds does not want two documents from an NBC15 Investigates’ open records request released – and he is taking his bosses to court to stop it. On Friday, LeMonds filed a preliminary injunction motion against … Continue reading Taxpayer Supported Madison School District PR Employee Sues to Stop Open Records Disclosure →

Rory Linnane: The political action committee of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, the union for MPS staff, first gave about $11,000 directly to candidates’ campaigns in January: $5,000 to Zombor, and nearly $1,500 each to Hart, Herndon, O’Halloran and Siemsen. In March, the group spent another $41,422 on postcards and digital ads for Zombor, $22,000 … Continue reading Following losses in the last school board election, Milwaukee’s teachers union has paid big this season to support its favored candidates, reporting spending over $88,000 since January. →

Jill Barshay: A troubling post-pandemic pattern is emerging across the nation’s schools: test scores and attendance are down, yet more students are earning high school diplomas. A new report from Washington, D.C., suggests bleak futures for many of these high school graduates, given the declining rate of college attendance and completion. The numbers are stark … Continue reading One city hits a high school graduation record but few ninth graders are predicted to end up with a college degree
Experts worry that Washington, D.C. trends are playing out across the nation →

California Reading Report Card: As in the 2019 Report Card, funding and share of high-need students had very little correlation with results. There are top performing districts with over 90% high-need enrollment, and low performing districts with less than 40%. The clear message is that it is not the students themselves, or the level of … Continue reading “the primary drivers are district focus on reading, management practices, and curriculum and instruction choices” →

David Blaska: One of the candidates will help choose a new superintendent. Pray God it is not another terminally Woke clone of Jennifer Cheatham!Which it will be if Feltham is elected. She’s the one who says “Our schools are products of white supremacy.” Of course, she is endorsed by the teachers union and the Defund the Cops Capital Times. … Continue reading “The MS (Madison) grading scale converts all failing students to a grade of D” →

Alex Zimmerman: New York City education officials plan to take a stronger hand in what curriculums educators can use in their classrooms, a move that could represent a major shift in how the nation’s largest school system approaches teaching and learning, Chalkbeat has learned. The education department recently began laying the groundwork for superintendents to … Continue reading NYC to mandate reading curriculum for elementary schools and high school algebra, sources say →

Lolita Baldor: Holiday is an early beneficiary of the new program, which gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards. In place for only eight months, it is already making a significant difference for both the Army and those who want to serve in it. … Continue reading “She’d taken the academic test and failed three times” →

David Blaska: Surveys revealed a terrifying situation throughout Madison’s school district brought on by an overly permissive environment. Students complained of “too many fights,” and feeling “unsafe in hallways, common areas, bathrooms and buses.” Bullying has become a major problem. It was mentioned 450 times in the survey responses. Students attribute these problems to an environment with “no … Continue reading Notes on violence in Madison’s taxpayer supported schools →

If you’re still thinking about who to vote for in the Madison School Board election, @ssfp_news had me, @oherken and @telldylan join its students to ask the candidates some questions in a forum last Thursday evening. Watch it here: https://t.co/jgbiL3X989 — Scott Girard (@sgirard9) March 27, 2023 “Well, it’s kind of too bad that we’ve … Continue reading 2023 Madison School Board candidates →

Olivia Herken: LeMonds declined to comment on the matter when reached by the Wisconsin State Journal. Releasing the complaint that staff filed would harm LeMonds and the school district because he is the district’s spokesperson, LeMonds’ complaint says, arguing that the potential harm outweighs the public benefit of the document’s release. “Releasing the subject documents … Continue reading Taxpayer supported Madison school District and open records, continued… →

Scott Girard: Madison students found a soapbox Thursday and used it to share the biggest challenges their generation faces. Ninety middle and high school students attended the Project Soapbox event at the Overture Center, giving speeches that responded to the prompt, “What is the most pressing issue facing young people today and what should be … Continue reading Madison k-12 students express their top issues…. (Achievement, Reading?) →

Tom Knighton: Take admission standards at prestigious prep schools. One such school decided they needed more black students, so rather than look at how they could help more black students meet the existing standard, they opted to just lower it. And one black parent is kind of pissed about it. A parent spoke out against school district … Continue reading The tyranny of low expectations, continued →

Olivia Herken A candidate for the Madison School Board on Tuesday said schools are the product of “white supremacy” and accused her opponent of favoring competition in the classroom — a characterization her opponent embraced. “Our schools are products of white supremacy,” said Blair Mosner Feltham, an equitable multi-level system of supports site coordinator at … Continue reading “competitiveness and “white supremacy”; Taxpayer supported Madison School District →

Quinton Klabon: The coronavirus pandemic was a 2-year catastrophe for children. Students suffered through virtual schooling, quarantined teachers, and emotional misery. Academic results, the lowest this century, still have not recovered. After sending $860 million to help Wisconsin public schools manage through spring 2021, Congress sent a final $1.49 billion to get students back on track. The goal? Do … Continue reading $1.49B in additional federal taxpayer & for Wisconsin K-12. Where did it go? →

Scott Girard: The candidates on hand will include the two running for Seat 6 — former school district educator Blair Feltham and former Madison City Council candidate Badri Lankella — as well as Seat 7 incumbent Nicki Vander Meulen, who is running unopposed. The current representative for Seat 6, Christina Gomez Schmidt, is not running … Continue reading Madison school board forum tonight →

Scott Girard: This month, the Madison School Board offered four opportunities for the community to share what’s going well — and what’s not — in the district. Events at each of the four large high schools showed what is on the minds of parents, staff and students, including how concerns differ from building to building. … Continue reading Taxpayer supported Madison school board community meetings →

Brian Lopez The move is in response to years of poor academic outcomes at a single campus in the district, Phillis Wheatley High School, and allegations of misconduct from school board members. TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said state law requires his agency to either close that campus or appoint a new board to oversee the … Continue reading Texas Education Agency will take control of Houston ISD in June →

Olivia Herken: Memorial’s new music wing is among several projects made possible in November 2020, when voters in the Madison School District approved a $317 million capital referendum to build a new elementary school and fund significant high-school renovations. Construction started around the district in 2022, and now all those plans are yielding real, tangible changes. All … Continue reading Notes on taxpayer funded building expansion amidst enrollment declines in Madison; academics? →

By LaTonya Goffney, Sonja Santelises and Iranetta Wright: America is finally acknowledging a harsh truth: The way many schools teach children to read doesn’t work. Educators, and indeed families, are having a long overdue conversation about how one of the nation’s most widely used curricula, “Units of Study,” is deeply flawed — and where to … Continue reading “deeply flawed” reading curricula →

Scott Girard: The debate also featured discussions about how high-density developments affect Madison Metropolitan School District’s student population and whether it is time to bring police back into schools. Reyes said there is concern among some residents that large housing developments taking place all over the city are pricing some families out of areas and … Continue reading Madison mayor election and the taxpayer supported k-12 schools →

Matthew Yglesias I keep trying to write an article about the strange death of the education reform movement and the extent to which many of the contemporary woke wars emerged from these once-intense, now-forgotten battlegrounds. Every time I sit down to write it, though, the column spirals out of control. But this is my newsletter … Continue reading Notes on the state of “education reform” →

Dean Mosiman: Reyes, who said she’d seek five recommendations from Finance Department staff to address coming shortfalls, sees a different landscape. “I feel right now we are on the Titanic and we’re about to hit the iceberg,” she said. “We need a strong leader who’s going to be able to make some tough decisions.” How’d … Continue reading K-12 tax & spending climate: Madison Projections show that “annual deficits could reach between $20 million and $30 million.” →

Kadjata Bah, age 18 new documentary film called The Right to Readadds to growing national debates about literacy and the science of reading. This timely and compelling film is streaming for free until March 9, 2023. Directed by Jenny Mackenzie and produced by LeVar Burton, the film follows a long-time activist, a teacher, and two families … Continue reading Film Review: Review: The Right to Read →

About 25 to 27 minutes into the program. Jeff Mayers: “You want a big hunk of the surplus to go to K-12, you’ve already talked about that along with the state school Superintendent. I want to focus a bit on the reading program. Last session you vetoed a bi-partisan bill to boost reading scores. This … Continue reading Wisconsin Governor Evers Comments on our Long Term, Disastrous Reading Results →

Scott Girard: An effort that began in summer 2021 to gauge the Madison Metropolitan School District’s equity work found that students, parents and staff are aware of some district efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion but want more involvement and more communication with district administration. The district partnered with Jerlando Jackson, now the dean of the College … Continue reading DIE and the taxpayer supported Madison School District →

Bianca Vasquez Toness “I’m sad and disappointed,” Joseph said through an interpreter. “It’s only because I was assigned an educational advocate that I know this about my son.” It’s widely known from test scores that the pandemic set back students across the country. But many parents don’t realize that includes their own child. Schools have long faced … Continue reading “But Joseph, a Haitian immigrant raising him by herself, did not know how far behind he was in reading — in the 30th percentile” →

Transcript: $pending, K-12 Governance, Ed Schools and Reading Outcomes [00:00:00] Senator Duey Stroebel: Actually looking at, uh, US census data, all funds, all sources. Um, Wisconsin’s at about $13,000 and Mississippi is about $9,200. So there’s significant that’s per the US census data, all funds, all sources. So pretty clear there. I think it’s, uh, … Continue reading 3 Minutes: $pending, ED Schools & Reading Outcomes →

Scott Girard: Wisconsin requires 437 hours of direct instruction to kindergartners, at least 1,050 hours of direct instruction in grades one through six, and at least 1,137 hours of direct instruction in grades seven through 12. In a message to families about the most recent change, Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Cindy Green wrote … Continue reading “is work completed without a teacher necessarily present, unlike “synchronous” instruction that features a live lesson” →

Video mp3 Audio Transcript Additional testimony: Kymyona Burk Instructional Coach Kyle Thayse DPI 3 Minute Summary by Senator Duey Stroebel 2021’s AB446 was mentioned. 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 … Continue reading Wisconsin Education Committee Hearing March 2, 2023: Mark Seidenberg’s Talk, and Q&A →

Scott Girard: But the 187 pages still feature plenty of suggestions for MMSD to improve how it works with students with disabilities, with some staff reporting pressure to pass students no matter what, criticism of the usefulness of district guidance and data highlighting the longstanding disparities for students by race and special education status. Its … Continue reading Special Education and the taxpayer supported Madison School District →

Abby White: When director Jenny Mackenzie began working on her latest documentary, The Right to Read, it was a story focused on kindergarten readiness and pre-literacy. But once she met Kareem Weaver, a former educator and member of the Oakland NAACP Education Committee, the documentary’s game-changing story clicked into place.  And it’s an angle that doubles as … Continue reading LeVar Burton, ‘The Right to Read’ Director Jenny Mackenzie on the Underbelly of the American Literacy Crisis →

WILL: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment in Wisconsin schools has dropped by more than 3%, with some districts suffering even greater declines. But an antiquated school funding system means that Wisconsin taxpayers are still paying for students that are no longer in the system. Wisconsin uses what is known as the “Three-Year … Continue reading Statewide, Wisconsin funds more than 20,000 “ghost students,” children outside of the school system who are still counted as being enrolled. →

WILL: WILL has learned that DPI goes beyond these requirements in evaluating new school applications. Even if schools submit accurate and sufficient information according to our state law, if they do not comply in precisely the manner that DPI requires, their applications are often denied. WILL sees no justification for the practice of DPI exceeding … Continue reading Taxpayer supported Wisconsin Administration anti school choice red tape →

Kaleem Caire, via email: February 28, 2023 Dear One City Parents, This is an important time for One City Schools and for education across the state of Wisconsin. Over the next several months our legislature and governor will be engaging with one another and individuals and organizations from across the state to inform what will … Continue reading Compare Legacy Taxpayer Supported Madison K-12 Spending with the One City Startup →

Lucas Robinson: The Madison School Board unanimously voted Monday night to rename Jefferson Middle School after 19th-century Black voting rights activist Ezekiel Gillespie. A survey of about half of the school’s students showed a preference to replace President Thomas Jefferson’s name with writer Maya Angelou, the other finalist whittled down by an ad hoc committee … Continue reading Renaming Madison’s Jefferson Middle school after Ezekiel Gillespie →

Nate Joseph: Over the years, I have on numerous occasions seen the claim that 95% of students can learn how to read proficiently, so long as they are provided adequate tier 1/2 instruction. Truthfully, it has always stuck out to me as a strange figure, for three reasons. First, most academic research does not typically … Continue reading Can 95% of Children Learn to Read? →

Nathan Heller She was one of several teachers who described an orientation toward the present, to the extent that many students lost their bearings in the past. “The last time I taught ‘The Scarlet Letter,’ I discovered that my students were really struggling to understand the sentences as sentences—like, having trouble identifying the subject and … Continue reading Enrollment in the humanities is in free fall at colleges around the country. What happened? →

Scott Girard: By Monday night, Thomas Jefferson Middle School could have a new name. The Madison School Board will hold its regular monthly meeting beginning at 6 p.m. Monday with a vote on renaming the school on its agenda — 364 days after the process began with then-principal Sue Abplanalp making a renaming request to the … Continue reading Madison’s taxpayer supported k-12 Governance Priorities →

Emma Camp: One California high school has eliminated honors classes for ninth- and 10th-grade students. While school officials claim that the change was necessary to increase “equity,” the move has angered students and parents alike. “We really feel equity means offering opportunities to students of diverse backgrounds, not taking away opportunities for advanced education and … Continue reading “I was born in Cuba, and it doesn’t sound good when people are trying to achieve equal outcomes for everyone,” said one parent. →

Emma Camp: One California high school has eliminated honors classes for ninth- and 10th-grade students. While school officials claim that the change was necessary to increase “equity,” the move has angered students and parents alike. “We really feel equity means offering opportunities to students of diverse backgrounds, not taking away opportunities for advanced education and … Continue reading “I was born in Cuba, and it doesn’t sound good when people are trying to achieve equal outcomes for everyone,” said one parent. →

Wisconsin Senate (and Assembly) Committee on Education: Department of Public Instruction Laura Adams -Policy Initiatives Advisor for the State Superintendent Duy Nguyen – Assistant Superintendent for the Division of Academic Excellence Tom McCarthy – Executive Director for the Office of the State Superintendent ExcelinEd Dr. Kymyona Burk – Senior Policy Fellow University of Wisconsin–Madison Mark … Continue reading Informational hearing on the subject of reading in Wisconsin schools March 2, 2023 →

Scott Girard: One of the key arguments during the debate over standalone honors courses for ninth- and 10th-graders earlier this school year was the lack of diversity in those classrooms. What did those classrooms look like in the first semester of the 2022-23 school year? Similar to how they’ve looked in each of the preceding four years, … Continue reading How diverse are Madison’s standalone honors classrooms? →

Scott Girard: One of the key arguments during the debate over standalone honors courses for ninth- and 10th-graders earlier this school year was the lack of diversity in those classrooms. What did those classrooms look like in the first semester of the 2022-23 school year? Similar to how they’ve looked in each of the preceding four years, … Continue reading How diverse are Madison’s standalone honors classrooms? →

Thompson Center Summit on Early Literacy Event Archive: Over one third of Wisconsin students are unable to read at grade level and our state’s Black children have the lowest reading scores in the nation. Reading below grade level brings both short term and long term challenges, from a lower chance of graduating high school to … Continue reading Thompson Center Summit on Early Literacy Event Archive →

Laura Hancock: His budget proposal contains $162 million over the next two years to get the science of reading instructional approach into all of Ohio’s public schools. At the same time, Ohio State University has been an epicenter of the approach to reading instruction that DeWine wants to get away from – known as “balanced … Continue reading Gov. Mike DeWine enters the ‘reading wars’ with budget proposal to fund change to ‘science of reading’ →

Walker [17-19] Last Biennial Budget: $76 billion Evers[19-21] First Biennial Budget: $87.5 billion Evers [23-25] Proposed Biennial Budget: $103.8 billion Will you get $27.8 BILLION more value from govt? Sell underused properties, consolidate overlapping agencies. $0 INCREASE! pic.twitter.com/DNXG1aSozd — Will Martin, Business Owner & Govt Reformer (@willmartinWI) February 20, 2023 WILL budget primer: Massive Spending … Continue reading Budget Season: Notes on Wisconsin’s Substantial Tax & Spending growth →

Daniela Jaime: After having to fight for his first win last year, Blessed Sacrament seventh-grader Aiden Wijeyakulasuriya swiftly defended his All-City Spelling Bee title the second time around, pushing past his fellow top-three finishers in less than 10 minutes Saturday. The awards presentation at the All-City Spelling Bee on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. The 12-year-old … Continue reading Blessed Sacrament’s Aiden Wijeyakulasuriya defends Madison All-City Spelling Bee title →

When you see “school district could shut it’s doors” headlines, be sure to google per pupil funding levels. You won’t learn this from the article. Then google the local budgets of your high achieving choice school. https://t.co/gATUrXRFVU pic.twitter.com/snXeikpsGK — Dan Lennington (@DanLennington) February 19, 2023 The article. Note that spending increases annually, with Madison taxpayers supporting at … Continue reading Notes on legacy media, school district spending and current events →

By Jack Kelly, Scott Girard and Jessie Opoien: Evers’ budget will include a per pupil revenue limit increase of $350 next fiscal year, which begins July 1, and an additional per pupil bump of $650 in the second year of the biennium. The governor’s office said the increases would represent the largest per pupil adjustments … Continue reading Wisconsin Governor Evers proposes a 17% jump in taxpayer funded k-12 spending →

The Free Press: Many parents saw America’s public education system crumble under the weight of the pandemic. Stringent policies—including school closures that went on far too long, and ineffective Zoom school for kindergarteners—had devastating effects that we are only just beginning to understand. But, as with so many problems during the pandemic, COVID didn’t necessarily causethese … Continue reading Why 65 Percent of Fourth Graders Can’t Really Read →

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 supported K-12 … Continue reading Fewer Black Children are literate in the United States in 2023 than were literate when slavery ended in 1865 →

Scott Girard: “Most teachers are still learning how to teach reading from the commercial materials that they’re being supplied,” he said. “These materials are defective. What teachers have traditionally learned from them is poor practices. “What’s the effect? Some kids are going to learn to read anyway, but for a lot of children it makes … Continue reading Notes on a recent Madison Early Literacy Summit →

David Blaska: Blaska’s Bottom Line: Used to be that some fairly accomplished individuals sought to serve in public office. Think of Mary Burke, former executive with the Trek bicycle company, and James Howard, an economist with the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory, not that long ago. On the other hand, they hired Jennifer Cheatham! More. Scott … Continue reading Notes on Madison’s K-12 Governance Climate →

Dave cieslewicz: Anybody who serves as Madison Schools Superintendent deserves our thanks. I’ve always thought that it’s the toughest job in Madison, even tougher than being mayor.  Yesterday Carlton Jenkins announced his retirement effective at the end of July, after only three years on the job. Let’s thank him for his service and wish him … Continue reading Madison is “Moving On From Jenkins” →

I requested copies of the contracts related to Madison’s latest reading program on May 19, 2022. Curiously, I just received a response to this simple request yesterday – after numerous email and phone followup attempts. The April, 2022 Madison School Board presentation on the latest reading program – an effort to address our long term, … Continue reading 2022 Taxpayer Funded Madison School District Reading Program Spending →

Shanahan on literacy: I admire Emily Hanford and her work. I’ve been interviewed several times by her over the years. She always has treated me respectfully. She asks probing questions and relies on relevant research for the most part. In my experience, her quotes are accurate and fitting. That doesn’t mean I necessarily agree with … Continue reading Commentary on recent literacy reporting →

Quinton Klabon: The coronavirus pandemic was a 2-year catastrophe for children. Students suffered through virtual schooling, quarantined teachers, and emotional misery. Academic results, the lowest this century, still have not recovered. After sending $860 million to help Wisconsin public schools manage through spring 2021, Congress sent a final $1.49 billion to get students back on track. The goal? Do … Continue reading Congress gave $1.49 billion in taxpayer and borrowed funds to Wisconsin schools. Are they investing wisely? →

Scott Girard and Jessie Opoien: The results, as Vos mentioned, have been poor. Reading and math scores on what’s known as the Nation’s Report Card dropped across the country last year, including in Wisconsin, where the gap in scores between Wisconsin’s Black and white students is the highest of any state, with only Washington, D.C. having … Continue reading “But I also think that if we just do more of the same, we’re going to get more of the same, which is mediocre test results and kids who can’t read. That’s dumb. So I want reform.” →

David Blaska: Blaska’s Bottom Line asks a bunch of questions: The Wisconsin State Journal refuses to publish Blaska’s letter asking Madison school officials whether, after eight years, is Restorative Justice working?Especially considering we have another school board election on the April 4 ballot. Editorial page editor Scott Milfred complained: “It was long …” [It was 245 words — exact … Continue reading Curious Legacy Media school “letter to the editor” policy →

Scott Girard: “A lot of these subs don’t work every day,” he said. “Or they will only work at certain schools or certain parts of town or certain grades; sometimes the retired teachers will only go back to their school or they’ll sub for their old colleagues.” In a worker-friendly job market over the past … Continue reading “While that’s still more than five substitutes per MMSD building, Lyne explained that not every substitute is equal as far as filling the daily needs” →

Zach Weissmueller and Nick Gillespie Public schools have failed to teach kids to read and write because they use approaches that aren’t based on proven techniques based on phonics. Many schools have been influenced by the work of Columbia University’s Lucy Calkins, who is the subject of a new podcast series from American Public Media, Sold … Continue reading Why Did Schools Stop Teaching Kids How To Read? →

Scott Girard: When the students found out about the plan on Wednesday, one teacher said, one of them asked if it was the “mayor of the United States” visiting. All of the officials proved popular, with students taking selfies and asking for autographs in their new books. “When we talk about partnering with the city … Continue reading Sandburg Elementary students get free books, visit from local officials →

Scott Girard: Wisconsin K-12 students had a significantly higher rate of chronic absenteeism following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The report, published Friday, shows there was an increase from a 12.4% chronic absenteeism rate in the 2016-17 school year to 16.1% in in 2020-21, … Continue reading Growing student absenteeism →

Apples to Apples, Assessing Wisconsin’s State of Education: Once the demographics of students in the schools are taken into account, the level of per capita spending in a public school district has no statistical impact on student proficiency. The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially … Continue reading “Little evidence was found that more spending affects student performance” →

Christina Smallwood: In Reading in the Brain (2009)—which Hanford recommends on the Sold a Story website, writing, “I’ve never filled a book with so many sticky notes”—the cognitive neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene identifies three stages of learning to read: the pictorial, where children memorize a few words as if they were pictures (these are likely to … Continue reading The failure of “balanced literacy” →

Olivia Herken; The district doesn’t need to approve any new funds to provide this raise, and instead, the enrollment for summer school this year will be capped at 4,000 students to be able to hike pay within the already approved budget. The pay raise increases staffing costs from $2.8 million last year to $3.5 million. … Continue reading Notes on the taxpayer supported Madison Summer School Staffing plans →

Scott Girard: Surveys to help guide the Madison public schools’ Safety and Student Wellness Ad Hoc Committee have a long list of suggestions for the district. The responses illustrate the difficult and involved task in front of both the committee, which is nearing its completion after forming last March, and the Madison Metropolitan School District as … Continue reading Madison Schools’ Safety Survey →

Olivia Herken: This week the school district contended with more violent incidents. On Tuesday, a 14-year-old was stabbed in the chest in a park after an incident at a middle school parking lot earlier in the day, and on Wednesday, police were called to East High for a fight between students. Some survey respondents called … Continue reading “In the survey, respondents highlighted that there were too many fights and and too much bullying, and unsafe environments throughout schools, all without much accountability” →

Olivia Herken: Enrollment in Wisconsin’s traditional public schools has continued to decline since the start of the pandemic. There isn’t a single answer as to where students are going and why. A nationwide declining birth rate and changing trends in where families live are big contributors. But there’s clearly a growing appetite in Wisconsin for … Continue reading Notes on growth in charter and voucher schools amidst decline in traditional “government” schools (who spend far more) →

“Prioritize Your African American Students” over all others: ⚡️New @WILawLiberty lawsuit against @MMSDschools for failing to turn over public records related to this policy below pic.twitter.com/iSGgLGQM9Z — Dan Lennington (@DanLennington) January 17, 2023 2011: a majority of the taxpayer funded Madison School Board aborts the proposed Madison Preparatory Academy IB Charter School in a 5-2 vote. The data … Continue reading Madison’s taxpayer supported discriminatory policies, now in litigation →

Kaleem Caire: Thank you CapTimes for printing my OpEd. Interestingly, in a conversation with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction yesterday, state officials told us that we are legally obligated to count our students who are enrolled and present on the day of the pupil count (tomorrow, Friday). This is state law. They also told … Continue reading Why is One City Charter School Facing Legacy Madison Media Blowback? →

Scott Girard: UPDATE: In a letter to the editor submitted to the Cap Times after the article below was published, One City Schools founder and CEO Kaleem Caire wrote that the school would not count the ninth and 10th grade students who will be leaving for enrollment purposes. “This would be disingenuous, and we do … Continue reading K-12 taxpayer $pending reporting: early growth trees vs Madison’s $597M forest edition →

Scott Girard: For the full 2022-23 school year, an independent charter school like One City receives $9,264 per student from the state that the student’s resident school district would otherwise receive. The state counts students twice each school year: the third Friday of September and the second Friday of January. If a student is enrolled … Continue reading Commentary on Taxpayer Funded K-12 Education: Madison’s $597.9M budget $23k/student! vs Tiny One City Charter School →

Olivia Herken: After receiving a wave of conservative backlash, a student-organized drag show at Madison East High School has been postponed because of safety concerns. In addition to an “abundance” of supportive messages regarding the event, the Madison School District also has received “several messages that have raised a number of safety concerns for this … Continue reading Notes on taxpayer funded Madison East High School →

Wow. The CDC gives direction to teachers, the unions give direction to teachers, the UN gives directions to teachers… So much direction from outside organizations- no wonder the kids aren’t learning to read. 🤷‍♀️ https://t.co/g4poAIR0NW — Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty) January 6, 2023 The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement … Continue reading K-12 Governance Spaghetti, amidst long term, disastrous reading results →

Alan Kamhi: This prologue reiterates the case for the narrow view of reading as a solution to the persistently high levels of reading failure that occurs in our schools and provides a brief summary of the 5 response articles. Method: The arguments that support the narrow view of reading are presented and the respondents are … Continue reading The Case for the Narrow View of Reading →

Chris Rickert: Citing an exodus of core-class teachers, Madison charter school One City Schools told parents of about 60 students Thursday that it would shut down its first ninth- and 10th-grade classes after only one semester. The school’s vice president of external relations, Gail Wiseman, said the school lost five teachers since the beginning of … Continue reading One City Schools shutting down ninth and 10th grades →