I could never understand why the education bureaucracies and teachers’ unions could tolerate terrible outcomes for millions of children (most of them poor and minority) and do nothing to fix the system. Then I read “Failure Factory.” Now, I see the corruption clearly. Papst has done the entire country an enormous service by exposing this astonishing record of failure.
Baltimore City Schools spent $1.7 billion in 2024 (up from $1.3 billion in 2017). That year, only 10 percent of the students scored proficient in math. In 2017, 11 percent of students met mathematics proficiency requirements. Further, student enrollment dropped from 82,354 in 2017 to 75,811 in 2024. So, taxpayers paid $400 million a year more for 6,543 fewer students – and math scores got worse.
Local reformers have no hope of getting real change, because the unions who make a living off the school system wield the power. Virtually every administrator (730 administrative staff) and most of the teachers (4,930) form an army for defending the indefensible. They care about their paychecks, not educational achievement.
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Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average (now > $25,000 per student) K-12 tax & spending practices. This, despite long term, disastrous reading results.
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
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 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?