Nine Madison parents from Parent Check on Tech who spoke with the Cap Times expressed concerns about the prevalence of screen time in classrooms, as well as the millions of dollars the school district spends annually on hardware and subscriptions for digital tools. They’re distressed about students using Chromebooks for non-educational purposes like streaming videos and playing games.
A recent district analysis of students’ Chromebook activity validates some of those concerns. Across all grades, the average screen time exceeded the district’s recommended limits.
Kindergartners and first graders used Chromebooks despite the district’s recommendation of zero minutes per day. High schoolers’ screen time was more than double the limit of 40 minutes per day. Among middle schoolers, the students’ average screen time was triple the 40-minute recommendation.
Parent Check on Tech is calling on district leaders to critically evaluate the learning outcomes of digital platforms and audit spending on that technology to gauge whether those dollars could be better spent elsewhere.
While the group’s leaders acknowledge technology in classrooms is necessary to meet some students’ health- or disability-related learning needs, the coalition is broadly urging a return to pencil and paper as the default form of instruction and is rallying more parents to opt their children out of using Chromebooks during student registration.
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“I’ve been appalled, to put it lightly, at the regressive policy that has been in place,” he said.
Martino and Shore have heard comparable stories from other parents who’ve decided to take their children out of Madison schools in favor of technology-limited alternatives for their kid’s education.
“There’s still this mentality of like, we’re high tech, we’re a destination school district. … That’s not cutting-edge anymore,” Martino said. “As counterintuitive as it seems now, being a forward-looking school district is reevaluating what you’re doing with tech.”
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But Fischer, the La Follette senior, dismissed pointing to teachers or students.
“Teachers are required to use these digital tools to measure learning, and students are also expected to kind of self-regulate,” Fischer said. “It’s just not realistic.”
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A New York Times analysis of the Stanford report shows Madison students scored one grade level lower in reading and math last year — below the national average and the district’s scores a decade ago.
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“My second grader doesn’t need a Chromebook to make a power point,” Roys continued. “She needs to learn to write a fricking paragraph.”
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More.
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2026-2027 Madison K-12 $pending continues to grow, fueled by a 9.7% (!) property tax increase. Total spending will be at least $706,000,000 for 25,003 students, or $28,236 per student.
May 2026 Madison School District Presentation: 7,095 adults for 25,003 students (3.52 students per adult!)
Early Literacy Screener Map.
3,887 Madison 4 year old to third grade students scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group.
Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average k-12 tax & $pending. This despite our long term, disastrous reading results. May, 2026: 7,095 Staff for 25,003 students; $pending > $26k per student!
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”
A.B.T.: “Ain’t been taught.”
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?