“Enrollment decreases district-wide (Madison) may be part of why more elementary school classes are falling below the policy’s levels”
Madison schools are down about 300 students from last year despite the district’s estimates that enrollment would remain flat.
Bob Soldner, assistant superintendent of financial services, said in an interview prior to the report that smaller class sizes would be one impact of decreased enrollment because teachers had already signed their employment contracts for the school year. He said the district wouldn’t want to “disrupt our educational programming” by reducing teaching staff following the enrollment drop.
Across the district, Soldner said, classrooms are more often closer to the class size policy’s minimum number of students rather than the maximum number of students. “That comes with a cost,” he added.
Cindy Green, the district’s assistant superintendent for strategy and innovation, said in a statement that some smaller class sizes are due to students changing schools and unique complexities with determining classes at individual schools. Other smaller classes are the result of intentional choices by the district, she said.
A majority of elementary class sections below district goals are at schools participating in the state’s Achievement Gap Reduction program. The program aims to improve academic performance at schools serving more low-income families, in part through the help of smaller class sizes. Out of 32 elementary schools in the district, 20 are eligible for the program, according to state data.
“We know that smaller class sizes allow for more personalized instruction and attention, which nurture and promote student success,” Green said.
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“They were relieved that American classes are so much easier than those in Taiwan”
Notes and links on the taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI and Jill Underly.
“Did you know my school was bad like this when you decided to put me here?” she asked.
Madison’s district, despite an elite university pipeline, hypereducated leadership, and a shiny, new strategic plan, suffers the same frailties as Milwaukee’s: basement performance, backbreaking spending. But while Milwaukee is pulling out of its tailspin due to courageouschoices from the top, Madison is ponderously ambling to nowhere. Just ask the locals. “You need the marketing, and you need the product,” as a parent told a reporter. “I’m missing the product.”
2025-2026 Madison 4k-3rd grade Early Literacy Screener report: The bar moves faster than the kids.
Joe Gothard, Becky Kundert and Sonia Spencer Remarks on Madison’s K-12 Literacy Crisis.
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!)
2024-2025 Early Literacy Screener Map.
Map: Foundations of Reading Results: 2015–2024
Where have all the students gone?
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.
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?
China’s PhD Glut Drives Top Graduates to High School Teaching Jobs
