Vos-Republicans admit again, No more money for schools! They shift tax hikes to local Referendums!

 Around September 25th 2021, Vos stripped away all his bullshit and let it rip...

Robin Vos: “Throwing even more money at the problem will not fix it. Evaluating curriculum, academic testing and allowing parents to be a part of the conversation are real solutions Legislative Republicans will continue to fight for in the classroom.”

Fast forward to now, October 27th, after another bold and very clear confirmation that school funding is never going to happen under Republican rule:

Rep. Janel Brantjen: "The amount of money that we spend on education in this state, probably one of the highest out of all 50 states...

Democrats warned when Gov. Scott Walker cut education funding, the effects would be felt sometime in the future. That future is here:

Wisconsin’s educational decline, meanwhile, has not occurred in a vacuum. During the last decade the state drastically reduced resources for public schools, starting with former Gov. Scott Walker’s biggest cuts to school funding in state history in 2012

So, this confirms what we have been trying to tell conservative voters, "Funding schools" isn't really a thing, but it did result in another Vos-Republican tax cut that local voter's will backfill with another referendum to increase their own taxes. 😡 They never seem to get tired of that game.

After the gerrymandered Republican majority squandered a huge projected state revenue surplus on a $3.4 billion tax cut. $408 million of that became a property tax cut instead of an investment in our public schools: "...what appears to be an increase in state education funding but is actually a property tax cut."

It was expected that cuts to education and a lack of progress would be blamed on school administrators and teachers, and not the politicians who made things worse. Still, angry fed-up voters keep voting for angry Republicans complaining about public schools. 

“It is disingenuous and it borders on open deception to try and pretend that there wasn’t the largest cut to education in Wisconsin history in 2011,” Larson said, adding that Republican policies ending collective bargaining for teachers and making further cuts to schools that had low scores on school report cards contributed to a teacher shortage and the decline in the quality of education. The bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding made a series of recommendations, he pointed out, “and the Legislature said, ‘Nope, we’re not going to do Jack Squat with that.”

“That’s not a failure of our kids,” he added, “that’s a failure of the Legislature.”

Scott Walker's fight against Teachers, Public Schools, and Families more of that "Objective American History?"

Simply, Scott Walker wants to get into every classroom and teach every child in the country "objective" American history. Huh oh...

Below I have examples of what Objective American History would look like in Scott Walker's world.

#1. Objective History? Imagine, an overtly subjective political ideologue like Scott Walker, wanting "objective history" taught in every classroom in the country. Something suspicious there. Well, that raised so many red flags for me, that to be objective, I had to investigate this tired old unoriginal construct of the radical right.

Here's what I found with a simple google search about "historical objectivity:" 

"Historical objectivity" is not attainable because of three factors such as- the nature of historical events, the selection of historical events and the personality of the author, his motives intentions and temperament.

1. To reconcile ourselves to the presence of subjectivity, which enters at every step in the process of investigation; 2. the present can and does influence our knowledge of the past. 3. The conversation which is history does lead to further conversation … because at no point we can say that we have arrived at the absolute truth. 4. Stephen Berer, Education Coordinator: "History is an entirely human-constructed phenomenon, produced after-the-fact … constructed and subjective.

#2. Walker sells "Objective History" by Shredding First Amendment?: The Bulwark pointed out how Walker chose to show images of Americans protesting their government in his latest insane video sales pitch. Notice Walker's closed caption comment at the bottom of the screen! So, he fought against great public schools, Wisconsin education, and families? Seriously: 

"As governor of Wisconsin, I learned how to fight back."

There are additional images in the first 15 seconds of his video:

In the full Walker video "objective history" means every crazy QAnon pundit out today will be teaching our kids. And he's still the sharpest tool in the shed:

Scott Walker: "I stood up against a hundred thousand protesters in defense of freedom."

Yeah, he really said that: 

Consider: Walker’s video ominously warns unironically that “America is under siege,” with scenes of campus unrest, but does not mention the siege of the Capitol on January 6. It is as if it never happened. But in Walker’s history, a lot gets dropped down the memory hole.

He added that because of progressive professors and liberal politicians, “this generation just doesn’t believe what the facts show to be true.”

#3. Happy "American Exceptionalism's" Objective History: Walker is heading up a movement that hasn't been subtle about their revisionist intent; a positive uplifting summary of history: 

Objective History? Example A: This is happening right now in Wisconsin. This is an actual candidate for Waukesha's school board. Imagine what his idea of an "objective education" is:

Objective History? Example B: Colorado's Jefferson County school board is finding out that the next generation won't be happy with propaganda dressed up as history. This could take your breath away:

CBS/AP: Students are upset by a proposal, drafted by board member Julie Williams, that would form a committee to inspect curriculum in those advanced history classes. It would insure teachers covered concepts like patriotism, the free-enterprise economy and respect for authority — and eschewed subjects about civil disorder and social strife. Ken Witt, the president of the school board, said he thinks students are being used as pawns by teachers, who are unhappy with the history proposal as well as a new pay plan.

Objective History? Example C: 

An Oklahoma legislative committee overwhelmingly voted to ban Advanced Placement U.S. History class, persuaded by the argument that it only teaches students “what is bad about America.” Other lawmakers (want to) prohibit the teaching of all AP courses in public schools. Oklahoma Rep. Dan Fisher (R) said the AP history class fails to teach “American exceptionalism.” The RNC said a new framework for the exam “reflects a radically revisionist view of American history that emphasizes negative aspects of our nation’s history while omitting or minimizing positive aspects.”

Objective History? Example D: 

North Carolina’s conservative majority bill would end the state income tax deduction for tuition expenses — essentially a tax hike on college students.

Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) said, “Socrates trained Plato in on a rock and then Plato trained in Aristotle roughly speaking on a rock. So, huge funding is not necessary to achieve the greatest minds and the greatest intellects in history.” He thinks the answer “would be to get private sector folks into every one of our schools, get the CEOs in the schools and move beyond this just narrow policy debate and really have a revolution.”

Objective History? Example E: Hey, education itself, for black students especially, is a waste and...WELFARE: 

2015: Redefining education as “welfare” Mississippi state representative Gene Alday made national headlines recently …  Alday went on his rant in part because he was trying to justify his opposition to increased funding for elementary school education...teaching kids reading and writing amounts to “welfare” and to suggest that education is wasted on black people in particular.

Objective History? Example F: Objective rejection to rid male students of toxic masculinity...

Two leading state Republican lawmakers are threatening the University of Wisconsin System that if it doesn't remove a course called "The Problem of Whiteness" from UW-Madison's spring semester offerings, the UW's requests for more state funding and a bump in tuition may be denied during budget deliberations next year. “Our friends at UW-Madison not happy enough with labeling 'whiteness' as a societal problem, now are attacking another societal ill…, Men and their masculinity. UW-Madison has become part of a national liberal effort to rid male students of their 'toxic masculinity … believe that Wisconsin mothers and fathers have done a poor job of raising their boys by trying to instill in them the values and characteristics necessary in becoming a Man.”

Objective History? Example G: Step out of line and this happens:

Government censorship of political speech? That's what Vos was suggesting with his little shot over the bow, and a little taste of the kind of freedom and liberty you can expect from the Walker Authority. Seeing a sitting president speak at a public university, even during a campaign, would be something state official's would normally be proud of.

It's enough for this inadequate smarmy politician to call a penalty on the university. Oh, and he says he's not being political? WKOW TV::

Scott Walker/GOP legacy shows up in declining ACT scores in Math, Science, and English.

Have we forgotten all those past predictions warning what would happen if school funding got slashed, if teachers were vilified, and Act 10 past? 

Yes, apparently.

Today Milwaukee Journal Sentinel never mentioned any of the above, so Scott Walker, Scott Fitzgerald, and Robin Vos once again got away with attacking education like all good Republicans always do and causing the decline we're seeing today. We said it would take a while for this to happen, and now it is happening, despite having a great public school system and teacher workforce in Wisconsin:

According to a new analysis released Friday by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum ... the percentage of students who met that benchmark has declined in every subject but one since the state began requiring the 2014-'15 school year.

a. about 48.7% of students last year were deemed college-ready in English, down from 54% in the 2014-'15 school year. 

b. math dropped from 36.2% to 29.2%; 

c. science from 31.7% to 31%, after peaking three years earlier.

d. reading (went up) slightly from 34.4% to 35.8%.

The drop for all students in every subject is smaller, so there is time to rebuild what Gov. Scott Walker blew up, but consider these few points written up by former Sen. Kathleen Vinehout back in May, 2018:

1. A 2017 analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund shows that a large number of teachers have left the teaching profession (and didn't teach the following year) in Wisconsin after the enactment of Act 10 ... in the 2010-11 school year teachers aged 55 and over (who were) retiring jumped from about 15 percent in the 2009-10 school year to over 30 percent.

2. After Act 10, the overall percentage of teachers leaving the profession rose from 6.4 percent in the 2009-10 school year to 10.5 percent in 2010-11, with exit rates remaining higher than before with 8.8 percent leaving in 2015-16.

3. And according to a Journal Sentinel special report, 2015 saw the smallest group of juniors and seniors enrolled in teaching programs in over two decades.

4. And according to a Journal Sentinel special report, 2015 saw the smallest group of juniors and seniors enrolled in teaching programs in over two decades. (Note: enrollment was down nationwide, but not like in Wisconsin.)

5. After Act 10, the average experience level of teachers in Wisconsin also decreased. Teachers with less than five years of experience increased from 19.6 percent in 2010-11 to 24.1 percent in 2015-16.

6. According to a 2017 report by the Wisconsin Budget Project, Wisconsin school districts struggle to fill vacancies, especially in math, science and technology. The report notes that one reason for teacher shortages is high turnover.

7. The Journal Sentinel examined spending and teacher data for 424 districts and found that 75 percent of districts were losing their teachers more often after Act 10 because a competitor offered better working conditions and compensation.

8. That turnover has been accompanied by lower, not higher, teacher salaries. According to the Center for American Progress, after Act 10, “year-over-year pay cuts were found across urban and rural counties” ranging from 2 to 3.4 percent when adjusted for inflation ... teachers with experience between five and 15 years have seen their annual salaries fall by an average of $4,273.

While right-wing groups like the McIver Institute love to claim huge taxpayer savings, much of that could have been done in cooperation with public education. Wait, I think they used to call it, negotiation. It's been a while since we've used that word around here.

They think saving taxpayers money is better than educating the next generation (they also think too many kids got to college now). McIver never brings up the majority of school districts where it's voters passed massive funding referendums, the same as if taxes were never cut in the first place. If saving taxpayer money on schools was so important...?

But they do hate public opposition and that messy thing in the Constitution...free speech, like during the Act 10 protests. NOTE: A number of myths below: no one needed protesters bused into the state, protesters never "created their own self contained society and government," teachers did protest for their kids AND themselves, and public support for occupiers never eroded. Wishful thinking by McIver Institute "fellows," but then, conservatives just don't go out and protest. Who needs to when they have big money on their side buying influence. For a good laugh...:

Wisconsin liberals were furious with Walker’s attempt to curtail union power, and they showed up in droves – and in buses from out of state – to register their disapproval. Protesters flooded the Capitol.

More than a week into the riots over Act 10, protesters still hadn’t left. In fact, they had set up camp inside the state Capitol and formed their own self-contained society and government. Public education was crippled and schools shut down as teachers skipped class and threatened to go on strike at the protests’ peak. Teachers admitted on camera that they were doing it for themselves at the expense of their students. As more people began to see what was really going on at the Capitol, public support for the occupiers eroded.

Politics of Resentment: Republican Lessons on How-to-do-Nothing for educations and Gun deaths!!!

Wait a minute, Republicans are now outrage that school proficiency is down statewide? But they were in control of public education for the last 8 years, and tried to take power away from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction? 

They do know this was all under their watch, right? 

I once suggested here that the best Democratic strategy against Republicans would be to ignore them completely and do their own thing like the GOP didn't exist. Yea, it's still good advice, but there's one more thing...

...don't take them seriously either, and make that perfectly clear in public statements.

Public education in the state has a lot to brag about:

Carolyn Stanford Taylor

State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor “While we have some of the highest graduation rates, ACT scores and advanced placement participation in the country, we have yet to fully reconcile that success with the deep, persistent gaps in achievement, access and opportunity that exist for far too many of Wisconsin’s children.”

We're talking about areas of high poverty. Republicans never cared much for poverty, so instead of tackling that problem, they brag about low unemployment and huge tax cuts till our ears bleed.

Republicans apparently want to continue ignoring economically depressed areas affecting student outcomes, solving teacher retention in urban and rural areas, rural school closings, rural long distance busing to nearby schools, funding that doesn't have to rely on referendums, updating or replacing crumbling schools, legislative political meddling in curriculum, and sending money to choice schools with half the proficiency of the public schools they're now outraged about.  

Education Scores Down as Expected, Republicans are now giving up! Not Kidding: Yesterdays amazing comments were telling; Republicans are also telling us we have to wait until we find a magical solution first before they will do anything:

Some Republican lawmakers criticized the decline in proficiency in light of increased funding for schools in recent state budgets.“With the repeated increases in funding for K-12 education, taxpayers deserve to know why we’re not seeing better results,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said.

Uh, funding cuts for 7 years? So throw it all out, do nothing, ignore massive poverty, and wait for a magical solution:

Thiesfeldt

Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, (said) “This is proof of what we already know — more money is not always the best solution and it’s rarely the only solution. We need to re-evaluate our approach and abandon failed methods, particularly in reading instruction.”

Note: The only people saying "money is the only solution" are Republicans. It's an old ploy that makes doing nothing seem like a solution.

How we got here...?

1. Scott Walker's Republican legacy includes the second biggest cuts to public education in the U.S. and the vilification of teachers through Act 10, so...

2. ...it came as no surprise that experienced teachers retired en mass and the profession continues to see a teacher exodus, which brought about...

3. ...Walker's last ditch effort to save his job with a little back-fill of dollars in public funding, but by then the damage was done. 

Guns, Guns, Guns: Isn't it time conservative voters say "enough is enough?"  Obviously our system of arming citizens is fatally flawed. Will such simpleton statements from the party's legislative leaders really get a pass from frustrated voters overwhelmingly supporting gun measures that poll through the roof?

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said in a joint statement they "believe this legislation poses threats to due process and the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens."

Nope, they're lying, playing up to the myth Democrats want to repeal the 2nd Amendment. Does this sound like "due process" is being threatened since the legal system and judicial branch is involved?

Under the “red flag” bill, a family member, household member or police officer could petition the court to prevent an individual from possessing a gun. The court could then issue a temporary restraining order and injunction if it’s found the person is likely to injure themselves or someone else. That injunction would be effective for up to one year.

One more word on doing away with the 2nd Amendment. Of course that would be impossible to do...unless someone (Scott Walker) opens that door by calling for a Constitutional Congress, and Democrats are able to institute a rewrite with a safer and more up-to-date version. Ironically, Walker is doing just that. He assumes all the right-wings proposed changes would find a super majority support by the states. Bring it on Scotty.   

U.S. 4th Graders take 6th place in International Reading!!!

Public education was never on its last leg, that's just what privateers wanted you to think. Oh, and there's that guilt trip about being a good parent, that instinctively know whats best for their kids in school. No educator is going to con you into Common Core.

So after conservative states and school districts renamed Common Core - but kept the basic standards in place - public education kept getting better, thanks to our underappreciated dedicated teachers that still don't get paid what they're worth. It's the "e-Progress in International Reading Literacy Study:"  

EdWeek: U.S. 4th Graders Surprise on New Exam of Online Reading ... International results leave some 'elated'

U.S. 4th graders performed surprisingly well on a new international test of online reading ability, outperforming their peers in 10 of the 15 other educational systems that participated.

"We were actually elated," said Peggy G. Carr, the associate commissioner for assessment at the National Center for Education Statistics, during a discussion of the results at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, held here this month. "I think it's very clear that our students are more savvy than many of us have given them credit for," Carr said.

Walker's election year school funding makes years of district begging magically all right?

While public radio promotes Scott Walker's blue wave panic like it's the worst thing that could happen, Walker came right out and explained just how he's been duping his base on the issue of taxes. And I'll bet his voting base didn't even notice.

As Milwaukee County executive, Walker avoided raising taxes and taking the blame, by making the County Board raise those taxes by overriding his draconian budget vetos.

Again, Walker is committing to the same scheme with school funding. Sure he's cut taxes, just like he said on Upfront with Mike Gousha, but school funding isn't the responsibility of the state? Walker relishes the idea that local governments have to pass referendums to raise taxes because that takes Walker off the hook again. Wake up conservatives.

In the clip, he almost enjoys sticking it to the locals, when he says "it's theirs." Walker also pretends "all the money" he suddenly started spending in an election year is more than enough, and will make up for years of cuts, teacher shortages, lower standard for hiring, crumbling schools, bus transportation...etc. Nope:

Wisconsinites witness collapse of Public Education as Walker flails in reelection bid.

The chant said it perfectly, “Stop the cuts, and fund the freeze.”

Walker's Tuition Freeze Failure: It's still one of Scott Walker's biggest bragging points; the simple-minded "tuition freeze." Sure, as a parent with a kid in college, what's not to like? But Walker didn't counter that freeze with state funding. That freeze is now starving one of the states biggest sources of revenue. As the UW Stevens Point paper The Pointer...pointed out:

This threat has been announced openly. In 2015, Governor Scott Walker tried to change the universities’ historic mission by eliminating its commitment to the search for truth and improving the human condition, substituting instead the far narrower goal of meeting the state workforce needs.”

Out on the front lines defending higher education was gubernatorial candidate Andy Gronik, a Democratic businessman who's out there framing the issue for every candidate running for office:

 “UW-Stevens Point is at ground zero. What we’re seeing with eliminating 13 majors is really the effect of Scott Walker, due to a $250 million cut and freezing tuition. When you take out the revenue side of the equation and the only thing that you’re focused on is cutting costs, this is the tragedy that happens.”

Gronik, speaking on his experience hiring employees with backgrounds in the humanities for his business. “As a guy who built a business I can tell you that when I interviewed on campuses, which I did all the time" ... students with majors in English, foreign languages and philosophy were valuable as communicators and critical thinkers in his company and helped him to establish an international business. “It’s short-sighted to imagine that a university system should be without those kinds of majors and it’s not the Wisconsin I envision for the future.”

"Rural School Leaders: Schools in Wisconsin are Unequal": That's the title of gubernatorial candidate Sen. Kathleen Vinehout's latest press release, focusing this time on K-12 education under Walker. The Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding got this kind of feedback recently from 20 rural districts when they visited Southwestern Wisconsin.

Walker quietly let referendums increase taxes while he could around the state bragging that he personally never raised taxes. So I thought this comment struck at the heart of the rural school problem:

Superintendent Doug Olsen of Kickapoo Area School District pointed out that rural Wisconsin has many farmers who are struggling financially. “As you have heard, Western Wisconsin leads the nation in lost farms due to bankruptcy and farmer suicide. In which community does a referendum to override the revenue limit have a better chance of passing?”

Brutal "Funding" Reality Ignored? But that's just one problem snowballing out of control under Walker. Behind Walker's "more money than ever before" facade (that purposely ignores the inflation rate), are a number of other education dominoes ready to fall:

Superintendent Nancy Hendrickson of Highland School District explained "With school aid tied to the number of students and, with a declining rural population, aid is dropping faster than the cost to educate children.
Administrator Jill Underly of Pecatonica School District affirmed that school segregation still exists. “It may not be based on race necessarily, but it is still to an extent based on income inequality… Public schools, a cornerstone of our democracy, were supposed to equalize opportunity. It shouldn’t matter where you go to school, but in Wisconsin, let’s be honest, it DOES matter.”

Superintendent Doug Olsen of Kickapoo Area School District: "Our district consistently serves an economically disadvantaged population that comprises over half of the student body … only 48% of poor students are ready for school at age 5, compared to 75% of students from moderate to high income families. From vocabulary and pre-literacy skills, to numeracy, emotional regulation, and trauma, kids in poverty are more at risk to come to school less prepared.”

Rural schools did not recover from deep cuts made in Governor Walker’s first budgets. Across the state, school funding, in real dollars, for this school year is less than a decade ago. Without resources, buildings and systems maintenance is deferred. School districts see fewer applicants for vacant teaching jobs, a shortage of substitute teachers and problems with a flattening pay scale for teachers making it hard to keep veteran teachers.

Referendums, Local Tax Increases symptoms of Growing Problem: In Walker's Wisconsin, red flags like these have to be ignored so the ideological goals can be met:

Cost for basic services, i.e. transportation, utilities, electricity are increasing. New costs are added including technology, school safety, testing. Legislative leaders decided if schools need more funding, voters should decide through referendum. 

Superintendent Doug Olsen of Kickapoo Area School District pointed out that rural Wisconsin has many farmers who are struggling financially. “As you have heard, Western Wisconsin leads the nation in lost farms due to bankruptcy and farmer suicide. In which community does a referendum to override the revenue limit have a better chance of passing?” 

The situation is made worse when GOP leaders bypassed the funding formula and gave wealthy suburban districts the same money as cash-strapped rural and urban districts. 

Republicans keep Americans from being Happy!

Why do Republicans keep making life more complicated, unbearable, and cruel? It's crazy but Republicans have oddly targeted life's bigger events with Rube Goldberg "solutions." There's got to be a better use of our time.

So "what do Democrats stand for?"

Thanks to the United Nations 2017 World Happiness Report, Democrats can riff off the 3 biggest changes this country can make to make everyone happy again. Look, 19th place is a big drop from 2007's third-place ranking.

Let's help Americans live again:

All of the top 15 countries have progressive/socialist governments whose policies contribute to the contentment of their citizens. The three most significant policies for these countries are:

1. Universal free health care for their citizens.
2. Outstanding free public education.
3. Strong environmental standards and access to public lands such as parks and refuges for their citizens.

Simple, isn't it? But Republicans hate these things, which runs counter to polling:

Health and happiness are inextricably linked. All the top-ranked countries have socialized medicine so that the average citizen doesn’t have to worry about not being able to afford insurance and necessary medical care. The U.S. is the only developed nation in the world without universal health care. Compared to other developed countries U.S. citizens pay far more for their health care, and yet the U.S. ranks near the bottom in quality of their health care. In Costa Rica the death rate for heart disease is one-third less than in the U.S., even though Costa Rica spends one-tenth as much per capita on health care as the U.S.

Quality public education is the great equalizer. With a good education the poor can rise to the top; without it out their opportunities are limited. In Norway, university students draw a government stipend as well as free tuition. Compare that to the U.S. where middle-class students can finish college encumbered with almost insurmountable debt.

People are simply happier and healthier when they live in an environment with clean air and water; all of the top countries have tough, strictly enforced environmental regulations. The top-ranked countries also have large areas of public land set aside for the public to enjoy. Costa Rica has 25 percent of its land set aside as parks and refuges, whereas the U.S. has only 14 percent. Much of the public land in the U.S. is open to mining, oil drilling, logging and livestock grazing, which are not allowed on public lands in the happiest countries.

Again...:

In summary, the top-ranked countries have a social system that takes care of most people’s needs, leaving them feeling safe, comparatively healthy, and free of most of life’s biggest worries, while providing an environment where most people can make a living.

The U.S. is headed in the wrong direction ... Much of the change can be blamed directly on the impact of the Republican Party on government policies. If you’re still voting Republican you evidently feel that Americans are just too darn happy. If we can just increase American’s anxiety over health care, destroy our public education system, and return to the days when the air in our cities stunk and our rivers were flowing sewers, we can move the U.S. out of the top 50 happiest countries. Seems like an admirable goal for the Republican Party.

Thank you, Scott Walker: Back here in Wisconsin, where the Republican extreme is playing out under career politician Scott Walker (for god's sake he raised a family, from cradle to college, on taxpayer money):

The closest the U.S. has ever come to universal health care is Obamacare, but Republicans are enraged over the government doing anything at all to help its citizens obtain quality health care.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker has led the nation in attacking public education both by dismantling teachers’ security through Act 10, and through the use of vouchers to divert funding from public schools to private schools, including many for-profit schools.

Walker in Wisconsin and Trump on the federal level have been a two-man wrecking crew on environmental protection. In Wisconsin, Republicans have disemboweled our once-proud and effective Department of Natural Resources and reduced protections for the environment on every front.

Red vs Blue States Public Education!

Two Ways Republicans are defunding Public Education.

It may sound cliched, but Republicans have a national plan to destroy public education while shoveling lots of tax-free money to the wealthy. It's a two-step con game that steals money from all public schools and colleges while penalizing Democratically populated higher tax states, those "playpens of the left:"

On the K-12 side, cuts that impact the source of public school funding are coming hand in hand with special tax benefits for families with means to put aside money for private school tuition.

On the higher education side, Stephen Moore, a conservative economist and adviser to the Trump campaign, told Bloomberg that Republicans are going after university endowments because "universities have become playpens of the left." A recent Pew poll showed 58 percent of Republicans say colleges have a negative effect on the country, while 72 percent of Democrats say they have a positive impact.

That's right, nearly 60% of Republicans blame colleges for our problems. And then they complain that liberals think they're stupid. Hey, if the dunce cap fits...it's not like we don't have proof:

Letting lower-income Americans more easily Drain their College Savings...suddenly no college:

1. Taxpayers can currently save money for college through a 529 plan, where earnings grow tax-free. Republicans want to let taxpayers use 529s to pay for K-12 tuition at private and religious schools, too. Families can already do that; Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, but these have low contribution limits and aren't open to high-income Americans. "I think the only taxpayers who will be in a position to benefit from the 529 change are very rich people," says Nora Gordon, an economist. 

2. Republicans are proposing another change that could hurt funding for the nation's public schools ... getting rid of the income and sales tax deductions ... "make it more painful for residents to increase local property taxes to pay for public schools." Nora Gordon of Georgetown said, "They're states with higher cost of living, higher property values, and states that spend more on their state and local government."

3. NOTE: According to a recent analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, after adjusting for inflation, "twenty-nine states provided less overall state funding per student in the 2015 school year than in the 2008 school year, before the recession took hold."

Walker Republicans promise to Reshape Education in State to fill Foxconn Factory Jobs!!!

Foxconn drooling big government Republican's now want to meddle with public education, seeing little use in "certain fields that have little demand or relevance."

Todays jaw dropping Republican comment comes from the ever reliable stooge of the state Senate Duey Stroebel, who seems to think economic vitality starts and ends with Foxconn:

Stroebel: “The University of Wisconsin System needs to prioritize ‘needs and wants. UW needs to start investing current resources into increasing faculty and staff for engineering, supply chain and computer science degrees. Perhaps the System should look at decreasing capacity in certain fields that have little demand or relevance.”

Stroebel wasn't the only one suggesting a big government Republican takeover of public education and it's diverse curriculum, tossing aside egg-headed course developers efforts to improve student outcomes. 

Here's Rep. John Nygren promising to change education in the state so Foxconn can fill it's factories. Too bad for those who had other plans. Upfront with Mike Gousha:

Nygren: "We're actually going to have to reshape how we provide education, the type of education we provide so we can fill these jobs in our state." 

At the recent special session authorizing a Foxconn "electronics manufacturing zone," one Wisconsinite pretty much summed up the very noticeable rabid GOP response:



And the Packers comparison didn't end there either, with this idiotic "just  like the Packers" comparison:

"To me, much as Reggie White transformed the Green Bay Packers, we’ll see the same here," Walker told Green Bay-area conservative radio host Jerry Bader.

Trump/DeVos plan to make Public Schools look bad just so they can sell choice to private-for-profits and religious schools.

Well, a big congratulation to Trump voters who thought, what the heck, let’s take a chance.

Those voters who believed millionaire Trump would help the little people…well, you’re about to get socked with higher education costs. There goes Scott Walker's tax savings, and more. No free lunch.

Public schools are on the outs and private unaccountable for-profit schools will be squeezing every dollar out you soon. Moyers and Company: 

Trump’s Education Budget Feeds School Privatization at The Expense of Students: The Post reports, deep spending cuts — a net $9.2 billion or 13.6 percent — for many “long-standing programs” that largely serve children and youth from low-income households.

At the same time, more money would go to incentivize “alternatives to traditional public schools” at the K-12 level and increase the costs of college loans, a federal program with significant ties to the financial services industry.

Why is Trump and DeVos doing this? 

(It) cuts programs that make public schools attractive options for parents, especially in low-income communities, while boosting federal support for “school choice” that incentivizes parents to turn to charter schools and private schools instead.

1. $1.2 billion for after-school programs would be eliminated,

2. (Eliminate) $2.1 billion for teacher training programs that lead to class-size reductions in schools.

3. Funding that supports arts education, international studies and foreign languages get the axe.

4. Federal help for educating Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students and gifted students are killed.

5. A $400 million fund to pay for an array of school-enriching services and academics — such as mental-health support, anti-bullying programs and advanced courses — gets zero.

6. Even money for Special Olympics education programs would be gone.

7. Schools would get a lot less money from the federal government for technical education, adult basic literacy instruction.

8. Trump and DeVos would take $1 billion out of the federal government’s Title I funds — money sent to the states to support educating poor children — to a new grant program that incentivizes those states to fund the competitive privately operated schools such as charters and religious schools. The grant program is called Furthering Options for Children to Unlock Success (FOCUS) that only goes to school districts that “agree to allow students to choose which public school they attend — and take their federal, state and local dollars with them.”

9. The proposed budget provides “$500 million for charter schools, up 50 percent over current funding.” 

Trump and DeVos aren't done yet reaching into your pockets, hurting the economy and stuffing your hard earned cash into the pockets of billionaire bankers...

10. The “reshaping” includes cutting loans and work-study programs for disadvantaged students and ending subsidized loans for students still in schools and the program that forgives college loans for students who eventually take jobs in the public sector. Eliminating these student loan programs means “the government could eventually make more money off of student loans” 

But not only is it ethically problematic for our government to treat college students like cash cows; it’s also just another way to ensure more money for education is directed to the immense financial empire that profits off servicing those loans, refinancing the debt and collecting on loans that go into default.

Yea, Trump is gonna take care of the disenfranchised. Suckers. 

And here's a tricky one...

$250 million for grants that would ”pay for expanding and studying the impacts of vouchers for private and religious schools.

As the Post reporters explain, “It’s not clear how much would be spent on research versus the vouchers themselves.” But what’s also unclear is how one studies the “impacts” of an initiative simultaneously as it rolls out. Rather than a research endeavor, this additional money sounds more like it’s for a marketing program.

Shredding college affordability so banks can make more money is spelled out in this Post report sidebar.

Differences between Finland and American Public Schools.

It’s happened again. It looks like Republicans may have intentionally picked the wrong side of something again, this time education. Experimentation and innovation are their buzzwords being used to push public education into the private sector. 

But the top rated educational countries in the world aren’t exactly on-board. In those countries, experimentation and innovation are controlled by their national education departments, until given the go ahead nationwide. The other thing to keep in mind in the comparison between Finland and the U.S. below is the problem of rampant poverty here, and our more diverse society. Aside from that...

Here’s a little background on one man’s observations in Finland, and then what he thinks America could learn from his experience. Education Week:

Timothy Walker, a teacher and a contributing writer for The Atlantic, moved to Helsinki, Finland, in 2013, (and) couldn't stay away from the classroom … he found many contrasts between his 5th grade English-speaking classroom abroad and his work back home … informally document the differences he saw in Finnish vs. U.S. education on the blog Taught by Finland. In his new book Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms, Walker expands upon his observations.

A little background on Finland:

Finland has built a reputation as one of the most successful examples of education. The country is known for its high rates of student achievement. Walker said Finland does benefit from little poverty and minor diversity. However, there are still a variety of areas where Finland excels: Teachers have more rigorous teacher training (acceptance rates into programs are around 10 percent), but lighter workloads and time commitments. Teachers experience more autonomy and less accountability. Teacher retention rates are higher. In his book, Walker unpacks lessons American educators might glean from an internationally recognized education system:

1. “The first thing I noticed was the drastically different teaching schedule. I was used to teaching somewhere close to 30 hours a week with my students in the United States … Finnish educators had significantly less teaching hours—only 18 hours of instruction (which is full time). I also saw that in nearly 50 percent of the lessons I was teaching, I would be joined by another teacher. Finnish teachers and students also get 15-minute breaks throughout the day after 45 minutes of classroom instruction. I was not used to this idea of having so much free time.

2. There is such uniformity in Finland. Finnish educators seem to agree on good practices, learning materials, the curriculum framework that they're following. There is such diversity in the United States. You have incredible schools doing innovative things—project-based learning, social-emotional needs of students—but you find this disparity that doesn't exist in Finland. There is clearly a socioeconomic reason for it, but I also think that there's a level of dysfunction, a lack of agreement to say, "These are the things that work, let's decide to stick with them for the well-being of students."

3. More active teaching strategies seem to be celebrated in the United States, for example, turning and talking with a neighbor during a lesson. In Finland, what I noticed is long stretches of time just to be quiet or do independent work, and children seemed to benefit from this. One practical thing teachers can do is help students become aware of the noise level in the classroom. The promotion of physical activity among school-aged children consists of both increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary time. 

4. Training is important. Teachers need to feel a sense of expertise, to feel confident in their abilities, and have certain areas of teaching developed before they step foot in the classroom. One thing I noticed is that teachers often rely in Finland on commercial learning materials such as textbooks and teaching guides. Before I came to Finland, I had this idea that they were using more up-to-date teaching practices, but you still see some teacher-centered practices: desks arranged in rows, textbook-driven instruction. But textbooks, although they're not the flashiest way of teaching, are definitely a way for a teacher to pace lessons and takes pressure off the teacher to start from scratch.

5. How is it possible that Finnish teachers seem relaxed and have autonomy? They're using what's already out there and not putting pressure on themselves to launch different initiatives. In the United States, you see much more initiative being taken by individual teachers, schools, and districts, and that adds a lot of stress. You don't see that same level of eagerness to experiment all the time in Finland, in a way that helps teachers to stay balanced and focused on the most essential things in the classroom.  I was inspired by my Finnish colleagues because they just seemed so relaxed and took breaks, but were also so efficient with their teaching.

6. One other thing that is so important is to connect with other teachers on a regular basis. I was choosing not to collaborate. I think that feeling of burnout can stem from being disconnected from others. It doesn't have to be so structured, we don't have to take out our planners. Collaborate over coffee."

Walker to eliminate minimum hours and days for state Schools!!! You'll never guess where he got the idea....

 Like Superintendent Tony Evers said, kids only have one chance to get a good education. And they can't get it back, which makes this experiment irresponsible and unnecessary:

A proposal in Gov. Scott Walker's state budget appears to make Wisconsin the only state with no law aimed at guaranteeing students a minimum number of hours and days of instruction. Walker's budget plan eliminates the state law that calls for public schools and private voucher schools to provide a minimum number of hours of instruction. The proposal in Walker's budget appears to have originated at one of the statewide education agencies in Oshkosh: CESA 6. It would also free virtual charter schools from having to ensure that teachers are available for direct pupil instruction for a minimum number of hours each year. 

State Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon), a member of the Joint Finance Committee and the head of the Senate Education Committee, said he (was) leery of freeing virtual schools from mandates for teacher availability. "If you sign up and no teacher is available..." 

"... There could be nobody there," said state Superintendent Tony Evers, finishing Olsen's sentence.

What the Journal Sentinel article didn't mention at this point about Sen. Olsen, and should have. Wisconsin Watch:

School districts in Wisconsin, faced with a new mandate to evaluate the effectiveness of teachers and other educators, must make a choice and use an assessment model ... (law) crafted by state Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon. The agency administrator of CESA 6, which stands to receive about $1 million a year in taxpayer money from selling this model to schools, is Olsen’s wife, Joan Wade.

The CESAs, or Cooperative Educational Service Agencies, receive most of their money from school districts, in exchange for various programs and services. Wade has a 2013 salary of $131,821, plus $53,809 in benefits, which puts her toward the top among state CESA administrators.

I hope you're sitting because the following is a doozy...welcome to Republican governance:

State ethics officials ruled in an earlier case that Olsen is allowed to take actions that benefit CESAs, despite the connection to his wife, because these agencies serve a public purpose. Wade, a former state legislator, does not see her husband’s role in helping pass legislation that allowed her agency to compete for tax dollars as a conflict of interest. “I don’t make more more because we’re doing this,” Wade said. 

And now we might not have minimum hours and days for public instruction. If that weren't enough, allowing districts to cut back dramatically hoping to get decent testing results on tight budgeted years looms large:

"What happens if you have a year when budgets get tight?" asked Dan Rossmiller, director of government relations for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards. He said the minimum hours requirement is a floor, not a ceiling. But eliminating the minimum hours requirement as well would make Wisconsin the only state without a mandate for minimum hours or days, 

...because it's a bad idea!!!

Ted Neitzke, the head of CESA 6 and the former superintendent of the West Bend School District, said some administrators wanted more flexibility for how they could count minutes of instruction. For example, he said, some Advanced Placement courses require students to read books before the school year starts. Schools don't get credit for that kind of learning time under state law, he said.

Really, Walker would eliminate the minimum hours required to educate our kids and allow districts to cut back due to budget shortfalls is based on letting some schools get credit for learning time over the summer. 

Evers is not in favor of the proposal and said schools were still free to be innovative with instructional time even with the mandate in place.

Current law calls for Wisconsin schools to provide at least 1,050 instructional hours for first- through sixth-graders and at least 1,137 instructional hours for seventh- through 12th-graders. Virtual schools have to ensure teachers are available for direct pupil instruction for those same hours and grades and also for at least 437 hours for kindergarten students.

Goal to become Low Tax State, not Fund Public Schools, says Sen. Duey Stroebel. Will Penalize Parents for Raising their own Taxes.

It seems the longer Republicans stay in office, the more their ideology replaces real world problem solving.

Scott Walker and his band of plundering Republican pirates dramatically cut taxes and funding for public education, which in turn resulted in a statewide wave of approved school referendums from concerned parents.

Goal-Get Out of the Top Ten High Tax States, no matter what: Paying bills, maintaining infrastructure, funding education...forget all that. Wisconsin Republicans have one goal; change our reputation as a high tax state. 

4th Highest - Wisconsin: While most of the states with the highest tax burdens are in the Northeast or the West, Wisconsin and Illinois are the exceptions to that rule. The tax burden in Wisconsin is 11% and per capita taxes are more than $4,700 ... property taxes in Wisconsin tend to be high, though incomes tend not to be, which is part of why it is a high-tax burden state.

School Referendums Cancel Out Walker Tax Cuts, a no-no: The simpleminded Republican goal to cut taxes has found the simplest mind in Sen. Duey Stroebel, who won't let public school funding destroy his rabid ideological goal. WSJ-Molly Beck:

Sen. Duey "Voldemort" Stroebel: “I believe there is more harm being done to our tax climate via school referendum than anyone realizes. If everything passed, next year property taxes in Wisconsin would be $63 million higher just from operating (referendums) this election and voters would have approved a total of over $2 billion in school debt in the past thirteen months.”

The operative phrase here; "voters would have approved...!" Can't have that? Gerrymandering doesn't work here.

Stroebel wants to Punish Responsible Districts for Funding Public Schools, Reward Districts that Didn't: See if you can spot the "small government" part of Stroebels disciplinary actions against parents and their communities:

1. Stoebel would eliminate what are known as recurring referendums — ballot questions that raise property taxes permanently.

2. Cap any referendum for operating costs at five years. 

3. Reduce state aid for districts that exceed their revenue limits through a referendum. The reduction in aid would be equal to 20 percent of the amount the district raises property taxes above their revenue limits. 

4. That state aid would then be redistributed to the rest of the state’s school districts through the state funding formula. Stroebel said, “If you as a local community think you have a need and an ability to spend more on education, then we need to re-prioritize to other districts who haven’t done that.” 

5. When school boards could ask voters to approve spending and building projects would be limited to spring and fall general elections.

6. School boards also would be required to vote on seeking a referendum at their regular meetings, and boards could only vote on referendums that issue debt at their annual meetings.

Nope, our small government Madison legislator isn't done yet:

7. Districts also would be required to include the cost of debt and interest payments in the total referendum amount presented to voters, which is currently not required,

8. A bill would provide 50 percent matching state funds for school districts that set aside money they receive under their revenue limits in a fund for maintenance and construction projects. If the district seeks a referendum within 10 years of using the matching funds from the state, the money is reimbursed to the state through a reduction in the district’s state aid.

But we're still in the top ten of high tax states because voters are raising their own taxes, unbound by every Republican politicians "No Tax Pledge" to Grover Norquist, who came up with the idea when he was 12 years old. 

GOP politicians screw over Rural Conservative Communities...again. When will they learn?: 

Dan Rossmiller, lobbyist for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, said: 

“Now they’re changing the rules and saying, essentially, we don’t trust our local voters, perhaps, and we should step in here and take certain discretion away from local voters.”

Kim Kaukl, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance, said the proposals don’t serve rural schools. 

“There is not a single author from rural Wisconsin, where these bills will have the most serious impact. This is a case of how many of our legislators in the Fox Valley and southeastern Wisconsin are disconnected with the needs of the rest of the state. If they truly want to limit the number of referendums occurring, they need to take a look at the cuts that have occurred to public education since 2011 and provide adequate funding to meet present needs.” 

State Superintendent Tony Evers, who oversees the Department of Public Instruction, said the proposals fly in the face of consistent support from voters to increase taxes to fund schools. 

“Through tight budgets and changing political winds, Wisconsinites have consistently voted to raise their own taxes to support their local public schools. Instead of restricting local funding options for schools, our focus should be on how we can work together to increase state support to take some of the pressure off.” 

Evers defends Public Education from another right wing Privateer, Holtz.

With almost no fanfare whatsoever, there was an important debate in Wisconsin yesterday:

Incumbent Superintendent Tony Evers and challenger Lowell Holtz, sparred over Wisconsin’s teacher shortage and the effect of President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would have on the state’s professional development Tuesday in Milwaukee.

Evers once again defended the teaching profession, which is a really odd thing to have to do if you just think about it:

Evers blamed the state's shrinking teacher supply on Act 10. Evers said a key to refilling the teacher pipeline is making sure high school students understand the importance of the profession.

"We have to change the rhetoric. We have to honor the profession. We have to make sure that our teachers are elevated in the right place. We have lost a generation of young people going into the profession. We can change that and I think we have to pay our teachers more."

Holtz had already said that instead of working with the 400 school district that have adopted Common Core, he would work with the legislature, an anti-education body that has for years tried to break up public education.

Now he said he backs Trump's plans for choice...

Holtz, who has courted conservative support, argued the GOP-backed Act 10 is not the problem ... teachers' frustrations with the state's evaluation system ... and that he didn't have many reservations about President Trump's proposed budget.

But Trump's proposed budget should have raised concerns, big time reservations, over the departments budget cuts. EdWeek: 

Private and charter schools were considered the big winners in President Donald Trump's budget blueprint, which sought new money to expand student options, while slashing other K-12 spending. Private and charter schools would be squeezed by the proposed cuts, just like regular public schools.

The Trump administration's budget blueprint would include $1.4 billion in new money for school choice, but it would get rid of Title II, the $2.3 billion main federal program for improving teacher quality, and the 21st Century Community Learning Center program, a $1.1 billion program which helps finance afterschool and extended-day programs. Private and charter schools receive funding, or at least services, from both programs. Here's a breakdown of how that works: 

Private Schools: Private schools benefit from federal dollars, particularly Title II, although the process is a bit more complicated … Here's how it works: District receive money from Title II—which can be used for class-size reduction, professional development, retention bonuses and more. But private schools with high-poverty populations are supposed to be able to take advantage of the dollars too. And districts have to consult with private schools in their area about how they want the dollars used—they can't just make the decision for them.

And the amount of Title II funding going to private schools isn't chump change, at least in places that have embraced school choice in a big way. In Wisconsin, for example, home to a long-standing voucher program, nearly 25 percent of the state's roughly $25 million in Title II funding goes to private and parochial schools, or about $5 million total, said Tony Evers, the state chief.

The cuts, particularly to Title II funding would hit private schools the same way it would hit public schools.

Charter Schools: Some states treat charter schools or networks of charters as separate school districts. That means, if they qualify for federal grants, like Title I, Title II, career and technical education money, or something else, they get it, under the same set of rules as traditional public schools.

The share of Title II dollars going to charters isn't trivial. In California, for example, it's about 10 percent of funding, or an estimated $23 million of the state's roughly $234 million in Title II funding. The newly passed Every Student Succeeds Act which passed in 2015, puts a special focus on using the money to replicate high-performing charters. If the new dollars are approved by Congress and directed to those efforts, existing charters might not see much of it.