Public Schools, Real and Imagined!

This is so good and covers so much ground that I just had to pass this along.

Cody, the host, as usual does an amazing analysis that should be watch in its entirety, even if it takes a few days. It is, after all, 2 hours long. For me, I had to pause it a number of times to absorb and allow myself to cool down.

The MAGA attack on education has nothing to do with what is taught in schools. Remember, MAGA parents were only mad that their kids were home, not in public daycare facilities we call schools. And when they found out their kids were actually learning something, after checking out their online subject matter, they went crazy. Imagine education getting better and covering broader topic many parents were never exposed to. Outrageous.

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.

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."

GOP to end law protecting Public Schools, nationally Fund Private School System.

Lost in the flurry of devastating policies just hitting the fan is the actual dismantling of public education.

There is now a bill in the House to eliminate the countries educational framework for public schools known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. This may be the first time your hearing about this law, so here's what it has been quietly protecting for the last 51 years. This will soon be gone...:

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESSA) of 1965 is the nation's educational law and provides equal opportunity in education. 

1. It is a comprehensive program that covers programs for struggling learners, AP classes, ESL classes, classes for minorities such as Native Americans, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety (Gun-Free schools), Monitoring and Compliance and Federal Accountability Programs.

2. Abolishes the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act) which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch. For our most vulnerable, this may be the ONLY nutritious food they have in a day.

3. The bill has no wording whatsoever protecting special needs kids, no mention of IDEA and FAPE.

4. Protects Children with Disabilities - ensures access to the general education curriculum-ensures access to accommodations on assessments-ensures concepts of Universal Design for Learning - includes provisions that require local education agencies to provide evidence-based interventions in schools with consistently underperforming subgroups - requires states in Title I plans to address how they will improve conditions for learning including reducing incidents of bullying and harassment in schools, overuse of discipline practices and reduce the use of aversion behavioral interventions (such as restraints and seclusion).

What will be replacing it?

The Choices in Education Act of 2017, introduced by Republican wacko Rep. Steven King. It gets rid of the ESSA and creates federal block grants that'll be used Republican states to pay for what would be a federally funded nationwide private school system, short changing public schools. Not exactly small government/constitutionally required and well beyond the incentives used before this:

The bill establishes an education voucher program, through which each state shall distribute block grant funds  

(1) distribute a portion of funds to parents who elect to enroll their child in a private school or to home-school their child, and(2) do so in a manner that ensures that such payments will be used for appropriate educational expenses.

To be eligible to receive a block grant, a state must:

(1) comply with education voucher program requirements, and(2) make it lawful for parents of an eligible child to elect to enroll their child in any public or private elementary or secondary school in the state or to home-school their child.

At fake news purveyor Breitbart, home schoolers are as mad as hell over the possibility taxpayers may want them to be accountable:

Homeschooling families throughout the nation are voicing opposition ...“would be a slippery slope toward more federal involvement and control in homeschooling,”  asserts William Estrada, director of federal relations for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).

Why faze out public schools via state taxes and replace them with grant funding of private religious and home schooling? Rep. Steven King admits steering government funding to private school systems will stop the liberal attack on education and religion, giving back to parents the control they never lost regarding their child's schools. Oh, and that establishment of religion thing...?:

"We’re watching as a nationwide curriculum is being established, and that nationwide curriculum eventually drags the parochial schools into that curriculum. I’m watching as our Judeo-Christian values are being undermined, and I’m watching as western civilization is being deconstructed systemically throughout our public school system and especially in our universities – which we don’t touch with this, by the way. The object is to put parents back in control of their children’s education and curriculum and put it in a position where the public schools compete with the parochial schools.

Let the states regulate those things at that level, not the federal government. States that are unwilling to pass a voucher program have to give up their federal money. So isn’t that a much bigger goal for us – to put the public schools into competition with parochial schools than it is to preserve the status quo of homeschool?"

The states would then be able to cut even more public school funding with impossible benchmarks while sending more money to private schools.

Like one Westchester Pennsylvania blogger wrote:

Does the bill refer to any standards for schools to meet? No.

Does the bill require the child to be making some recognizable progress? No, just be “aged 5 to 17, inclusive.” So a student age 5-17, even if repeating one grade 3 times, qualifies, but a high school senior aged 18, for whatever reason such as earlier serious illness, doesn’t.

Don’t federal and states standards cover some of these things? Maybe, but none are referenced in the bill. In a year when you can see regulations falling like dominoes, you can bet that once the door is opened by HR 610, no one will dare turn off the money.

Check out this recent article from The Nation:  Education for Sale? School choice and the future of American education.

State Superintendent Challengers/Businesses have Plans for Privatizing Public Schools.

The privateers of our public schools just exposed their slimy underbellies. Ends justify the means/or whatever it takes to get the job?

It looks like the candidate challengers to State Superintendent Tony Evers just made it clear what really matters to them, and it ain't education. You can't make dirty politics like this up...:

Candidate John Humphries said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal that during discussions between he and opponent Lowell Holtz about the possibility of the two working together instead of running against each other, Holtz proposed in writing that either he or Humphries should drop out in exchange for a guaranteed, three-year, $150,000 job with the Department of Public Instruction should one of them defeat incumbent Tony Evers in the general election.

Once the privateers eliminate the publically controlled schools, business responds something like this:

Humphries said the two met after speaking to "business leaders," who Humphries declined to identify. 

"It’s true that we had breakfast together. It’s true that a number of business people asked us to get together and discuss options for working together because they thought we would have a better chance," said Holtz. "There was no specific proposal. There were ideas that were thrown around. They were ideas."

How real is any of this and how outraged are these two challengers? What a circus. Here's the proposal:

 "suggestions from business people that were put in writing because the business people asked for them to be put in writing." - Holtz

Intentionally Silent Voucher Privateers quietly taking larger taxpayer handouts from bought off Walker Republicans.

One thing that has frustrated me most about the voucher debate was the lack of coverage over the privateers end game; dramatically increased public funding. While most stories brag about the bargain price of voucher schools, privateers have been whining about the disparity, and demanding equal per pupil funding...and more.

Welcome to the real world Wisconsinites! According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, vouchers have taken the lead under the Scott Walker Authority:

1. The amount of state money spent on each student using a private school voucher has increased $911: 14 percent since 2010 = $7,214, and $7,860 for high school students

2. The amount of money the state spends on each public school student has decreased $210: 4 percent since 2010 = $5,108.

3. The 2015-16 school year was the first year school districts experienced a loss in state aid to pay for students living in district boundaries who were attending private schools using a school voucher ... per pupil aid dipping below the national average for the first time in history. Previously, state general purpose revenue paid for vouchers. 

4. Voucher school operators are getting nearly $1000 more per student from state taxpayers than in 2011.”

5. In order to make up for state funding reductions, since 2011 Wisconsin communities have passed 667 referenda to increase local taxpayer funding of public schools.

So while Walker and his band of plundering legislative pirates can brag in their reelection ads they cut spending and taxes, individual communities statewide have had to do just the opposite:

GOP trick to make Public Schools sound like Private Schools fails.

Republican lawmaker and former teacher Jeremy Thiesfeldt must think we’re stupid, and after taking a look at his plans for public education, he apparently wants to make our kids that way too.

Public Profit Bad, Private Profit Good: Thiesfeldt complained in his press release that the Fond du Lac School Districts made up for lost funding by increasing taxes and then having a surplus, what he oddly called “profit.” That’s rich coming from a guy pushing profit driven private schools:

Former disgruntled teacher!!!

The Fond du Lac School District (FDLSD) “increased its tax levy $379,407 due to private school voucher students.” A Fond du Lac Reporter article took advantage of that complexity to mislead the readers, whether intentional or not, to put the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program (WPCP) in a negative light. The districts levied beyond the costs of the WPCP, profiting from students that are no longer enrolled, or never were enrolled in district schools.

Profit is usually paid out to someone or something. The districts money will stay with the district and pay for schools. 

Below I’ve interpreted Thiesfeldt’s nonsensical list of talking points, with my comments in parenthesis:  

“Students are educated at a lower cost (education will be driven by cost, not outcomes) and access to more educational choices (the magical thinking that more choices makes things better) yields greater parent satisfaction (playing on the insecurities and fears of parents who want to do what's best for their kids) and improved outcomes (simply not factually true).” 

Thiesfeldt closes with meaningless, nonsensical assumptions:

In America today, people are demanding choices (no, Republican privateers are demanding choices). In order to efficiently provide for more educational choices, we must conclude all good schools are worthy of some level of public financial support ("we must? ... 'these aren't the droids you're looking for...sorry, just more insane claptrap beyond any Jedi mind trick). 

Good schools need adequate funding as they assist parents in educating their children (but not public schools, right?); dedicated teachers need fair compensation, good training and parental support; good parents need to be actively engaged in school governance; students need parents to hold them to high standards (yes, for public schools. Try "governance" of a private school sometime). 

Cooperation amongst all these entities (just give-in to profit driven private schools) will yield students that possess the skills our workforce requires, but, more importantly will sustain and advance the American tradition by passing the keys of freedom to coming generations (dripping nationalism, since when are private for profit schools traditional?).

Isn't it a little suspicious that a 21 year former religious school teacher wants to expand vouchers? Thiesfeldt's ultimate goal is like so many others in his party; a mass conversion to religious indoctrination and ultimately a more socially conservative society. Let's call it what it is, taxpayer supported Sunday school, 5 days a week.

Kewaskum’s Rep. Jesse Kremer came right out and said it, when he dragged his 3 Biblically named daughters into the debate:

An unapologetic social conservative with a deep Christian faith, Kremer enrolled his three daughters — Keturah, 12, Miriam, 10, and Michaiah, 6 — in a Lutheran school in West Bend. “I tell people who send their kids to public schools that I send my kids there because I know they are getting the beliefs that I want them to have.”

And since you don't have to test "beliefs," Thiesfeldt's opt out bill is starting to make sense:

Rep. Thiesfeldt's Test "Opt Out" Bill Passes Assembly: Rep. Thiesfeldt’s bill, guarantees parents of students in grades 3-12 the ability to receive, upon formal request, an exemption for their child from the statewide standardized test...

And magically, vouchers schools are as good as they say they are.

School Funding taking hit in devastated energy producing Republican states!

Oil prices are plunging, and coal is on its way out. That's bad news for energy producing Republican states that have cut income and corporate taxes to the bone. They took the irresponsible route with an "eggs in one basket" approach to funding their state budgets.

Now their social obligation bills are due, and Republicans are broke. They were warned coal and gas prices could someday tank, and energy producing red state politicians ignored the advice. Edweek:

Reeling from drastic midyear cuts after they grossly miscalculated expected revenues amid falling oil prices and troubles in the coal industry, legislators in several mineral-dependent states, including Alaska and Oklahoma, are set to debate alternative revenue sources for state school aid.

"Generally speaking, when oil money was flowing well, we decided we didn't need sales or income tax revenue, and we ended up with a sole source of revenue," said Mike Hanley, Alaska's education commissioner, who had to shutter the state's pre-K program last year after the state told him to ax a third of his department's budget.
West Virginia imposed midyear, 1 percent cuts to state school funding ... included teacher layoffs, closed schools, and consolidation of some districts with waning student populations. Wyoming in the past used revenue from its coal-mining industry to build new schools. In 2013, the state received $736 million for school construction from that source. In 2019, it is projected to receive just $26 million.

Republicans abandoned a formula that's worked for year; a state tax system where everybody can expect to pay their fair share. And Republicans want to run the country?

During the most recent oil boom, Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Mary Fallin led the state's Republican-dominated legislature through a series of income and corporate tax breaks. The state now collects in taxes just half what it did in 2007. In December, Gov. Fallin declared a "revenue failure" after tax collections fell $50 million, or 12 percent short of projections in November. School districts had to make $47 million in cuts or 1.5 percent of their total budgets last year. Fallin predicts the legislature will face a $900 million shortfall next year.

In Alaska, Independent Gov. Bill Walker is proposing the state's first income tax in 35 years after analysts predicted the state will fail to collect two-thirds of the revenue needed to fill the state's $5 billion operating budget … The state earlier this year told its education department to cut a third of its budget, which axed, among other things, its preschool services and a professional development program for administrators. Some rural districts, which have just a handful of students left, are considering closing ... legislatures are debating whether to close schools with fewer than 25 students, a centuries-long mainstay in the mostly rural state. "When you start closing those schools, you start to eliminate communities," said Bobby Bolen, the superintendent of the Bering Strait school district.

Legislators in some oil states warn them to think long-term. "Education is not a one-time expense," said North Dakota state Rep. Jeff Delzer
 LOUISIANA: Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal recommended in November cutting $1.2 million from the state’s education department. Local officials say they’re seeing a decrease in sales tax after the oil industry laid off 10,000 workers in the last six months alone. Legislators predict a $1 billion shortfall next fiscal year.

WYOMING: The state for decades has used money from its coal-mining industry to pay for school construction. In 2013, it received $736 million from that source for school construction. In 2019, it is projected to receive just $26 million. Lawmakers will have to cut $500 million from the state’s $3.5 billion budget this legislative session. The two-year budget cycle ends in June.

Walker has done nothing to improve Minority Graduation Rates.

To put it in a way Republicans and their voters can understand; Scott Walker's Act 10 and voucher expansion isn't improving minority graduation rates. jsonline:

Even after 25 years of vouchers in Milwaukee and the expansion statewide, Walker is failing to close the graduation gap under Act 10 and vouchers. Especially for those Republicans who are pretending to care most about black student achievement.

The graduation rate for white students rose to 92.9% ranking third nationally, widening the gap between black and white students to 26.8 percentage points.

What a success? And while it takes from 8 to 12 years or so for current policy to show up as an improvement or failure in our national scores, Walker is taking credit for all the progress mad by preceding administrations, all the while tearing it apart:  

Wisconsin's gap in graduation rates between black and white students widened slightly in the 2013-'14 school year to become the largest in the country, at a time when many states are narrowing that gap, according to preliminary data released this week by the U.S. Department of Education.

Wisconsin's overall graduation rate rose by more than half a percentage point to 88.6% in 2013-'14, the most recent year available ... But the rate for African-American students held steady at 66.1%, failing to keep pace with gains seen by their Wisconsin counterparts and those in almost every other racial, ethnic and special-needs category.

The reason? Republicans have been focusing in on spreading private voucher money to higher income families with students already in private schools for mostly religious reasons, and not our economically challenged inner cities for improving public education.  

An estimated 26,900 students who live in the city of Milwaukee are using vouchers to attend 117 private schools, the vast majority of them religious. Public spending for the current school year will exceed $190 million. Once a school is running, is the fact that parents are choosing it enough to justify continued public funding? That's pretty much the case now.

Walker's Act 10 "tools" to fix education over his last 5 years have done nothing for elementary minority students reading and math scores. Instead of attacking Common Core and Tony Evers, and praising white student scores, legislators should have been working with the State Superintendent to improve minority graduation rates and basic reading:  

Fourth-grade reading scores for black students were the second worst. And black students in only three states had lower average math scores than Wisconsin's black fourth-graders and eighth-graders.

So will Walker be blamed 8 years from now when minority graduation rates still stink or possibly decline? I can hear the accusations of "Walker derangement syndrome" now.

Speaking of the State Superintendent Tony Evers, Republican efforts to oust Evers and change the state constitution isn't even close to what the public wants.

When asked if the head of the state Department of Public Instruction should be elected or appointed, a resounding 84 percent of Wisconsin Surveyrespondents favored keeping it as an elected position. The survey shows almost all Democrats -- 92 percent -- feel the superintendent should remain an elected position while 73 percent of Republicans agreed. 

Rep. Sanfelippo: Voters not qualified to elect best choice for the Dept. of Public Instruction...leave it up to the governor and legislature.

Republicans haven't quite crushed every remnant from previous Democratic administrations, including constitutionally protected elected offices, but they're feverishly working on it. Their favorite ploy; defunding their targets, like the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Republican voters should consider a few important things the next time they cast their vote; are they willing to politicize education by dumping the nonpartisan state superintendent; do they want to centralize even more power in the governors office; should they let legislators to make big statewide changes that would just produce chaos into district planning? jsonline:

Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-New Berlin) for a constitutional amendment that would shift the authority to select the superintendent of Public Instruction from the voters to the governor.

No matter what ridiculous reason is given, don't believe it. Not surprisingly, the state's only two liberal voting areas, Madison and Milwaukee, are seen as the source of all our problems. They must be changed. Should Superintendent Tony Evers, who oversees K-12 education statewide, answer to the whims of anti-public education lawmakers who have discounted the influence of poverty:

Rep. Joe Sanfelippo countered with a statement Thursday saying Evers' address glossed over the state's educational deficiencies, particularly in the Milwaukee and Madison school districts. He vowed to introduce a series of bills this fall that would decentralize power by shrinking the size of DPI and giving that money directly to local schools through per pupil aid.

"Imagine how much better off our students — our future workforce — would be if we eliminated the excessive overhead at DPI and put that funding directly into the classrooms," Sanfelippo said.

Yes, think of all the wasted dollars used to employ hard working professionals who are specialist in child education. What do they know about what our kids end up with in the classroom. I want to follow the increasing chaotic changes offered up by big government Republicans in Madison.

Superintendent Tony Evers reacted:

"The impact the ongoing assault on public education happening in this state and across the nation may make for great political theater, but it's making it more and more difficult for our teachers to stay the course. I support the right of the Legislature to enact laws as they see fit. The people who have elected them have given them that authority. However, when policy conflicts with the needs of our kids, it eventually floods into the classroom ... a sad attack at the heart of our democracy and our state's history. The need and opportunity for real school finance reform has never been more evident. We are becoming a state of haves and have-nots. I want my grandkids to attend a 'have' school."

Here's more from WKOW's Greg Neumann:



Remember, our genius Representative said this...

"Special interest groups can get someone without the proper qualifications to win a popularity contest every four years."

Either he doesn't know or is just flat out lying, but...

Evers received his bachelors (1974), masters (1978), and doctorate degrees (1986) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Evers began his professional career as a teacher and media coordinator in the Tomah school district. In 1979 to 1980 he was principal of the Tomah elementary school, and from 1980 to 1984 he was principal at the high school. From 1984-1988 he was superintendent of the Oakfield school district, and from 1988-1992 he was superintendent of the Verona school district. From 1992 to 2001 he was administrator of Cooperative Education Service Agency in Oshkosh.

Attacking Evers and not dealing with real reform is the name of the game for work averse freeloading Republicans.

In fact, they're now getting help from the conservative lawsuit mill Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty:

A 2011 law that would have given the governor the ability to block administrative rules by state schools Superintendent Tony Evers (lost in court). A unanimous state appeals court found a portion of the law unconstitutional in February. Former Assembly speaker Scott Jensen said in a statement issued by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty that "the Court of Appeals decision undermines the constitutional authority of the Legislature to craft educational policy." 

As usual, the reader comments section had the best responses:

-How about we do what the state constitution says. It has worked well since 1848, no matter what ALEC and the college drop-outs say. Do the people really want these big government special interest tools to have unchecked power in every area of our lives?

-Does anyone know how much one needs to contribute to Walker to be appointed Superintendent?

- This isn't about saving money or efficiency, it's about political vendetta. Why is Evers demonized while Sanfelippo is a hero to some? Bottom line is, this is one more instance of taking power from the voters and placing it in Walker's hands. His claims of local control are false.

- "...Sanfelippo fired back, vowing to gut the Department of Public Instruction's $137 million operating budget and send some of those funds to school districts around the state..." 

-But, but, Joe, a number of your Republican colleagues keep telling us, more money is not the answer. You just want a superintendent that leans right, then it wouldn't matter if he/she was elected or not.

- Win an election, have some winger bozo say your position should be appointed.

- It is always better when you remove the voice of voters. Wait. What???

- This is a sad situation, a widely admired education leader pleading for understanding from ideological bullies, America's modern day barbarians. How low can we go?

- stinkypinky: I like this Sanfelippo guy! Evers is a Democrat hack and a longtime union stooge. Cut his budget to nothing, give the money to the schools, and award him an office in the basement right next to Lonely LaFollette.

-Wilber:@stinkypinky, If Evers was appointed by Walker, whose "hack and stooge" would he be then? By all means, let Walker appoint the superintendent. He has such a great track record appointing and hiring people. Russell, Cavanaugh, Wink, Rindfleisch...

Hillary takes aim at Scott Walker's scorched earth educational cuts to the UW and public schools.

Scott Walker's calm sleepy eyed demeanor has successfully concealed his more vindictive personality trait for years. Thankfully, that's about to end.

As predicted, Walker's massive cuts to the UW and public education are now coming back to haunt him. Think Progress: 

Hillary Clinton:“And you take somebody like Governor Walker of Wisconsin, who seems to be delighting in slashing the investment in higher education in his state; in making it more difficult for students to get scholarships or to pay off their debt; eliminating the opportunities for young people who are doctors or dentists to actually work in under-served areas in return for having their debt relieved; ending scholarships for poor kids; and most surprisingly to me, rejecting legislation that would have made it tax-deductible for you on your income tax to deduct the amount of your loan payment.”

Okay, here’s the criticism that always drives me crazy; our free market Republican privateers, for some odd reason, hate the free market when Democrats like Hillary Clinton negotiate speaking fees. 

Here's Walker's embarrassing anti-free market response to Clinton's criticisms:

Clinton has come under fire for collecting lavish speaking fees from universities. 

Republican policy is rife with easy answers to amazingly complex problems, like Walker’s tuition freeze. Is that a solution to crippling student debt and the rising cost of education? Didn’t think so:

But even Walker’s attack on Clinton doesn’t escape scrutiny. University officials have pointed out that freezing tuition eliminates one option to make up for Walker’s large budget cuts. Walker also proposed a $127 million cut in primary school funding in January and Wisconsin’s decrease in per-pupil spending from the 2010-11 year was the highest of all 50 states, according to a 2014 U.S. Census Bureau report.

Again, the easy Scott Walker answer is freezing tuition at public universities. But cost conscious conservative voters should ask themselves why they should trust expensive for-profit private colleges more, when they lack accountability for promises made to students. Their record isn’t good, and victimized students are swimming in debt. 

Walker is pushing that business model. He's asking for easy accreditation for private colleges, not for the benefit of students, but for increased profits and fatter bottom lines:

Scott Walker, in a post on Red State, called her a “deceiver-in-chief” when it comes to her higher education policies:

“America needs real reforms in higher education, including putting in place incentives to keep costs low, confronting the accreditation cartels that limit options, and improving federal government data so students and families have the information they need to make the best decisions possible.”

As Think Progress rightly pointed out in a case that should give pause to tightwad conservative voters:

Their mention of accreditation is likely a reference to making accreditation easier for for-profit colleges. Corinthian Colleges have been guilty of misrepresenting job placement data submitted to the U.S. Department of Education and have closed campuses afterward. 

Yes, Scott Walker is a Big Government Republican, say Wisconsin School Principals.

Calling Scott Walker a big government Republican wasn't just my way to slam our sociopathic governor, I honestly meant it after seeing how quickly he signed away local control.

The party that celebrates "opposite day everyday," said they were giving school boards more local control, freeing them from Washington special interests, namely union bosses.

But that's not what happened say Wisconsin principals:  

Some 35 school principals from Wisconsin have sent a letter to Gov. Scott Walker — who is running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination — saying that state education policies and budgets are hurting their schools. And they told Walker that his war on “big government” isn’t really returning power back to the people but actually making it harder for communities to have a say in local education decisions.

The principals said they're concerned about how changes passed under Walker forcing schools to compete will result in more segregation. The model will result in an exclusionary system between the "haves and have nots," they wrote. And they point to how Walker has pledged to reduce big government, yet they feel power "of the people, by the people and for the people" is less in the people's hands than it once was. 

"The people in local communities have far less voice today than they did only a few decades ago," the letter states, saying that school boards have less power now to make policy, funding and testing decisions. "Since the onset of revenue limits in 1992, our school districts have been reducing and eliminating programs and resources. We are burdened by the cumulative effects of budget cuts resulting in increased class sizes, cut programs and deferred maintenance plans."

Something I didn't see coming was this: Republicans are now quietly separating out school funding, slipping more money to rural districts, their voting base.  Don't get me wrong, they need the help, but so does every schools across the state. But this is ripe for abuse and voter bribery. From WISC:



Here's the principals letter (click to enlarge):

Republicans in Kansas got caught violating the state constitution with cuts to school funding.

I know, they love the constitution…until they don’t. Then it’s time to change it or get around it.

They also don’t want to be on the hook if more kids go to school. No really, they said that.

AP: A district court panel in Kansas declared Friday that key parts of a new state law for funding public schools violate the state constitution and ordered an immediate increase in aid. Shawnee County District Court would force the state to provide between $46 million and $54 million in extra aid next week, distributing the money under an old formula that legislators junked.

But why did Kansas Gov. Brownback and GOP legislators hate the old formula? You won’t believe it…

The GOP-dominated Legislature disliked the old formula partly because it automatically left the state on the hook for additional spending if schools gained students, if more students had special needs or even if districts had major building projects.

In any other world people having families that send more kids to school would be a good thing. Not in Kansas. And ouch, more special needs kids.

"The opinion itself is, to put it as kindly as possible, utter nonsense," Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, a Nickerson Republican said. Top Republicans also described the decision as highly political.

Those are reasons?

John Robb, a Newton attorney representing four school districts said, "The Legislature continues to try to skirt the constitution and not fund schools."

Even a 4th Grader understands Education more than elected School Board Members.

This is a must watch for those who still don't get it, kids love public schools and understand education better than their parents ever did. I'm so proud of kids today:

April 7, 2015: Sydney Smoot, a 9-year-old fourth grader in Hernando County, Fla., delivered a speech about Florida’s new standardized test, the Florida Standards Assessment, that drew loud applause from the audience. (Hernando County TV)

Walker's cuts to school spending shocker; now below national average.

If it wasn't for the dedicated hard work of our teachers, and the concern they have for our kids, schools would be failing academically right now. It's anybodies guess how long teachers can hold up under the barrage of funding cuts, and the constant character assassination brought about by a bunch of disgruntled republican politicians who still can't get over their bad boy years in high school.

We're trending down folks, biennial budget after biennial budget. This is Scott Walker's plan for the country, what do you think? jsonline:

Walker budget puts Wisconsin per-pupil spending below national average: For what could be the first time ever, Wisconsin would fall below the national average in per-pupil K-12 spending if Gov. Scott Walker's budget passes without changes, according to an analysis from a national nonpartisan research group. Only a handful of states, including Wisconsin, are poised to cut education spending in the 2015-'16 school year, according to the commission's analysis.

The vast majority of other states are projected to increase spending between 1% and 3% to account for increasing operational costs such as health care.

Republicans got an earful about the cuts, and they know they’re in deep shit with their own voters if they don’t come up with something. But that may not be enough.

Walker proposed cutting $127 million from K-12 schools in the first year of his budget, which has drawn criticism from districts and the state Department of Public Instruction. Increasingly, parents have rallied to join the call for not just a restoration of the cut — which would bring districts back to where they are this year — but also an increase. A recent statewide poll by Marquette Law School showed 78% of Wisconsin residents disagreed with Walker's $127 million proposed cut to K-12 education.

Republicans are also trying to give the impression that they care about restoring funding, so when they don’t, they can say they tried. Will their voters let them off the hook again?

Leading Republicans pledged to restore funding for K-12 schools as they work through amending Walker's budget.

They think a token giveback to save their sorry asses will help. I hope not.

Walker tax cuts a wash? Maybe, as Wisconsinites vote to raise area taxes to fund their schools.

Just how disconnected are the Republicans from reality as they cut, cut, cut taxes?

Well, just take a look at the number of passed school referendums; these are tax increases. While Scott Walker and the Republicans can brag about their cut taxes, communities all over the state are raising them, pretty much negating any savings.  

It's odd to think this doesn't send them a message. Taxpayers get it, they understand, and they're a whole lot more responsible than their own elected officials.

The Republican obsession over tax cuts and their feigned concern for the taxpayers doesn't come close to the public's desire to spend money wisely, and not to mention educate the next generation.

Wisconsin voters approved ballot initiatives in 43 school districts (in April 2015), voluntarily raising property taxes in order to fund academics or improve infrastructure in their districts.Wisconsin voters approved ballot initiatives in 27 school districts (Nov. 2014).Wisconsin voters approved ballot initiatives in 25 districts (April 2014).

Since the Walker authority took over, Wisconsin schools have seen rapid declines and increases in all the wrong places. The graphs below, from the Wisconsin Budget Project, prove that. Thanks to our already high ranking in the country, actual declines may not be as noticeable, at least, right away.

Public School Republican Indoctrinates Students, saying Obama not a Christian, just like the parents that support him.

Liberal indoctrination in public schools has been the target of Republicans since the beginning of time, or at least the last 50 years. Every example supposedly proves conservatives are under attack. The truth about their party and actions is just so much left wing propaganda. That’s why privatization makes sense them.

And yet, Republican outrage does not extend to conservative indoctrination. This is not an isolated case, but it is the latest one getting minimal media coverage:

Salon: A Dublin City, Georgia teacher caused a community-wide scandal when she allegedly questioned President Barack Obama’s Christianity, as well as the Christianity of anyone who supported him in front of her class. The incident, which reportedly occurred last February, was brought before a school board meeting in late March. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Adam Carlson reports:

Dublin City Schools Superintendent Chuck Ledbetter said. a parent at Dublin Middle School first brought the matter to the school principal … In its letter the NAACP alleges that, in a parent-teacher conference soon after the comments were made, the teacher "presented to the parents a packet of several pages from a website that expressed her views on religion and politics" instead of adequately addressing their concerns. 

Borg-like Republicans will automatically disregard this new outrage, laugh it off with some snide Democratic put-down, and never correct what seems to be a growing problem in our newly privatized educational system.

Parents Statewide angry over Walker's cuts to Schools, while teacher applicants way down or they're just leaving Wisconsin.

Scott Walker's budget was so dramatically out of line with expectations of state residents, that it's hard to know what he was thinking. This is an all or nothing proposed downsizing or rejection of everything "government." Many Walker voters are suddenly feeling the full effects of their own policy. Beloit Daily News: 

BRILLION, WI: The overwhelming message dozens of educators, parents and school board members delivered to the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee Wednesday was simple: Fund public schools and stop the expansion of taxpayer-subsidized vouchers.

"I'm not just concerned, I'm appalled that education cuts are even on the table. … Our schools are not failing as you have been repeatedly told. They are struggling to succeed with the little resources that you offer them," Kathryn Carley, who has children in the Green Bay Area Public School District, told the committee. Hundreds of community members attended the day-long public hearing at Brillion High School, most of them voicing concerns on varying aspects of Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget.

Don Hietpas, Appleton's chief financial officer: "We cannot sustain excellent student programming and student activities if our revenues continue to be frozen," Hietpas said.

Scott Walker's Act 10 union busting "tools" are all worn out. Vilified teachers leaving state:

Beloit area schools are having a harder time recruiting teachers: Superintendent of the Beloit Turner School District Dennis McCarthy said there has been a sharp reduction in applicants for teaching positions for the past several years. “We have posted numerous positions with little or no applicants … there are simply far less quality candidates available.”

McCarthy said a technical education teacher position in 2009 yielded 17 applicants, but the same position had 5 applicants in 2013. A fifth grade teacher yielded 259 applicants in 2009, yet there were only 28 applicants in 2014 for the same position … down 30 teachers from the four years ago … anticipates $5 million in cuts this year. Tasha Bell, equity coordinator for the district, said “This year we have gone to fairs in Illinois hoping to net some bilingual and candidates of color.”

Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, associate dean of teacher education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said there has been a decline among students pursuing education at the university. “It hasn’t been significant, but it’s going down,” Hanley-Maxell said.

Hanley-Maxwell said those who do become teachers are choosing more often to leave the state, estimating a 10 percent increase in students who leave Wisconsin after graduating from UW-Madison … enrollment in California teaching programs is down 53 percent

Conservatives in denial, really don't want to admit they hate wasting money on the poor, attack school.

Republican don't want to waste money helping the poor! That was the answer on an assignment in a West Allis school. Too political? One mom thinks so, and she's getting major national coverage whining about it.

But wait, does anyone remember how a conservative teacher brainwashed his students in 2012?

Democurmudgeon: And how does a teacher rate to bring in dumb Ron Johnson, or Rep. Thomas Petri? How does a teacher plan field trips to GOP presidential debates and the Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum of zealot religious right wingers, with students from his class? 

FDLReporter: Karl McCarty, who teaches history and political science at Oakfield High School, invites politicians to speak with his class as a way to show students that politicians are human. Recently, the class hosted U.S. Rep. Thomas Petri (and) Ron Johnson who said any of the GOP candidates would be better than President Barack Obama … “That (hope and change) was an empty vessel filled by the people that voted for him — their hopes and dreams,” Johnson said. jsonline: Call this story Oakfield High School's Excellent Republican Adventure. In a whirlwind trip to Iowa, seven students and two recent graduates of the school, shepherded by teacher Karl McCarty and a father of two in the group, drove six hours from Oakfield to Des Moines, met top GOP candidates.

Where was the outrage? Republicans were silent back then. But now....

A suburban high school government class assignment aimed at helping students figure out which beliefs align with certain political ideologies has come under fire. A Nathan Hale High School mother took her concerns over a recent class assignment public after a teacher graded her son as incorrect for assessing the statement, "We should not help the poor, it's a waste of money," as fascist, instead of what the teacher marked as the correct answer: conservative/Republican.

It’s true isn't it? Who wants to drug test shiftless freeloaders who don’t show up for work? Who wants to cut the poor off from Medicaid or kill ObamaCare? They care alright. Who didn't want to waste money on food stamps in the farm bill? Who won't want to increase the minimum wage? The correct answer is: Conservative/Republican, and they don’t like the truth.

The issue was brought to light by conservative news outlet EAGNews.org and then Fox News. Heather Bronnson posted the EAGNews story on social media Monday, adding the comment, "No political party espouses not helping the poor, it's ridiculous. Why can't they just teach the basic political spectrum without lying?" Bronnson's postings elsewhere are critical of unions.

A West Allis-West Milwaukee School District spokesman said Tuesday the political spectrum assignment was developed by teachers at the high school and has been used for about a decade. 

But West Allis wasn't having any of this phony outrage:

A West Allis-West Milwaukee School District spokesman Brian Vissers said the issue had been fueled by EAG, a media group with an anti-public education agenda.

"There are all types of questions on this assignment ranging from far right to far left," he said. "It seems like the mother in this case just pulled out what her political views are. She didn't have any issues with the articles or questions on the other side of the political spectrum."

Republican School Accountability Disaster Political Meddling from not-so-smart Freeloading Legislators.

WISC's Jessica Arp, covering the ever changing school accountability legislation, showed us all just how out of whack the Republican are in dealing with the realities of making schools even better than they already are.

In two important stories, local districts don't like what they're seeing, especially when it comes to the simple minded grading system. Instead of rating the strengths and weaknesses of each school, the GOP authority is pushing A through F grades. Really?

Overall scores will bring down a schools total average unfairly, so they appear to be failing, forcing a quicker switch over to private schools. There's a more responsible way to do this. Like your own child's report card, it's much better to see where they have strengths, so you can direct more time working on their weaknesses. This works for schools and businesses alike.



Edgwood College Dean of Education Tim Slekar trashed the idea, calling the penalties "Hunger Games for kids." Accountability has for decades helped schools adapt and improve over time. The myth created around the drive to go private, that public schools are failing, will become a reality if Republicans get their way. From a past WKOW Capitol City Sunday, Slekar doesn't hold back:



One radio caller was right in suggesting a similar grading system for each lawmaker and for the assembly and senate. They collect big paychecks, so how come they don't get a written evaluation?