Wisconsin Private Choice Schools Score Half as Proficient as Public Schools!!!

Are we trying to give Republicans, including Scott Walker, a pass on their public education legacy following Act 10? I think yes?

My head is exploding over the recently released 2019 Student Assessment Scores and the coverage.

Republicans Attack Teachers and Slash School Funding: Let's start with the first obvious story that should point voters to the guilty party: Republicans and the 8 years of trashing teachers and public education.

WSJ: Wisconsin has had the second deepest slash in per-student spending in the nation since 2008 — second only to Alabama — according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Alabama and Wisconsin led the list of at least 35 states providing less funding per student than they did before the recession hit.

Surprise, Teacher Exodus and Vilification took Toll: Scott Walker and the gerrymandered Majority Republicans started the ball rolling with Act 10. And they were warned, but...

CapTimes: Tim Slekar, the dean of Edgewood College’s School of Education, regularly meets with about a dozen prospective students each semester. “I’ve sat here and done it more than once where an interested student and their parents come in, and the parents say, ‘Yeah, she wants to be a teacher but we told her we’re not supportive of that decision.’”

...students see experienced educators leave the profession earlier than anticipated. Of those who leave teaching before retirement age, many cite a lack of support from school administrators as well as high stress and low morale.

Take notice conservative voters, Republican Rep. Robin Vos is once again trying to pass blame, to distract you by feigning outrage over something he was responsible for:

JS: Less than half of Wisconsin students again this year are considered to be proficient in reading and math — a trend Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Thursday called "disturbing." "Wisconsin students deserve an excellent education no matter where they attend school ... taxpayers deserve to know why we’re not seeing better results.”

Hey, Look at the Voucher School Scores!!! I didn't even know "choice" voucher schools were included in the state average until I read this in Molly Beck's JS coverage:

The release included scores from students at private voucher schools, which Republicans have backed expanding in three consecutive state budgets since 2011. Among students in private voucher schools, 22% were considered proficient or advanced in reading and 18% in math.

Much of the coverage I read failed to mention or even compare the public school scores with the voucher choice debacle. So I went to the Department of Public Instruction website. Take a look at the voucher school scores funneling money away from public education. If this were a Democratic program, Republicans would be having a tantrum, and yet Vos is taking aim at public school scores?:

Who Knew Online "Virtual Academy," was the Biggest Waste of Money? We did: Virtual schools nationwide are a disaster, but they are still allowed under the privatization banner to exist and drain even more taxpayer money. McFarland knew this but backed the idea anyway. McFarland even managed to keep Wisconsin Virtual Academy's scores from being averaged into the districts public school results. That should tell you something:

One question remains; where are the Democrats hiding? Why hasn't Gov. Evers come out with a statement? 

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.

GOP selling Chumps on School Choice.

How is it that kids in Wisconsin's failing public schools continue to rank second nationwide on the ACT college readiness exams? Surprise, our schools aren't failing. It's all marketing. Advocates will tell you enrollment is increasing, but that's a distraction from what really counts, their overall student test scores. Again, it's just marketing.  

A recent report found that urban charter schools did better than their public counterparts in Milwaukee, more so in math than in reading. But there's a reason they topped MPS:

jsonline: The study notes that traditional public schools in Milwaukee serve about 6% more children with special needs than charter schools … students with disabilities generally have lower achievement … there was still potential for more motivated parents to wind up in the charter school side … Todd Ziebarth, senior VP for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, also said "…you have buy-in from families and staff" in charter schools that is often harder to create in traditional urban schools”.

Despite these important caveats, a few Republicans were quick to reshape and propagandize the study:

Charter schools are helping to expand access to quality education, by Republicans Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Dale Kooyenga: Stanford's Center for Research on Education Outcomes recently found that students in Milwaukee charter schools are outperforming their peers in Milwaukee Public Schools. We should be expanding access to quality schools — not trying to regulate them out of business. 

Instead, Darling and Kooyenga want to regulated public schools our of business. The 2 to 1 gains for charters in urban regions suggest that if we just got rid of special needs students, and only accepted students pushed by motivated parents, we’d be in pretty good shape. Still, who's comfortable with three parallel school systems watering down a serious investment in education?

Both Darling and Kooyenga are also hoping you don’t read much, because there are two new studies about education that will prove it's all about commercializing education and commodifying our kids, not improving it. 

Study #1: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), looks at the international tests that rank students worldwide in reading, math, and science … the report shows that in schools with less than 25 percent poverty rates, American children scored higher in reading than any other children in the world. In. The. World. Our middle-class and wealthy public school children are thriving. Poor children are struggling with all the well-documented handicaps; poor prenatal care, developmental delays, hunger, illness, homelessness, emotional and mental illnesses, and so on.

Study #2: The United States is, by far, the wealthiest and best-educated of the nine G-7 countries studied by the Horace Mann League and National Superintendents Roundtable, yet it posts some of the worst measures of economic inequality, social stress, and support for young families. For policymakers, the report says, “Celebrate the success of schools while helping address some of the out-of-school issues that challenge educators, communities, and young people every day. Encourage rather than withhold funds for research in the social, behavior, and economic sciences to advance the well-being of the nation’s people.

And unlike Scott Walker, who successfully vilified educators and parents who were protesting Act 10, we should instead be listening to those closest to our kids:

If policy makers were to listen to educators – and to students and parents – they would hear that the real crisis in public education is the loss of our collective commitment to the common good. If we continue to make the kinds of choices that steer resources away from our neediest students, the false narrative of failing public schools will become a sad reality.

If businesses exist to make a profit, then why wouldn't education take a back seat to those profits? That’s exactly what’s happening, big surprise:

The new charter school movement is a compilation of money, marketing and the mistaken use of the free market theory … The word has gotten out that charter schools are huge money making machines. Corporate and education management companies are raking in millions from the taxpayer … you might want to start paying attention to the huge amount of taxpayer dollars these companies are consuming with no transparency and no accountability. Your hard-earned dollars are disappearing into a black hole.

Simply google “Charter school issues in Michigan 2015” or “Charter school issues in Ohio 2015” to find out why these states are trying to change a trend that includes low-performing charter schools and out-of-control charter management companies. Money, money, money is controlling the new movement.

Sham corporate "holiday," National School Choice Week, just a clever ad campaign that plays off parental fears.

I hate to say it about so many sincere and desperate parents, but it looks like a whole bunch of them were suckered in to celebrate National School Choice Week. Who the hell made this a national week anyway? 

Wasn't it ironic to see school choice advocates celebrating their week at the state Capitol, asking Republicans to spend more on vouchers, at the same time the UW took a $300 million hit. They thought nothing of it:



As I've mentioned many times, school choice plays off the fears and insecurities every parent has about their kids; that they may not doing enough. Simple isn't it? So when parents hear the sell job, they leap at the chance. It also appeals to those who believe religion should be taught in schools. All the wrong reasons. The con is this; they'll tout the growing numbers of kids taking vouchers, but not their grades. Sure the numbers will increase with a good advertising campaign, based on a parents fears, but is it working?

Destroying the myth of choice schools: From Raw Story...the truth:

Wow! Check out the fancy website for National School Choice Week. It’s polished, it’s colorful; it features kids of all races with bright smiling faces. They even have their own dance! The videos are tearjerkers.

1. There are no data that support the idea that charter schools are superior to public schools. According to Data First, an initiative of the Center for Public Education, on math assessments 17% of kids in charter schools perform significantly better than their peers in public schools. But 37% perform significantly worse. For the rest (46%), scores were comparable. 

2. Unlike public schools, charters can pick and choose their students. Children with special needs are not chosen. According to Diane Ravitch in her book, The Myth of the Charter School, some charter schools “counsel out” or expel students just before state testing day. Lower-performing students tend to mysteriously drop out. Throws that “better performing” 17% into serious question, doesn’t it?

3. Children who are better resourced with more family support are the winners in the school choice game. Children from disorganized families don’t even enter the lottery. 

4. It’s family income, stupid. 

5. Public schools are doing just fine. The idea that our schools are falling behind and our students will not be able to compete globally is, according to a number of education experts, off base. Diane Ravitch, among others, has written that the notion that American students’ scores on international tests have declined is a myth. A recent article by Ken Bernstein highlights the point that poverty is the real issue, noting that, “US schools with less than 25% of their children in poverty perform as well as any nation [on international comparisons], and those with 10% or less of their children in poverty outperform Finland.” School Choice Week is basically a giant commercial, paid for by a huge list of corporate sponsors. It’s pushing a product. 

Taxpayers throw all their voucher money into Christian Religion Schools! These aren't "Choice" schools, they're Sunday Schools.

This Northwestern Oshkosh news story failed to mention the most important issue:

A total of 78 students are getting state-funded vouchers this year to attend private schools in the Oshkosh area.

All 78 students are going to Christian schools, and most of that voucher cash is ending up in the pockets of those who already have kids in those schools.

Scott Walker's promise to expand the program statewide will by default, which would create a separate parallel publically funded religious based school system. The government would then be establishing a religion, in this case Christianity. We've always assumed the Constitution prevented the establishment of "a" religion. But nothing in the 1st Amendment prevents the establishment of a number of religions.  

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...

No one seems to have a problem with that?  

Walker Editorial tries to Shame Justice Department into backing off School Choice Discrimination investigation.

One party could not be this hypocritical...or could they?

For a party that continues to seek out proof Obama messed up Benghazi, might be to blame for the mess in Iraq, possibly faked his birth certificate, and broke the law with signing statements, they’re now crying foul over the Department of Justice’s investigation into possible discrimination against students with disabilities in the school choice programs? Amazing!

And Scott Walker is leading the down-the-rabbit-hole charge by saying that without proof, how can the justice department turn up...proof? It’s like calling off the John Doe investigation to uncover wrong doing because there’s no proof of wrong doing. My head is hurting now.

Along with being one of the dumbest excuses yet, Walker and Jindal seem to think that without parental complaints, laws weren't broken. Basically, we're supposed to believe the word of business. Plus, Walker chose to ignore the fact that school choice had expanded well beyond minority groups:

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker has co-authored a commentary in Politico Magazine with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal criticizing the Obama Administration for challenging school choice programs in Wisconsin and Louisiana.

In the piece: "Why would the federal Department of Justice cite the Civil Rights Act and the specter of segregation to try and block a school choice program where more than nine in 10 participants come from racial minority groups? Or use the Americans with Disabilities Act to claim another school voucher program discriminates against individuals with disabilities, without so much as a single complaint from a student or parent to prove their case?"

The two governors are citing a National Review commentary co-authored by Rick Esenberg and C.J. Szafir, both of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, criticizing a Department of Justice inquiry into whether private schools in Wisconsin were turning away students with disabilities.

Ellen Canale, public affairs specialist at the Justice Department, said the agency was working to make sure school choice programs are adhering to civil rights laws.

If laws weren't broken, then why is Walker and Jindal opposed to looking into the choice program? After all, the public has a right to know how their money is being spent, right?

UPDATE: I thought this comment was important enough to include in this post:

The Walker/Jindal statement about there being no parent complaints is misleading/untrue on two levels.

Level 1: The fact is that no formal state complaint mechanism exists... in other words, if we do not allow official complaints, then there will be none.

Level 2: But there WERE complaints. In the absence of a state complaint mechanism, families of students with special needs took their charges to Disability Rights Wisconsin and the ACLU. Those two organizations filed a formal complaint in 2011, which in turn led to the very DOJ investigation that the Politico piece is decrying! In other words, it's all ABOUT the family complaints!

A summary of some of those family complaints was published in a Journal Sentinel column in May 2013.

The ACLU has also responded in a July 8 piece of their own.

To me, the most disturbing thing about the Walker/Jindal column is the way it "disappears" families of students with special needs. Their experiences of discrimination, that they documented to DRW and the ACLU, apparently simply don't exist, because they've been declared not to exist. 

An ACLU article highlighted this reason for asking documentation:

"DPI must further ensure that voucher schools, absent a valid ADA defense, do not expel/exit a student with a disability unless the school has first determined, on a case-by-case basis, that there are no reasonable modifications to school policies, practices or procedures that could enhance the school's capacity to serve that student."

Making a Profit off Educating our kids GOP's big campaign promise for 2014!!!

The GOP will be running on the issue of vouchers this upcoming election, but it won't really be about education. It's another marketing ploy to soften their problematic anti-minority image, the one they've so meticulously constructed over the last 50 years.

That's why I found it interesting to see Upfront's Mike Gousha comment on this issue at the same time RNC knucklehead Reince Priebus started tweeting the wonders of "choice" and how profiting off our children's education somehow empowers parents:



The not so subtle Priebus tweet:

Gee, ya think Jeb Bush might be running for president too? 

Just the fact that students are now referred to as commodities should tell you something. 

The End of Middle and High School Sports!?? You might want to call Republican Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt.

After seeing a story posted at Wisconsin Soapbox, I had to do a little checking on what appears to be another Big Government Republican (BGR) shot at public schools, and the possible end to their sports programs. Eh, who needs a level playing field with rules and regulations anyway? Attention WIAA!!!

If you haven't noticed already, Republicans don’t really believe in small government. It's more like a big, free-style form of conservative control, with little or no thought about the unintended consequences of their ideal agenda. That's why the courts are so involved.

Which brings me to State Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, who made a wise decision to stop screwing up the minds of Lutheran elementary kids and get into a less productive job like crazy Republican legislator.

Not as well-known as other loony tune legislators, Thiesfeldt is a walking cliché of extremist big government conservatism. Thiesfeldt has racked up quit a record so far, backing bills that...

...hide donor occupations from the public, a ban on fetal body parts affecting UW research, banning hospitals and doctors (and anyone else too) from requiring flu shots (creating a health hazard), tougher Marijuana laws, repealing the dairy state requirement to serve butter in restaurants, allow firearms in schools, a tax exemption for the sale of silver and gold, an opt out for installing "dangerous" smart meters, behind a move to have “In God we Trust” on license plates, and finally, allow citizens to sue wind energy companies and farmers for their perceived harmful effects.

Thiesfeldt's next target could end high school sports as we know it. He wants to allow those who've opted out of going to public schools to go back to them for free extracurricular activities. 

Back peddling from the strongly held conservative value that we live with our choices, Thiesfeldt now thinks that’s unfair. And he doesn't say anything about refunding “choice” money to pay for the team coaches salary and benefits. Nor does he deal with an influx of athletic “ringers” flowing into a districts, or the bidding war to attract them. Details details….  

KFIZ: A state lawmaker wants to open up extracurricular activities at public schools to all students living in a district. The bill from Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt of Fond du Lac would require schools to open up sports teams and other activities to any student in their community. He says that’s regardless of whether they attend a parochial school, virtual school or are home schooled … Thiesfeldt says no child should be denied a chance to participate simply because they made a different choice for their education.

Take a second to let that anger and frustration build and fade. Take another breath, there’s one more incredible regulation that could end school sports as we know it:

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, a private organization, is actually the body that requires students to attend the school they compete for meaning the Legislature has no control over its policies. 

...here comes big government....

Thiesfeldt addresses that issue by prohibiting schools from making an agreement with an organization that bars non-enrolled students from teams.

Say goodbye to the WIAA. Either voters didn't know exactly who they thought they were voting for, or they think like Thiesfeldt. Either way, I’m staying away from the Bizarro World folks in Fond du Lac. 

Rep. Robin Vos not a fan of Accountability. Vouchers must destroy Public Education. Period.

Is it any surprise a voucher accountability bill would be opposed by almost every Republican in our legislature? They’ve been desperately trying to kill public education for decades. So who are these conservative outliers, going public, straying off the path to privatization anyway? Republican Sen. Luther Olsen, and Republican Rep. Steve Kestell, that's who. This whole thing could have been killed behind closed doors if they had just brought it up to their "leaders."

The rejection of this bill alone proves “giving parents choice” is pure bullshit, and they know it.

GB Gazette: A plan to kick poor-performing schools out of the state’s taxpayer-subsidized voucher program is generating little support in the Legislature so far … In the works for two years, the bill would require for the first time that private schools in the voucher program report a wide range of performance information to the state. Public schools, including charters, already provide the data.

(It) would also give a score to every public, charter and voucher school based on data collected during the 2014 academic year. The scores would be in five categories: reading and math, achievement and growth in those areas, college and career readiness, closing gaps in student achievement and graduation rates, and student engagement.

Of course, the hard work required to write the voucher accountability bill is opposed by our typically lazy freeloading Republican politicians who normally get their legislation pre-written for them by think tanks, ALEC, and corporate special interests.

“It’s a complicated bill and people are just like, ‘Oh, I don’t understand this,’” Olsen said.

Hey, where have we heard this story before...oh yeah, Paul Ryan said the same thing about our unread Republican low information politicians. See the Ryan picture:

Vos isn't happy a few party members went public first. He's surprised that anyone would jeopardize their plan. He calls it "outreach:" 

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a staunch voucher schools backer, said that Kestell did not do enough outreach with other lawmakers before writing the bill. 

As for Walker, well, he's just blowin' smoke too:

While Walker has been supportive of passing some sort of school accountability measure, he’s been noncommittal on Olsen and Kestell’s bill.

Public not buying what Rep. Robin Vos is Selling; Transit good, but paying salaries and benefits bad. What a jobs program.

Maybe Speaker Robin Vos should get out more? He held his first district listening session, and only 25 people showed up. Vos jumped right in and touted the wonders of choice and vouchers:

Mt. Pleasant Patch: But Vos' former high school teacher, Tim Mocarski, challenged

The No Answer Man.

Vos by telling him private school has traditionally been a choice for families who understand the costs involved. "I went to private school as a kid, and my family understood it was a choice they were willing to pay for," he said. "I don't see how you can support public money for private schools. If that's a parents' choice, then let them pay for it."

Oh god that was a good question, from a teacher Vos learned little from. Vos' answer also tipped his hand, revealing the real intentions of privatization…oops:

Vos countered that he cares more about results than how the road to get there. "As conservatives, we want people responsible for themselves and to not rely on government," he said.  

Rely on government? Our constitution guarantees a public education…so yeah, we do rely on it for a reason. Another thing that gets lost in all this; as a former real estate agent, I found it was the kind of school district couples were looking for in their home search that mattered. That drives home values up, and that’s a good thing for home owners. As Republicans dismantle districts, homes will lose their value.

Vos had no comeback when asked about the recent low voucher test scores, which by the way, wasn't the first time. But Sup. Tony Evers managed to get that message out during his reelection.

There was also talk about whether or not voucher schools are really better than public schools as evidenced by the recent test scores released by the state Department of Public Instruction.

On jobs and transportation? Well, it looks like Vos isn’t making any new friends by failing on that front too.

When it comes to public transportation, City of Racine Parking and Transit Systems Manager Al Stanek said if state leaders are serious about getting people back to work, they'll restore funding for mass transit. "I'm appalled at the $1 billion in borrowing for roads when levy limits and reduced road aids have such a serious negative impact on jobs, the unemployed and the underemployed," he said. 

The 10 percent reduction in service, Stanek added, means some Racine residents have lost their jobs because they can't get to work. "If the focus is jobs, then we need the transit," he continued.

Vos let the real ideological reason slip in his response:

Vos said he was fine with putting more money into transit as long as that money was used only for increasing service and not paying for the salaries and benefits of employees.

"Free Market" MacIver Institute pushes Big Government, Top Down one size fits all Voucher Program.

The “MacIver Institute” (what joke, it’s more like a place for freeloading conservatives), just revealed their true motivation behind the not-so successful school vouchers program.

After mentioning the usual “school choice gives parents educational options to escape failing schools” feel good mumbo jumbo, MacIver revealed the real reason why vouchers are so important, and it has nothing to do with education.

Trashing Republican State Sen. Mike Ellis for insisting on giving local districts the choice to go with vouchers, MacIver wrote:

It's especially disappointing when Republicans like Ellis, who have little to gain by defending the educational status quo except a few fleeting favorable headlines, decide to cast their lot with the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC). After WEAC's attempts to unseat so many of Ellis' colleagues and foment unrest at the Capitol, you would think that he would be reluctant to placate them with a proposal to block the expansion of school choice.

Vengeance...can’t you just feel it? It’s get back time, now that's real education reform. The deep thinkers at MacIver can’t get past their anger and resentment over those who dissented from the Walker Authority's big government takeover. 

Ellis’ position will only help spread “chaos” to a community near you, otherwise known as our First Amendment right to petition the government. You gotta fear the protesters:

Instead, what Ellis proposals is the expansion of the conflict, protests and demonstrations in Madison to a community near you. A battle-weary Wisconsin would see WEAC's organized chaos writ large.

Make no mistake, Republicans are big government authoritarians. The following is breathtaking, along with an amazing admission that referendums don’t really reflect the people’s intent, but the monied interests that hijack the vote:

What Ellis proposes is that no expansion of private school choice could take place without a referendum within the affected school district. To get the referendum on the ballot, supporters of private school choice would have to meet the same level of signatures needed for the recall of an elected member of the legislature. This referendum process would somehow assure "local control."

It's an absurd notion. The moment such a petition effort began, partisans from both sides would beleaguer the local school district. They would be flooded by outside union ad spending and outside union organizers opposed to school choice. Where is the "local" in that chaos?

But it was okay for the marriage amendment? Or possibly adding voter ID to the constitution? Or how about the right to keep and bear arms...the death penalty? 

Public Education Convulses in Racine, Parents Powerless.

If you don’t read any further than this paragraph, I want to ask you to watch the video below as the perfect example of just what is happening to education in our state, and country. It will prove to you the public has no actual input into education anymore. You’ll also see how open enrollment and vouchers are picking the meat of the bones of what’s left of the public education carcass. I hope you have time to read the rest…

Walker’s “tools” were a onetime fix that delayed the upcoming public education bloodletting for one year. Ideologically exuberant district superintendents couldn’t wait to do away with the work involved in teacher negotiations, all the while pushing their own agenda of privatization.

   

As much as your nearest Republicans neighbor might say otherwise, school districts aren’t in better shape after utilizing Scott Walker’s tools to rein in the cost of education. Walker’s rules are doing just what Republican legislators knew would happen. The end result?

Public schools are about to become too expensive. The maintenance of existing school district infrastructure will crush public schools. That’s why we’re seeing schools close all over the state. But the Walker plan unfortunately is gaining public support because of a nationwide campaign to sell “choice” as a parental empowerment. The ad campaign is working.

But if choice empowers parents, then why are these same parents so angry in the Racine school district? From the Caledonia Patch, and reporter Denise Lockwood, this heart sinking display of public passion;  

Racine Unified administrators got an earful of questions and concerns about a redistricting proposal that calls for closing Wind Point and Goodland elementary schools. At the meeting Ann Laing, acting superintendent of the Racine Unified School District, told about 100 staff, parents and students that she'd rather not have to close the schools. Still, she laid out the administration’s rationale behind the proposal, but the district’s financial problems have remained an issue. The reality is the district is facing a $6.5 million shortfall.  And although Laing said she didn’t want to close the schools, this option is much more palatable than laying off more teachers.

But even still, that might happen too, she warned. “It’s up to the Board to make a decision about what they want to do with this, but they need to make a decision because if they don’t make this decision soon, logistically we can’t make changes for the next school year,” Laing said.

Think about this too; why would private schools want to fill the void of public schools if state funding is getting slashed? That would mean fewer taxpayer dollars for them too, right? Perhaps private schools will get much of their funding through corporate sponsorship, like in a few other states, carrying out their “free market” corporate curriculum. Could corporate indoctrination of our kids be a part of the plan? I know, it sounds like a sequel to the first two Wall Street movies. 

Charter/Choice Schools in Milwaukee don't measure up, unstable.

Recent Numbers for Milwaukee's School Choice Program compared with

Milwaukee Public Schools...it's not close.

Milwaukee Closes Two Grade Levels in school, Parents Scramble to Choose another school by Monday. This is "Choice?"

Instead of injecting “certainty” and quality into our schools, we’re spinning our wheels trying to give parents school choice...more options. Parents may know their kids well, but they don’t know the educational system, the improvements since they were in school, and the decades of fine tuning the teaching profession has made that may be on the brink of succeeding.

   

Vilifying the teaching profession, and turning it into just another low paying job, is starting to trash a system most parents could count on. And it looks like we’re chasing quality instructors away, while adding to the stress level of parents who suddenly have to find another school by default, and not by "choice:"

jsonline: Gregoria Ham, a freshman at Northwest Secondary School, tried out for the cheerleading team Monday. On Thursday, she learned that she lost out by default: Milwaukee Public Schools has ordered the removal of the ninth and 10th grades at the school. Ham and about 400 other students have to find a new school by Monday.

The unusual development was confirmed by MPS officials Thursday, who said the district is removing freshmen and sophomores … because it can't find enough certified staff to teach there, especially in math and science. The school has been operating with a series of substitute teachers since the beginning of the school year, according to the district …

I’ve mentioned this many times; the choice process isn’t. The best schools will fill fast and have waiting lists, leaving the remaining students to attend schools that pick up the slack. What a improvement?

During the district's three-choice selection process, she (Gregoria Ham) listed Reagan High School and Hamilton High School as her first choices, but ended up being sent to Bay View. She and her mom didn't like the reputation of that school, so she ended up at Northwest, where she has a cousin. Ham said she keeps a 4.0 GPA and has aspirations of going to college at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She lives on the south side and wants to go to Reagan for its college-prep program, but she's on the wait list.

This is “choice” folks, and a level of chaos that will only get worse. 

School Choice Bottom Feeds off Taxpayer Money, and wants more.

Cute answer, dumb idea.

Check out this well thought out response to the argument that taxpayer money shouldn’t be taken from public schools. Jim Bender, president of the advocacy group School Choice Wisconsin: “It’s not their money. It’s taxpayers’ money. It’s parents’ money.”

There’s one problem to this cute answer; It is their-public schools-money, not the private sectors. It is the public’s money meant for public schools. Period.

And this is from Wisconsin Watch, a part of the Wisconsin Center for "Investigative Journalism." (my quotes) They are kidding, right?

In that netherworld of upside down conservative Humpty Dumptyisms, it’s not quality of education that matters, it's “the student’s needs first:”

“It’s not about a system. It’s not about a district. It’s about a student. If we put the student’s needs first, then there’s no problem with having the money following the child.”

Sounds like touchy feely, parent controlled, taxpayer centric bullshit to me. Oh, and motivated by conniving profiteers. For all the Republican Party’s talk about free markets and profit driven competition, the private sector is quick to pick the deep pockets of unsuspecting taxpayer with big, but temporary promises. Always keep in mind that behind the scenes, they are demanding more money, saying they can't keep their schools open without it.  

According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, expanding vouchers to Racine will add nearly $3 million to the state’s costs over the next two school years, after aid reductions to the Racine Unified School District are factored in. But Bender says the district “gets to make up for 100 percent of the state aid reduction” through local property taxes at a lower per-student cost than for Racine public school students.

There you go, taxpayer money to the rescue. 

Union Thugs to Invade Teachers Homes, Apply Pressure to Pay Up.

The following screed is one of the most massive examples of “projection” I’ve read in a long time. Almost everything they say now has its origin from their own methods of scheming and ideology. 

Conservatives have gotten the idea in their head that liberals think like them, that we would use the same brutal win at all costs tactics that they use. The liberal world they describe is actually their vision of the world. They’re already rationing health care coverage because states can’t afford to pay anymore; they’re pushing a socialization of wages, where everyone gets low pay and minimal benefits (the argument over public vs private sector pay); they’ve destroyed the free market by legislating limits on lawsuits and handing out corporate welfare; they’re attempting to retain a one party system of government, putting in place activist conservative judges and justices. They’ve over regulated voter registration with voter ID restrictions.

And according to the group below, destroying the only campaign contributor to Democratic candidates, unions, will free us all.

Steve Gunn-EAG Communications: Will WEAC use intimidation to force union members to pay dues? No wonder bullying remains a persistent problem in public schools. When teachers engage in such behavior, kids can be expected to follow their example.

It’s become apparent that bullying may be necessary to guarantee the survival of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union.

WEAC has started the process of collecting members’ bank information so the union can automatically deduct dues. So they’re relying on some favorite old tactics to keep the revenue flowing – group intimidation and door-to-door thuggery. Ron Brandt, president of Southern Lakes United Educators (a subgroup of WEAC), wrote that “we still have members who have not signed up … Because we need to sign up as many of these members as possible, we are asking for your help. “We will train teams to make home visits with those members who still need to sign up for 2012. Why does WEAC need to “train teams” for home visits? Do the volunteers need to be instructed on group pressure techniques, so they are more likely to get the answer they want when they invade teachers’ homes? We certainly hope they’re not taught the finer points of waterboarding.

Conservatives say they want people to make their own choices, but oddly, don't believe people are able to make those choices:

How can that right be guaranteed when the union is sending out thug crews to pressure teachers into conformity? Like dictators in a third-world nation, they are willing to strong-arm wayward members back into the fold. We hope lots of teachers will have the courage to ignore the door bell when they see a group of colleagues standing on the front step.

And if the conservative argument at any point falls apart or doesn't make sense, they'll make something up. Republicans love to manufacture "what ifs" that are so preposterous, that if true, would turn reality on its head:

Unfortunately those who manage to resist the pressure will probably pay dearly for their independence when school starts in the fall. They are likely to be ostracized to the point where it becomes difficult to function and instruct children. Some will probably buckle to union pressure or leave teaching altogether. That’s how unions operate.

Voucher schools now want more money, way more. But I thought we could get the same education for half the price?

The Journal Sentinel article below, by columnist Patrick McIlheran who describes himself as “generally a right-wing guy,” tries make the case for dramatically increasing voucher amounts, as a way of making the idea more palatable in the future. It's a set up, basically, planting the seed of thought early and often.

  

Part of making that case includes praising their worst enemy of all, European countries! Their national voucher plans. What is often missing from these pro-voucher arguments is the one element that makes the European plans work; their plans include a NATIONAL curriculum and a NATIONAL standardized test.

Funny how that never comes up? The point is, private schools are now pushing for much higher amounts of taxpayer subsidies. Some would call that profit taking, and some would call that an open admission that education really does cost that much. It would also contradict the idea that teachers are paid too much.

In Sunday's Journal Sentinel, I write about the fantastic bargain Wisconsin taxpayers are getting -- and may be at risk of losing. 

The bargain is what we spend when a family takes its school aid in the form of a voucher to a private school in Milwaukee's choice program. Taxpayers shell out $6,442 per child, about 45% as much as the $14,183 per-child cost in the Milwaukee Public Schools … The question is how much longer that can go on. Choice schools cannot charge poor families any more than the voucher, but researchers with the five-year study of school choice report that 82% of such schools have higher per-pupil costs. 

The voucher just isn't enough to run a school, said the University of Arkansas' Brian Kisida, one of the researchers: "How can you hire the best people on half the money?" He said that if he had Gov. Scott Walker's ear, he'd tell him to keep the rule requiring state tests, flawed as they are, and to raise the grant.

A few readers comments indicate they're starting to catch on to the scam:

"So, the lower cost of choice schools, the thing you have been trumpeting as the raison d'être for expanding the program away from public schools, is according to your own writing an artificially low number? Not enough to run a school on, and a number so low that teachers cannot be paid a reasonable wage. It is not hard to see the writing on the wall. If Wisconsin transitions to choice schools per the conservative/Walker plan, it would not take long for choice school costs to come up to par with public school costs. 'How can you hire the best people on half the money?"

"Wow. I hadn't thought of that."-Governor Scott Walker.

Or this interesting frame:

"School Choice via Vouchers is another one of those unfunded NEW Republican entitlement program similar to GWB Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan. Now the advocates of Vouchers want to expand this unfunded entitlement program. Eliminate the caps, make it statewide, and raise the income limits so the middle class can jump in to. Not for the poor anymore but really for the churches. Once you break down the barrier of church and state both the church and the state will suffer." 

It's the Re-segregation of our schools, under the guise of Vouchers. Big Surprise?

With radio grand dragon Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck stoking the flames of racism, the conservative public is again played as gullible and pliant suckers, a portrayal they’ll not doubt find offensive and completely untrue. Man up!!!

School choice conservatives have kept the message simple; vouchers give parents “who know better” choice, and are more effective than public schools. These two points are factually untrue, but never-the-less believed by an ideological public, fearful of a phantom liberal enemy.

What goes unmentioned; Vouchers will break up the teachers union, appeases the religious base and encourage white Americans will flee non-white schools. White flight returns, but under the radar.

Saveourschools.com: A study published in the latest issue of the Review of Economics and Statistics is consistent with other studies of the impact of school choice on racial segregation in schools. The weight of evidence is that school choice leads to more segregated schools.

Other studies show that the racial composition of a school is a large determinant of the black/Hispanic-white gaps in student performance. Black and Hispanic students tend to achieve substantially better when they are in racially mixed environments. Thus, ‘white flight’ from racially-mixed schools is likely to increase inequity in education outcomes.

The study of voter intentions in California has found that universal voucher schemes are likely to increase racial and ethnic segregation across schools. White families tend to use vouchers to leave schools with a high proportion of non-white students.

The study found that non-white concentration in schools has a relatively substantial effect on the propensity of white households with children to support school vouchers. A 10 percentage point increase in the share of non-white students is predicted to increase support for the voucher among white households with children in public school by approximately 2.6 percentage points.

This effect is absent in non-white households. Non-white households appear less
likely to support school vouchers if their children attend schools with higher concentrations of nonwhites. Taken together, the two effects indicate that universal vouchers lead to more segregated public schools.

Further detailed analysis showed that the ‘white flight’ intention was largely driven by the share of Hispanic students in schools who have limited English proficiency.

The new study used data on votes in a state-wide universal voucher initiative in California as an indication of voter intentions to use the voucher. This contrasts with other studies of school segregation which have used data from existing forms of school choice programs. It measured the extent to which vouchers will increase racial and ethnic segregation beyond current levels.

Now that we know the voter intent of vouchers, along with statistical data that indicates “choice” will only widen the racial educational gap, is it any wonder voucher schemes are catching on with even liberals who have bought into the propaganda.

Related articles

• School reform segregation warning (bbc.co.uk)
• Dramatic Election Gains for School Choice (eon.businesswire.com)
• Overall, public-school students did better on state tests than those using vouchers (dispatch.com)
• A Conservative Response To Gay Bullying: School Vouchers (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)