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? 

Parents are already in control of their Kids Education!!

Because too many college freshman need remedial help in math and reading, Republicans have a government solution...yes, a BIG GOVERNMENT SOLUTION, "Education Savings Accounts," with more mandates and regulations that supposedly put parents in charge...again. 

As a parent of two students in the Middleton Cross Plains school district, I've had my hands filled with keeping my guys up to date on current, late and future homework. 

Between face-to-face meetings and email exchanges with teachers, endless arguments with the kids about excessive computer time, college and loan/grant shopping, and basic general family time to shoot the bull, why in gods name do parents need another time consuming complication like K-12 savings accounts? 

Small Government My Ass: It's already enough to just save for college with a myriad of investment choices, but now parents are supposed to manage a K-12 Education Savings Account and find the time to shop for schools, textbooks and tutors? This is an open invitation for fly-by-night ripoff artists. Looks like another big monied special interest group is directing our pay-to-play Republican legislators to do their bidding once again for campaign funding. 

PARENTS ARE ALREADY IN CHARGE: Seriously. Do Republican legislators even know anything about school district "parent portals" that allow parents to watch over their kids tests scores, current and late assignments, to-do lists, email contacts with teachers and staff? Never once was I ever down for help. In fact, just the opposite. That's because teachers are not only professional and concerned about our kids, they also have to answer to the taxpayers. 

Enough already with putting the "parents in charge." And if there is a problem with reading and math, let's put some of that blame on those supposed "in-charge parents." 

Will You Let Other People Spend Your Tax Money with No Accountability? So conservative voters are good with this? Another government program, more rules and regulations, taxpayer money, and no accountability? Parents can spend money based on the sales pitch from the shiniest school brochure? That's "fiscally conservative?"

Assembly Republicans are considering a program that would allow Wisconsin parents to pay for K-12 school expenses — including private school tuition, textbooks and tutoring — with a taxpayer-funded stream of money known in other states as Education Savings Accounts. 

Ron Martin, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, said the programs amount to a “back-door scheme” to take money away from public school funding. “Education savings accounts literally take money out of our neighborhood public schools and hand it over to subsidize private tuition, with zero accountability.” 

Republican Hypocrisy on Poverty: You'll notice that when it comes to getting life saving health care, government draws the line at 100% of the poverty level. But with for profit private education, and special interest cash on the line, the poverty line moves from just 100%, to 185%-300%. Money talks: 

Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, said a starting point might be to offer the programs to families whose income currently makes them qualify for school vouchers — which is 185 percent of the federal poverty level in the statewide voucher program and 300 percent of the federal poverty level in the Milwaukee and Racine programs.

New Idea? One newspaper called this a new idea, which is never the case for our monolithic Borg-like Republican Party. GOP states that have it:

Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee.

ALEC sets the Pace: Coincidentally, state Republicans are bringing this up now:

The conservative group American Legislative Exchange Council, which helps lawmakers write model legislation, released model policy language on Education Savings Accounts this year.

Wisconsin might find itself with the same problem as Nevada:

Nevada allows any parent — regardless of income or a child’s ability status — to use the accounts. But on Friday, the Nevada Supreme Court struck down the law that provides them, saying the program violated the state’s constitution by sending money reserved for public schools to parents who could use it to pay for private school tuition. Attorney Tamerlin Godley said, “The court said ‘You can’t do it. You have to fund your public schools sufficiently. After you’ve done that, then you can go back and look at competing state money to put some aside for ESAs.”

Republican State Sen. Steve Nass, the enemy of public education, sent staffer Mike Mikalsen to promote the idea on Mitch Hank's radio program. Mikalsen's visceral hatred for public education comes across in the clip below. Check out the nonsensical reasons (highlighted) Mikalsen lists that no parent already involved with their children's education would recognize as real:

Mikalsen: "If your child isn't doing well, you don't care what the schools do, you're worried about your child. This is another way to get individual parents which I know Jeff (caller) doesn't like, because he thinks everybody should be at the control of government...um, and we should be in control of what they think and how they think it and when they think it. But that's passe...we're looking at the next phase of how do you empower parents." 

Yea, screw actual education curriculum and standards. Go Parent Power!!!

Another big problem:

The state’s public school districts cannot charge tuition, raising questions about whether public school districts could be part of the program and receive money from parents using the accounts.

But I don't get the following argument; that it's okay to send taxpayer money to people so they can put it into a savings account.

Grants ... shall be set apart as a separate fund to be called “the school fund,” the interest of which and all other revenues derived from the school lands shall be exclusively applied to the following objects, to wit: (1) To the support and maintenance of common schools, in each school district...

...not people!!! Note; people should not have the choice to spend that money on a religious schools in Wisconsin. According to our Constitution:

; and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed therein; 

Dumb Ron Johnson pushes "discrimination against students with disabilities," removes accountability to taxpaying parents.

You know, some things get worse and worse, the more you think about them. Like Dumb Ron Johnson's attempt to allow voucher schools to discriminate against disabled kids...that get taxpayer money.

It sounds wrong, yes, but but not to Ron Johnson. His reaction to the Justice Department's attempt to protect these kids was to propose a law that would block any further investigations from ever happening again. Something he's calling "overreach." I know, this from the party of right wing overreach. Here's the shortened version of the story from JS:

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has proposed an amendment to an appropriations bill that would limit the Justice Department's ability to enforce some provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act at private schools that receive taxpayer funding.

The Republican senator had been a critic of a long-running U.S. Department of Justice investigation into allegations that the state's Milwaukee Parental Choice voucher program discriminated against students with disabilities — a probe that ended late last year with no significant findings of wrongdoing.

 A few big problems with Dumb Ron Johnson's "thinking," point by point...

1. Johnson opposes investigations that don't turn up "significant" findings. This Republican head scratcher is a major part of the right wing authoritarian movement. It pretends that only the most obvious and knowable crimes can be investigated, like Benghazi and Hillary's emails, not "witch hunts" like the Walker John Doe investigations or the Bush administrations deceptions to invade Iraq. There are conservative ideals, and then there are politically motivated liberal witch hunts.

Johnson's staff said the amendment is intended to deter the kind of "government overreach" they said characterized the Wisconsin probe and to limit politically motivated attacks on voucher schools.

2. Johnson could have easily clarified the Justice Departments responsibility to carry out such investigations, or expand them, instead of calling it a politically motivated attack on voucher schools and block parental justice.

"It would keep the DOJ from expanding its jurisdiction in ways the law does not permit," said Johnson aide Patrick McIlheran.

3. Johnson would make it possible to pick and choose who is and isn't protected:

Kit Kerschensteiner, managing attorney at Disability Rights Wisconsin. "You can't single out a group covered by an anti-discrimination law and tell others that it's OK to discriminate against them."

4. Dumb Ron Johnson's word game on what is a "public school" and a private one opens the door for publically funding other private businesses seeking to plunder the deep pockets of the taxpayer.

The amendment would bar federal funds made available to enforce Title II (which) prohibits state and local governments from discriminating against people with disabilities and to make reasonable accommodations for those disabilities where necessary. Johnson's staff said the Department of Education and the courts have ruled that voucher schools are not public schools just because they receive government funds. 

5. Taking the power away from motivated angry parents seeking justice, and putting it in the lap of hopefully Republican politicians who don't give a rats ass about disabled children:

The amendment would still allow DOJ to investigate cases in which the state, and not parents, placed students in a school.

Get that? That's the key: "...and not parents, placed students in a school." No accountability to parents? So voucher schools are no longer accountable to taxpaying parents who are funding those schools? It's a profiteers dream come true...anything goes.

Some ugly stuff isn't it. Speaking from a point of sanity, and not political opportunism as Johnson would have people believe:

Michael Tyler, spokesman for Johnson's Democratic rival Russ Feingold called Johnson "completely out-of-touch with Wisconsin parents."

"It's shameful that he's trying to sneak in a measure to allow discrimination against children with disabilities instead of listening to the middle class and working families of Wisconsin who want their kids treated with the respect and dignity they deserve."

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:

Republicans admit, taxpayers pay more to subsidize separate private for-profit school system.

For years local taxpayers have been paying extra for voucher schools, a parallel and separate school system, so other families could send their kids to them. Why isn't anyone getting pissed?

These glorified voucher Sunday schools take money from public schools, which then have to raises taxes via referendums to make up for the losses (besides state funding cuts). 

The "fellows" at the MacIver Institute have been denying it:

Taxpayer advocates assert that if a child leaves the public school district, the district no longer incurs an expense to educate the child, so the district shouldn't need to raise property taxes at all to make up for the lost state school aid.

Huh? The teacher, the classroom, the school, even transportation, all must get smaller and less expensive too, right? 

Rep. Jeremy Theisfeldt put it this way:

“…makes it an easy target to turn the choice program into the boogeyman and place all the blame there.”

Oops, Republicans today accidentally let it slip:

Under language in the 2015-17 state budget, those districts can compensate for those losses and more by raising property taxes. According to state fiscal analysts, 142 districts that lost $16.1 million in aid this school year raised their taxes to generate $21.4 million. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos proposed amending another voucher school bill to limit those property tax increases to the actual aid loss.

Not surprising, the major lobbyist behind this lunacy cluelessly chimed in, unaware the big secret was out:

Jim Bender, president of School Choice Wisconsin: "Unfortunately, some districts blamed school choice for property tax increases while simultaneously keeping the extra cash."

Yes, taxpayers are now paying for two school systems, and may not even know it.

Profit? Skimming?: And when schools look ahead and ask for a little more money to work with, just in case things do end up costing more or the state slashes funding, they can absorb it. To Republicans, that's called "skimming. Rep. Jeremy Theisfeldt called it "profiting." If that's what it is, he might have an issue with for profit private schools:

"The districts levied beyond the costs of the WPCP, profiting from students that are no longer enrolled, or never were enrolled in district schools."

The Republicans obsession to privatize, to turn a profit from the untapped commodity we call "kids," created this mess and parallel school system. 

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. 

Nevada Education Savings Accounts: 6,000 parents devising 6,000 different ways to teach kids! What could go wrong?

Nevada is a voucher dream come true for conservatives and profit driven privateers a like, who see our kids as exploitable commodities until they're not anymore.

But as a parent, you have to ask, "do you have the time for something this costly, convoluted and crazy?" It's not like you can make up the time if you get it wrong. Oh, and it's costly!!!

Freedom and liberty loving Nevadans can now get their own "education savings account" with $5,700 of taxpayer money in it. Oh, and if the school or customized plan costs more in fees, supplies or transportation, you're on the hook for the rest. Nice...and expensive. 

And what could go wrong giving every parent the power to devise their own educational reform program, mixing and matching classroom time, online courses, home schooling and religious instruction just the way they see fit? 

I'm will enjoy watching all of this unfold from the comfort of Wisconsin, where our state constitution forbids tuition of any kind from being charged in our public schools. I still can't figure out how taxpayer vouchers can be spent at tuition charging private schools, since that turns the voucher into tuition, but that's a whole different topic.

Here's what total privatization looks like, for those who apparently have a whole lot more time than I do staying on top of my own kids, to create their own public school system at home. And you thought making sure they had their homework done was frustrating...be enlightened:    

1. Nevada allows virtually all parents of K-12 students to opt out of public school but use their children’s state education dollars for a customized education, including private or religious schooling, online classes, textbooks, and dual-enrollment college credits.

2. The money goes into an education savings account (ESA), and dollars not spent by the parent in a given year roll over for future spending – until the student finishes high school or opts back into public school.

3. The private and religious schools accepting ESA funds are not prohibited from discriminating based on race, gender or disability ... can use their admissions rules, including competitive pretesting, transcript evaluation and letters of recommendation ... free to select students based on who they decide fit their religious or secular mission, culture and program. Nevada public schools have to educate all children with disabilities and those children whom private and religious schools choose not to admit or decide to remove from school. 

4. ESAs are designed to be a “subsidy” by more affluent families who can already afford to send their children to selective private and religious schools. Conversely, ESAs are insufficient for students from low-income families, and those who need more costly English language instruction or special education services.

5. The law offers 100 percent of state funding (about $5,700 annually) for students with disabilities or whose families are below 185 percent of the federal poverty level ... For all others, it offers 90 percent. There is only a handful of private schools in Nevada with tuition low enough to be covered by $5,710.

6. Participants will have to account for expenses and take an annual test in math and English that is nationally norm-referenced, meaning their score can be compared with peers around the country. They need not be comparable to Nevada public school tests.  

7. For parents, the appeal is that they can combine online, private, and even some public courses to tailor an education that suits their child. 

And because the $5,700 may not be enough for most students, parents will "self-ration," to save money, and elected officials don't have to work so hard or take responsibility: 

For state policymakers, it’s attractive because parents are incentivized to spend wisely and carry over savings, and that “puts downward pressure on prices,” says Lindsey Burke, an education policy fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. Because the ESA per student amount does not cover the full cost of tuition at private and religious schools, families must have the personal means to cover any remaining tuition. This will also include the cost of fees, uniforms, books, transportation and other expenses associated with private and religious schooling.

But do Americans hate their public schools, or is privatization really about placating a small minority of like minded anti-government voters?

While some opponents might worry about a steady stream of students leaving public schools, that hasn’t been the case in Arizona. Out of about 250,000 students who are eligible, about 1 percent applied for the 2014-15 school year, and currently there are about 1,200 participants, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Education told the Monitor.

To put even this in perspective:

Lawmakers in nearly two-dozen states have made education savings accounts or private school scholarships available to families. Yet only 350,000 of the 50 million students in the U.S. are participating. (To put this in perspective, imagine you visit the reigning World Series Champions, the San Francisco Giants, for a game this summer and only 290 seats in their 42,000-seat ballpark are filled.)

I mixed and matched stats from these two sources: Christian Science Monitor and DianeRavitch.

57th Voucher School Terminated and $176 million of Taxpayer money wasted...and counting.

The Milwaukee school voucher program has been around now for a quarter of a century, and it's still not working. But because it's a potential profit center for every voucher campaign donor drooling over the deep pockets of state taxpayers, Republicans will continue to shovel more of our money their way.

Instead of getting tough on voucher schools, something they were never really serious about, Republicans have been expanding the program with empty promises of accountability. 

We're also finding out voucher schools aren't actually a public investment, they're a private one, sucking millions of dollars out of the state. And sudden voucher school closings have left hundreds of students and parents scrambling to find an alternative, often times over a weekend. Chalk up another one:   

jsonline: The closing of another Milwaukee voucher school prompted Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday to renew their calls for greater accountability for private schools.

Daughters of the Father Christian Academy closed Thursday ... had received about $5.4 million in public money since the 2007-'08 academic year, would be the 57th terminated from the voucher program by the Department of Public Instruction since the 2003-'04 academic year. 

Those schools had been paid a total of $176 million. 

You might want to ask Republican lawmakers what made the following example a smart taxpayer "investment:" 

The school's executive director, Doris Pinkney, had operated a day care center since 2002. Her state license was revoked in 2010 by the Department of Children and Families for numerous violations. Pinkney filed for bankruptcy three times since 1995, most recently in April.

Cognitive Dissidence’s Jeff Simpson wrote this to the point assessment:

“Wisconsin Republican model "choice" school closes 9 days into the school year, leaving all of their kids stranded. The Republicans in WI have handed them an unaccountable $5.4 Million taxpayer dollars(for comparison, we are cutting $855,000 this year).

Crickets from anyone on the right as they continue sending schools like this our valuable education funds!

This is what happens when we "balance" business with public policy; the public always loses.

Voucher plan morphed into GOP Weapon against Education, Teachers and Unions: Scott Walker named Howard Fuller, an early advocate of the Milwaukee voucher program, as a major influence. Yet Fuller denounced what the Republicans have turned it into to, and didn't appreciate what Walker said.

One of Scott Walker's educational role models doesn't agree with him: on August 20, 2015 ... Howard Fuller, said (he) took to Twitter after Walker’s comments to make it clear he doesn’t agree with Walker on some education issues ... Fuller supports the Common Core academic standards, which Walker opposes, and opposes expanding school vouchers to students who aren’t from low-income households, which Walker supports and has pushed in two budgets during his tenure as governor.

“Scott Walker and I have fought together for parent choice over the years, but I do not support universal vouchers,” Fuller tweeted Wednesday afternoon. “I am against voter ID, I support raising minimum wage. I do not support drug testing for people on welfare. I support Obamacare, I support the common core, I support #BlackLivesMatter. I am neither a republican or democrat. I don’t want any of my friends trying to stand up for me. I speak for myself. Always have and always will.”

This is not a new position by Fuller. Back in April 2011, Fuller voiced his dissatisfaction, but no one seemed to notice:

Howard Fuller calls choice plans 'egregious' and 'outrageous' ... Fuller shook up the hearing on the state budget by calling a proposed change to choice “egregious” and “outrageous.”

He also said he’d oppose the Milwaukee choice program if the change – phasing out income limits for participating Milwaukee families – went into effect.

If that happens, he said in an interview after the testimony, “This is when I get off the train.”

Walker puts the power back into the hands of Washington Voucher Special Interests and hard working millionaire/billionaire taxpaying GOP contributors.

Scott Walker’s biggest con line, “It's not too late to take on those powers in Washington and put the power back in the hands of the hard-working taxpayers," never points out who “the working taxpayers” are getting that power. Would you be surprised to find out they're billionaire contributors and “Washington” school voucher lobbyists? Funny, he left that out.  

Walker is just switching who those Washington special interests are, and the people getting all the power. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign details the grand shift in who gets the taxpayer cash:

The special interests behind school vouchers in Wisconsin have gotten a mammoth return on their electioneering and lobbying investments. School voucher program spending approved by Republican Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP-controlled legislature will total nearly $1.2 billion between 2011 and 2017. That’s a return of about 15,600% on the more than $7.5 million that mostly out-of-state millionaires and billionaires who support vouchers have invested in campaign contributions, outside electioneering activities and lobbying in recent years.

The numbers aren’t mine either:

A Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis shows … Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature have cut state aid to public schools by nearly $1.1 billion.

Walker is “taking on those powers in Washington” he doesn’t like, and shifts that power over to a different unmentioned Washington special interest. Surprised?

The Washington D.C.-based American Federation for Children, a leading advocate of Wisconsin’s voucher programs, spent an estimated $5.4 million to support Republican candidates in Wisconsin elections between 2010 and 2014.

Walker’s putting “the power back in the hands of the hard-working taxpayers” who likes contributing to Republican campaign coffers, many from out-of-state:

Nearly four dozen wealthy individuals or couples from mostly outside the state who support Wisconsin’s voucher programs contributed more than $1.6 million to Walker and about five dozen Republican legislators The top contributors among voucher backers to Walker and Republican legislators between 2010 and 2014 were Robert and Patricia Kern, of Waukesha, founders of Generac Corp., $235,000; Foster and Lynnette Friess, of Jackson, Wyo., owners of Friess Associates, $131,700; Roger Hertog, a retired New York City financier, $120,000; and Bruce Kovner, of New York, N.Y., chairman of Caxton Alternative Management, and his wife, Suzie, $120,000.

Not exactly your local superintendent, school board or group of concerned neighborhood parents.

But Walker supporters think putting our country in the hands of corporate special interests who will fleece us of every hard earn dollar we make is a good thing. One clueless troll not only supports this idea, they think I do too:

Public Education turned "Consumerist and Hyper-protective."

In a few more years, at least in the next biennial budget, the course of education in Wisconsin will be forever changed. There is a point where saving public education will be an almost impossible task, especially when you think of the timid way Democrats roll out their own agenda. 

The following opinion was that epiphanic moment for me, when I realized how Republicans have turned a responsibility to educate the next generation, into a product (education) we shop for (choice) to be consumed (by kids) for a profit. We've turned children into a commodity, and parents into a target audience for unbelievable advertising. 

And this odd new public educational system will spur on a religious renaissance, where kids are taught early and often about religion. It's an end run around dwindling Sunday church services, and a little thing called the Constitution.

VOX.Com: "Things have changed since I started teaching. The vibe is different. Not, like, in a person-by-person sense, but students in general. The student-teacher dynamic has been reenvisioned along a line that's simultaneously consumerist and hyper-protective, giving each and every student the ability to claim Grievous Harm in nearly any circumstance, after any affront, and a teacher's formal ability to respond to these claims is limited at best.

The academic job market is brutal. Teachers who are not tenured or tenure-track faculty members have no right to due process before being dismissed, and there's a mile-long line of applicants eager to take their place. And as writer and academic Freddie DeBoer writes, they don't even have to be formally fired — they can just not get rehired. In this type of environment, boat-rocking isn't just dangerous, it's suicidal, and so teachers limit their lessons to things they know won't upset anybody.

I got called into my director's office. I was shown an email, sender name redacted, alleging that I "possessed communistical [sic] sympathies and refused to tell more than one side of the story." The story in question wasn't described, but I suspect it had do to with whether or not the economic collapse was caused by poor black people." - Edward Schlosser

Vouchers? Pure right wing politics...and not what the public wants!!!

District superintendents are making it clear, they don't want voucher expansion. It's not about protecting teachers or schools, it's about what the public wants and the politicians who aren't listening.

Republican voting districts are objecting to the proposed changes to school funding and voucher expansion, so what's the problem, why are things getting worse? It's pure ideology and the agenda of partisan extremists who rise to the top as elected officials. And they're not listening at all.

I would like to think that voters will change affiliation for one election at least to send a strong message it's not alright to destroy the quality of local school districts for the almighty quest to privatize schools for profit.

It's never been about giving parents a choice, since they're not familiar with the strides made in recent years in curriculum and teaching techniques. It's about parent insecurity and fear, and playing on that to push a profit driven system of education. It's parent and child exploitation, clear and simple.

jsonline: The superintendents, who predominantly hailed from high-income suburban schools and many districts that voted Republican in the last election, gathered at Range Line School in the Mequon-Thiensville School District to urge lawmakers to amend the budget changes for K-12 schools approved by the powerful Joint Finance Committee in recent days.

"We're asking them to reconsider (the amendments passed by the committee) and reinvest in public schools," said Mequon Superintendent Demond Means, flanked by superintendents from districts such as Kettle Moraine, Glendale-River Hills, Wauwatosa, South Milwaukee, Elmbrook, Greendale, West Allis-West Milwaukee, Hamilton and Northern Ozaukee.

Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget wasn't kind to public schools, but the committee's amendments had made things worse by adding items such as a significant expansion of the statewide voucher program, a special-needs voucher program, a new civics test graduation requirement and teacher-licensing changes.  Mequon Superintendent Demond Means (said) "There's been so much dialogue between public officials about the Bucks and what's best for that building, but limited dialogue between elected officials and education leaders about what's best for schools,"

Want even more proof this politics driven? In the Racine Journal Times:

No charter schools, Gateway says: Even if it gets the power, don’t look for Gateway Technical College to open charter high schools anytime soon … a state budget provision allowing Gateway to authorize charter schools emerged, the college says it has no plans to open a school and that it is not being discussed. Gateway instead plans to continue working with local high schools on initiatives already in place, a Gateway official said. “We’re going to continue to work with the secondary schools in the tri-county area to develop those successful partnerships.”

State Rep. Thomas Weatherston, who authored a bill earlier this year giving all technical colleges the ability to authorize charter high schools, is holding out hope that Gateway would reconsider … “I think under the right circumstances, they might go ahead and try it.”

Proof of Partisan agenda: See, no one was asking for this. I think this says it all about the disconnect between the public and the arrogant Republican majority's prepackaged nationwide agenda:

Gateway met with Weatherston about his legislation about a year ago but noted it did not initiate the bill and “even indicated it wasn’t a direction we were moving.” Gateway has several successful programs with local school districts, like an initiative with Racine Unified called career pathways, in which students can earn college credits or industry certification before they graduate high school. “That is the path we have moved forward with and will continue to move forward with,” Sklba said.

Proving the point that these know-it-all republican politicians are sticking their noses in places they have no right to be meddling. 

Middleton Superintendent's Open Letter to Public exposes real world effect of Walker cuts to Education.

The voices of educators statewide made it clear to touring Republicans legislators they did not like the purely conservative agenda targeting education for cuts and privatization.

Their voice, and the massive turnout of parents who also spoke in opposition to education cuts, are now just a part of the GOP's fading memory. 

That is until this open letter to the Middleton-Cross Plains Area Community hit the media today.

Residents and Parents in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area Should Know…

Ten items in the State Budget that significantly impact our schools:

1. Middleton-Cross Plains Area Schools, and school districts across the state, will have their state aid cut to allow for voucher expansion; these are public tax dollars used to pay for a student’s private education. Voucher expansion will mean less money for public schools, including our school district. Any decision that is made to publicly fund religious and other private schools will diminish the quality of education for our students.

2. This budget drives Wisconsin under the national average in per pupil spending (according to Michael Griffith, a senior policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States). Wisconsin has had a proud tradition of adequately funding our public school system. The legislature is pouring money into private schools at the expense of maintaining a public system that has been a source of pride in our state for more than 100 years.

3. In Year 1 up to 67 students from MCPASD could receive vouchers to attend private religious or secular schools. $7,856 for each high school student from our district would go with each student for a total of $526,560 in the first year. In Year 2 up to 134 students and $1,052,704, in Year 3 up to 201 students and $1,579,680, etc. In Year 10 up to 670 students and $5,265,600 could leave MCPASD to support private and religious school education- these funds are state tax dollars (these figures would be 9% less for K-8 level students). After year 10 there would be no limit on the number of vouchers offered to students in our school district. If private schools are publicly funded as proposed, the MCPASD will struggle to maintain the educational quality that people in this community have worked so hard to build.

4. The legislature plans no future cost-of-living increases for teachers and other staff. This threatens our ability to attract and retain high quality faculty now and in the future. Offering nothing will undermine our ability to maintain, let alone, improve the high quality education our children currently receive.

5. The new law would allow home schooled students and virtual school students to participate in any extra-curricular or athletic team our district offers. Students from area private schools would also be eligible to participate on our school teams in certain sports. This raises a multitude of eligibility questions and different eligibility requirements for members of the same team. The WIAA has come out strongly against this proposal as have many home school advocates.

6. The new law would allow “learning portfolios” to replace up to one-half the credits needed to graduate from high school. The law would require a diploma earned in this manner be the equivalent of a diploma earned through actual course completion. This proposal has the potential to change what high schools look and feel like across the state; including the likelihood that the rigor needed to earn a high school diploma will be significantly reduced, jeopardizing both in and out-of-state college acceptance.

7. The new law eliminates many standards for licensing teachers, with no bachelor’s degree needed to teach our students in multiple subject areas. Educational programs and training have been built and improved over decades with Wisconsin having one of the top performing educational systems in the nation. With this one legislative change, students could have under-trained and ill-prepared educators without the prerequisite knowledge to meet the many needs of our students. MCPASD does NOT intend to hire non-certified teachers or teachers without a college degree, but we are concerned about the deprofessionalization of teaching in Wisconsin.

8. The proposed law allows students in special education to use $12,000 in publicly funded annual vouchers to attend private and parochial schools. In these schools they would not be guaranteed the legal rights and protections afforded to them by federal law. In addition, the dollar amount is completely arbitrary as actual costs vary drastically from student to student. At the same time the legislature is allocating money for special education students in private/parochial schools, it has not increased funding for public school special education students in eight years.

9. There is a new requirement in the law that mandates passing a civics assessment for high school graduation-this would be a 100-question test. This test is in addition to the multitude of other state-mandated tests that students are already required to take. This proposal, set to become law, has had very little discussion and a plan for implementation of this test does not exist.

10. The tests that students are required to take will be different for the third consecutive year. Districts will not be required to take the same test; making district-to-district comparisons very difficult. Our students do extremely well on the standardized test they are given and we welcome the opportunity to compare ourselves to any competing school. Common sense tells us adequate comparison can only be made when students in each district are taking the same standardized tests.

The time is now to voice our opposition to policies and legislation that will undermine our ability to support quality education. Please be active in advocating for our schools with the legislature and Governor Walker. The future of our children depends on your involvement.

Sincerely,Dr. Donald Johnson, Superintendent Middleton-Cross Plains Area School 

I have no doubt "Stand with Walker" conservatives will continue to bring up the one time savings brought about by Act 10, and ignore the long term effect of cuts, tax increases via referendums and the sneaky creation of a second school system.

As that second private school system flounders, taxpayers will eventually start asking questions and demand answers, which ironically will require government control, intervention and oversight all over again. Maybe we'll even bring back "classic" public schools. It worked for Coke.

Republicans Blowup Public Education once and for all, for Freedom and Liberty!!!

The Joint Finance Committee literally ripped apart public education with a maze of big government regulations that hands taxpayer dollars over to parents, because they know what's best. Professional educators and researchers just got their pink slips.

These are the worst changes yet:

"Eliminate the Course Options program that allows college courses to be taught in high schools." (Kids would get) "high school and college credit." This would have saved families lots of money, and now penalizes advanced students.

"Students with disabilities would be eligible to apply for vouchers for the first time under a separate program." Private standards are so lax, this plan simply invites deception and corruption for profit.

Constitutionally possible? "Prohibits the state superintendent from promoting the Common Core State Standards, and from adopting new academic standards created by the Common Core State Standards Initiative, though there are none in the works."

Zero ability to compare schools: "The proposal allocates money to find up to five alternative tests for schools to choose from." 

Taxpayer money going out-of-state? To be honest, I don't even believe this one: "Allowing a student to attend a public school outside of the school district they live in, or outside of the state." 

Right Wing-nut Testing is here...freedom and liberty f**k yea: "Requiring students to pass a civics test to graduate from high school."

Allowing the failed virtual charter model to flourish by not holding host district responsible: "Prohibiting test scores from students attending virtual charter schools from being included in school accountability reports for the schools’ host school district if more than half of the virtual charter students don’t live there."

Lowering teacher standards: "Allowing DPI to grant teaching licenses to individuals who wish to teach technical courses and have a set amount of work experience and teacher training."

This isn't the complete list either. Republicans also took aim at Wisconsin's biggest cities, setting up the installation of an un-elected schools czar who can turn public to private on a whim. Oh, and two of those cities are predominantly Democratic. Coincidence?

And after all this and the outcry from voters, republicans are now desperately trying to spin their way out of trouble for their over-the-top legislation:

A chorus of voices — from the state superintendent to teachers unions, school administrators and parents — claimed the Republican-led amendments result in a wholesale reshaping of education policy.

Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon), the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, acknowledged the budget "doesn't make it easier to run a school district." Olsen said there wasn't enough money to fund property tax cuts that Walker promised and also fund the public education system. "Something has to give and that's what gave," Olsen said Wednesday.

Vouchers Satisfy Parents, play to their Insecurities!

It's funny and deceptive the way Republicans like Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, a former teacher, steer clear of the 25 year substandard private voucher school record, by touting how "satisfied" parents are with the program.

The old cliche "parents know what's best for their children," is getting a lot of mileage, and is patently ridiculous. Really, parents somehow have an innate insight into the latest teaching techniques and course work they feel is best for their kids?

From WPR audio this morning, Thiesfeldt did the old switcheroo, shifting from a callers question about private school accountability to the magical "satisfaction" levels of voucher parents. And he thought I wouldn't notice:



Republicans have always played on the fears and insecurities of parents who want to do what's right for their kids. Giving them "a choice" is nothing but manipulative pandering. Thiesfeldt pointed to studies of satisfied parents. I just happen to remember that study:

According to the University of Arkansas: Researchers with the School Choice Demonstration Project report that having a choice of where to send their children to school boosts their satisfaction with and involvement in schools (in Washington, D.C.). 

That’s right, parents are more satisfied simply because they got to choose. But are kids more educated? Three quarters of the voucher parents didn't care. Public schools aren't held to that same standard: 

Patrick Wolf, director of the School Choice Demonstration Project said, “Even D.C. parents whose children ended up returning to public schools tended to say that they were happy that they at least had a choice.” 

After decades of bashing, even laughing at the idea of smaller class sizes, Republican backed vouchers schools can't play it up enough, finding a very receptive audience of appreciative parents. Still, it's all about touchy feely stuff and not about better academic outcomes:

The factors these parents considered most important in making a choice included smaller class sizes, school safety, religious or values-based environment and rigorous academic curriculum ... Many parents placed greater emphasis on attitudes and behavior of their children, rather than test scores, as a basis for evaluating their progress. None of the parents polled considered standardized test scores when assessing their children’s progress.

President George W. Bush's NCLB's testing extravaganza emphasized testing as a way to fail most schools, so they could be turned into private religious schools. Testing went into overdrive and that's why we have what we have today. But for vouchers, testing isn't important:

Most parents measure their children’s progress almost exclusively by the level of enthusiasm the students express ... Actual grades and test scores are secondary concerns. By this standard, the vast majority of families reported that their children are succeeding or progressing in very important ways.

That same caller gave Thiesfeldt an example of how cutting education funding can actually hurting our kids. Of course, Thiesfeldt lamented the tight budget he and his band of plundering republican pirates have created.



Remember when everyone in the state paid taxes and supported education and infrastructure? Not anymore, since manufacturers and big ag got a $240 million tax cut and soon won't be paying any state tax at all. That's freeloading, sticking even conservative tightwad voters with the bill. And not a peep.  

Scott Walker: The Dumbing Down of America's Poster Boy!!! Wisconsin's so proud.

It's never a good sign when your own governor and - yikes - candidate for president, is the poster boy for the current anti-education movement within the Republican Party. Even "stand with Walker" idol worshipers, with their own families to worry about, can't be happy with the downward direction their party is taking on education. College nowadays is as standard as having a high school diploma. That scares Republicans, who have for years believed universities brainwash students with liberal socialist ideas. It's time to block the school house doors again, but this time, to everyone. Salon:

If you ever want to make a conservative touchy, the quickest way is to hint that the connection between ignorance and holding right-wing views is more than a coincidence. But when you look at what Republican politicians are up to these days, especially in state legislatures, it starts to look like Republicans are purposefully trying to make Americans more ignorant. Here are 5 recent examples.

1) Oklahoma is about to ban AP history classes. Under the guise of “emergency” legislation, the education committee in the Oklahoma legislature had an 11-4 vote to advance a bill that would ban the advanced placement history curriculum from Oklahoma schools. There’s not even a real attempt here, as with other conservative assaults on education, to hide that the goal is to keep students ignorant so that they are more susceptible to right wing propaganda. The bill’s sponsor, state representative Dan Fisher, argued that the schools should be teaching “American exceptionalism,” and avoiding teaching parts of American history that are less than flattering. The Republican National Committee has endorsed the idea that AP history courses should teach less strife and present a more rah-rah view of American history. In Colorado, attempts to whitewash the history classes even resulted in student walkouts, garnering national attention.

2) Scott Walker has it out for the University of Wisconsin. Walker … not caring that it’s the state’s pride and joy … The goal is to slash a whopping $300 million from the University of Wisconsin system over the next two years … Walker and his staff haven’t really taken many pains to hide that this is rooted in a deeper hostility to the very idea of knowledge itself. “…his staff proposed changing the university’s ethereal focus on the pursuit of truth, known as the ‘Wisconsin Idea,’ to a grittier focus on ‘workforce needs,’” reports the Washington Post. Walker backed off recasting higher education as nothing more than job training … but the fact that this wording change was proposed at all shows that the hostility to education is ideological and has little to nothing to do with saving money.

3) Redefining education as “welfare” Mississippi state representative Gene Alday made national headlines recently … “I come from a town where all the blacks are getting food stamps and what I call ‘welfare crazy checks.’ Alday went on his rant in part because he was trying to justify his opposition to increased funding for elementary school education. Alday’s little racist spiel was an attempt to insinuate that teaching kids reading and writing amounts to “welfare” and to suggest that education is wasted on black people in particular.

4) Threatening to arrest teachers for sex education. In Kansas, Republicans are no longer satisfied with laws requiring teachers to pretend that it’s normal and expected for people to wait until marriage to have sex. Now there’s growing support for having teachers fear jail time should they ever hint, during sex education, that sex is a thing people do for pleasure. Using a teacher who had a poster up in class that suggested—gasp!—that sex is sometimes used to show affection, Republicans in the state are sponsoring a bill that would allow officials to criminally charge teachers for daring to acknowledge such a thing ever again.

5) Continued demands that science education be replaced with magic … creationists haven’t gone anywhere. In South Dakota, Republicans once again pushed for a bill that would “allow” teachers to “question” evolution in the classroom, which is a fancy way of saying that teachers would be permitted to treat being ignorant as the equivalent of being educated. Asked recently about evolution, Gov. Scott Walker stuck to the narrative that elevates ignorance over education, saying, “That’s a question politicians shouldn’t be involved in one way or another. I am going to leave that up to you.” The comment was the exaltation of ignorance over education. Evolutionary theory is a knowable thing. Walker epitomized the new conservative mentality of ignorance uber alles. 

Private Schools want to data mine you and your kids personal information

Tea party "stand with Walker" followers of the governor better start paying attention, or they're likely to wake up one day to find their kids have become government controlled commodities with limited rights and freedoms.

We already know Republicans represent the corporate and wealthy, positively packaged as "job creators." Well, the tentacles of private business are now about to burrow deeply into your child's most personal information, creating a private free market national database. What will they do with that information?  Maybe a little economic blackmail?

Remember when the tea party Republicans couldn't stop whining about Common Core's "data mining?"

Dozens of tea party supporters sent lawmakers a letter this week raising concerns about a loss of local control, lowered educational standards and an invasion of student privacy.    

Implementing Common Core will lead to "data mining" — the federal government collecting student and family information and sharing it with employers and others. Duke Pesta, an assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, also a guy who spoke at a “packed into a Republican gathering at an American Legion hall in Cedarburg,” contends that in accepting common assessments aligned to the national standards, states agreed to share data they collect with the federal government.

DPI said no new data collection is required as part of the Common Core State Standards. The data are owned by the districts, and in no case would the data ever be sold to anyone, according to the DPI. 

Private Schools want You and your Kids personal information...NOW! Don't expect any blowback on this latest leap into fascism, since deep down inside this has always been the end game whether they knew it or not:

jsonline: School choice advocates have requested the names, addresses, phone numbers and grade levels of every student enrolled in 30 different public school districts, gearing up for a marketing campaign should lawmakers lift the enrollment cap on Wisconsin's statewide voucher program.

But what School Choice Wisconsin sees as a legal way to augment its mailing list, public school supporters see as a legal affront on personal privacy. The issue is prompting some district leaders to revisit options for limiting the release of student data, including reminding parents of their ability to opt out. "We're trying to augment our mailing list."

Tea Party for Data Mining? 

The organization (School Choice Wis) is particularly keen on connecting with public school parents ... Directory information includes information such as students' names, addresses, telephone numbers, date and place of birth, major field of study, height, weight, athletic team participation, awards achieved, and schools attended.  

Oshkosk School District Superintendent Stan Mack, "That information getting into the wrong hands could create significant danger," he said. "...that information floating about seems to not to be the best idea." Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, said there's no way to predict what School Choice Wisconsin will do with the data. "We're not saying what they did was illegal, we're saying it's sleazy, and given the voucher industry's record on accountability, there are legitimate concerns about how this data is used, resold and transmitted," Ross said Friday.

Trust us, misusing the information is not our intention....

Bender countered that they've stated that they don't intend to sell or use the data for commercial purposes.

That's reassuring. 

While our own government stores a lot of our personal information, it also has safeguards against sharing that data, or using it against us. There would be political hell to pay if that trust were ever broken. But the private sector has no limits. Headlines about data breaches in the private sector over charge cards and personal information are so common now, even tea party Republicans don't give a rats ass. They fear their own government more. But what happens when government and business are one and the same?   

Walker’s in London! So he can’t even comment on teaching Creationism and Evolution in Wisconsin schools…to Wisconsin reporters?

Scott Walker’s trip to London has become a disaster due to his own bag of media tricks. He’s finding out the press outside the state and outside the country aren't the dupes he’s normally bamboozles in Wisconsin.

The fact that Walker won’t even answer questions from state reporters about our own state schools teaching evolution and creationism tells us two things; he can't think too quickly on his feet, and second, doesn't like questions he hasn't crafted a non-response to. And no ones buying his "promote Wisconsin" tour excuse. 

And far be from me to suggest this preachers son and anti-science/education zealot wouldn't back creationism in our schools, especially the voucher kind. Let's face it, voucher's are the life blood of  religious teaching on the taxpayer dime. jsonline: 

For the second straight day on his London trip, Gov. Scott Walker Thursday focused on Wisconsin exports like Colby cheese and declined to give his views on foreign policy or evolution.

In a conference call from Great Britain with Wisconsin reporters, Walker also would not answer whether he thought Wisconsin schools should teach evolution, creationism or both and declined to say whether he would eventually state his views on evolution in his likely presidential campaign.

Our incidental governor doesn't like new questions:

Walker said that he wasn't asked about evolution by reporters in four years as governor and that this showed it wasn't really an important part of his job despite the sudden "fascination with the question." "The media tends to be distracted by issues that aren't really issues of the day," Walker said.

But teaching creationism is important if Walker is going to make education in Wisconsin our own, which could mean anything. Other states have introduced the "science" of creationism.

Here's the original offending comment from Walker. After watching this, it's even worse than reported:

That's our Walker. He doesn't answer questions, period:

However, in an interview with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice during Walker's 2010 run for governor, the governor was asked about evolution. Walker said then he believed that God had created the world but didn't specify whether that meant evolution was absent from the process or still a part of it.

Here's a recent example showcasing Walker's amazing ability to not answer questions, and the media settling for less eventually.