X-post from Wisconsin: School Superintendent writes staff about legislative action in Madison

[Scuba]

from my email ...

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Dear Staff, an update of what our legislators have in mind.

The new year is upon us and our elected officials have begun discussion and action regarding how they can help prepare students of Wisconsin to compete at a world class level. This is an intention I, and all educators, should be supporting, in my opinion. Sounds great.

They are very concerned about accountability it seems. While I have never worked in a “failing school” during my career, they must be more prevalent state-wide than I am aware. Otherwise, why would this be the first priority order of business which the leadership takes up? They have expressed that they want to assure that any discussion of accountability incorporates accountability standards. Sounds great.

One surprising recommendation is to disregard the performance standards (as presented upon the School Report Card) agreed upon by the Accountability Design Team and replace them with letter grades. Relabeling schools that “meet expectations” as “C” letter schools could attach a negative connotation to schools which in fact are meeting performance expectations. Perhaps that is just an oversight which they will revisit.

A newly formed Academic Review Board is proposed to make decisions relative to identifying schools in Wisconsin which are deemed failing schools. There will be thirteen members on this team. As it stands, currently eight of these members will consist of representatives from voucher schools or charter schools or appointed by the leadership party, which is on record as strongly favoring both charter and voucher schools. Most likely another oversight.

The tests used to assist in the determination of success status will not be uniform. Apparently, all Public Schools will use the same test, however, non-public schools will get to choose from a menu of assessments for accountability purposes. It has been a while since I have had a test and measurement class, but I recall that if you are going to make comparisons between treatments it is imperative to have consistency relative to how scholars are assessed. Another oversight?

The definition of accountability, as reflected in early discussions, does not revolve around providing schools with the training, resources, and means for interventions relative to students who are not succeeding. Instead, public schools which receive failing grades from the Academic Review Board will be transitioned into for-profit Charter Schools. This decision will be made independent of the regard of local school boards. Private schools would be allowed to continue running, but would receive a funding penalty. Not the even playing field I was expecting to see.

Of course, nothing being discussed at this time is surprising and it is hoped that the recommendations will be impacted by the obvious. I am unsure how this accountability bill as outlined will lead to improving education in Wisconsin. Unless the assumption is that public schools are failing our communities and need to be replaced by private entities. It does not provide a means of fairly comparing public and non-public school performance. It does appear to be an avenue for “for-profit” schools to gain access to public funds. I am unaware of the history of success of such entities which would lend support to such an intent.

In truth, I have no concerns relative to the performance of our scholars on any form of assessment. We are a strong academic performing school district which will continue to demonstrate success in the future. We have highly educated, professional, and competent educators and support staff who have made a commitment to serving all students enrolled in our system. Like most public educators, I do not fear competition or comparisons when the playing field and means of comparison are uniform. I honestly believe we have an outstanding product which our pubic considers exceptional. I do have a concern regarding decisions impacting our public schools that have much more to do with political statements than that of providing a quality educational product. I do have concerns regarding “punishing” educators and schools for patterns of failure when such bias, inconsistency, and hidden intentions are apparent at the onset.

I am sure there will be much discussion to come!