New Education Bills--Where's the Accountability?
jalinder
ILMPS (I Love My Public School) & FAMS (For All Madison Students)
Jasmine Alinder 414 378-7262; Thomas J. Mertz 608-215-1942
For immediate release: Feb. 13, 2012
Education bill creates mandatory tests for kindergartners
Still no accountability for voucher schools
MILWAUKEE & MADISON— Parents are calling the first education bill of 2012 an insult to Wisconsin students, and proof that the current legislative leadership will not restore the budget cuts that have damaged Wisconsin public schools.
SB 461/AB 558, released Feb. 10, comes on the heels of one of the largest per-dollar, per-pupil cuts to public education in the United States. The new bill offers no new funding strategies, but imposes standardized tests on kindergartners. The bill will create Gov. Scott Walker’s “Read to Lead” program, with a proposed task force of business and philanthropic figures – only one research expert. “Read to Lead” comes at a time when school libraries across Wisconsin are closed, their librarians dismissed. Literacy coaches and other reading support positions have been eliminated.
“To say that we are horribly disappointed would be an understatement,” says MPS parent and education-rights advocate Jasmine Alinder. “‘Read to Lead’ will create more underfunded mandates that our schools cannot afford. And these bills do nothing to correct the enormous gaps that the funding cuts have opened up. The programs that serve our state’s most vulnerable children, English Language Learners, children in poverty, and children with special needs, have seen drastic reductions in state aid.”
”These bills mandate more time and money spent on testing, more time and money spent collecting and analyzing test-based data; that will mean less time and money spent on teaching and learning” says Thomas J. Mertz, a parent advocate with For All Madison Students. “The proposed test-based evaluation system will do little to identify, attract or retain the kind high quality educators our children need.”
The bill also retreats on Gov. Walker’s promise to require accountability from all schools that receive public money. He promised more transparency and testing for all schools, but the legislature backed away from this commitment after pressure from voucher lobbyists. Millions of Milwaukee taxpayer dollars funded the city’s expanding voucher school network in 2011. But under SB 461/AB 558, those schools do not have to participate in any state testing, making accountability and apples to apples comparisons between schools impossible.
“Milwaukee now is home to three school districts: MPS, voucher schools, and independent charter schools,” says MPS parent Angela McManaman. “They all receive public dollars, but only one of them faces public accountability. If we are committed to letting the best schools thrive in Milwaukee, all schools must face the same public scrutiny.”
Parents are asked to attend a joint hearing on SB 461/AB 558 Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 9 a.m., 411 South State Capitol. Public testimony is welcome, or attendees can submit written testimony or simply record their approval/disapproval of the bills.