Yellow Bus

I have been trying to think of a way to explain Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for the longest time. I’m afraid I will not have much success either, and that is part of the problem for everyone. Here is my feeble attempt: We have no national curriculum in the United States. Each state sets its own agenda, and we prefer to keep it that way. But we do have several national testing mechanisms that somewhat push states toward standardization: the National Assessment of Educational Progress and two college entrance exams, ACT and SAT, just to name a few. If…

[In my previous posting, I outlined how the school charter provider, American Quality Schools, was having difficulty in Indiana. This is important because AQS has contracted with the City of Milwaukee to run a charter elementary school beginning next year. A school board committee of Milwaukee Public School did not advance a charter secondary school to be run by AQS. In this posting, I outline the difficulties AQS has faced in its hometown of Chicago.]  2011 was not a good year for the Chicago charter school provider, American Quality Schools. In March of 2011, AQS elected not to renew its…

Recently Milwaukee’s Mayor and Common Council approved a charter elementary school for next year run by American Quality Schools. In addition, AQS also came to Milwaukee Public Schools with a proposal to open a secondary school, but a school board committee looked deeper and decided not to advance the proposal. AQS will not contest the committee’s recommendation at the full school board meeting. What tipped committee members to AQS problems was an article in Fort Wayne’s daily paper, The Journal Gazette.  The Dec. 13, 2011, article highlighted the AQS’s poor academic grades in Indiana. Financial audits brought out more problems. Wrote reporter…

Monday morning State Superintendent Tony Evers stood before the television cameras at Irving Elementary in West Allis to announce his proposed educational budget for the coming term. The bottom line is more money for education. He wants to increase state education funding by $615 million over the next two years bringing state funding closer to the former two-thirds state funding commitment once promised. As the economy improves, more money is projected to come to the state coffers. Why not spend more money on education? In addition, Evers proposes: · Taking into account the poverty level, not just the property wealth…

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce continues its tradition of advocating free market solutions for education. It championed school choice and teamed up with Republicans to extend choice to Racine and suburban Milwaukee private schools as well as raising the income levels to allow much of Milwaukee’s middle class to participate in the choice system. Previously the MMAC went down in a blazing crash in its attempt to turn over the school system to the mayor. Nationally Milwaukee became the firewall against mayoral control, and since then, few other cities have considered the idea. Evidence is increasing that some cities…

Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction just launched a new report card system which allows anyone to compare schools from all over the state. Previously it was almost impossible to make any type of comparison beyond test score data. Now, in addition to test scores, each school is examined on student growth, postsecondary readiness, absenteeism, dropout rate and several other indicators. The system isn’t perfect, but it is a step in the right direction. The system’s rating system is as follows: 83-100   Significantly Exceeds Expectation 73-82.9  Exceeds Expectations 63-72.9  Meets Expectations 53-62.9  Meets Few Expectations 0-52.9    Fails to Meet Expectations Because the…

On October 3rd, community members met at Bay View Middle and High School to discuss how to improve the school. School officials outlined the successes and modifications to the school program, principally the Springboard college prep program coming to Bay View. Then the discussion turned the safety. A retired high school teacher stood up and demanded that the superintendent “unshackle” the school principals and allow them to suspend out-of-control students. According to this retiree, the superintendent seems to only care about getting the suspension numbers down, and low suspension numbers don’t mean that the schools are safe and under control.…

I tried my hardest not to write on the Chicago teachers strike. After all, I’m sitting here in Milwaukee, and all I know is what I read in the papers and see on TV. But after Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” I felt compelled to write something. Duncan was asked who won the Chicago teachers strike. Obviously, Duncan was ready for the question and quickly responded with a straight face that Chicago got to a “really great place.” The teachers won because the new contract respects them, and the community won because it allows for reforms…

One of my first acts as a new school board director five years ago was to propose that Milwaukee Public Schools require all of its graduates take the ACT College Entrance Exam. No one in MPS had suggested this before, but today some 85 percent of MPS graduates take the ACT. Statewide the percentage is only 61 percent. I had to keep on fighting just to keep the concept alive. Two years ago, the administration negotiated a school calendar which effectively killed the ACT. I rallied my fellow board members to reject the calendar, and incoming Superintendent Thornton forged a…

The whole idea behind school choice was that free market choices would naturally improve education. Parents would look at the quality of the schools and naturally pick those schools with the best education for their children. But the best products don’t always win in the marketplace. Americans pretty much know what foods are good for them, but that doesn’t stop consumers from filling their shopping carts with Twinkies and Doritos. Yes, the educational free market operates just like free markets everywhere. And no, the best products don’t always win. So it shouldn’t be surprising that Journal Sentinel education reporter, Erin…