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More Convention coverage: Weston custodian honored as a Great Schools Hero We are in 'a battle for the soul of education,' Kozol says Governor Doyle says the state's future depends on decisions made about education today (Members Only site) |
Wisconsin students have been among the most successful in the nation for a century, "but we are indeed at a crossroads," State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster said.
"Public education in Wisconsin is threatened," she said in an address to the 2006 WEAC Convention. "From our largest urban to our smallest rural school district, there is a rising inequity in educational opportunity for our children. Today we know that increased costs, increased poverty and most of all revenue caps are limiting our ability to offer all children the same educational opportunities across our state.
"Increasingly in Wisconsin it does matter where you live in our state as to the educational opportunities your child receives. We must share with Jonathan Kozol that sickness in our hearts that the inequalities in our society are worse today than when he wrote "Savage Inequalities" in 1992. And we must do something about it!"
Burmaster credited teachers and education support professionals for working to overcome those inequalities but, she said, they need help from public officials.
"With Governor Doyle's leadership, we've been able to return to two-thirds state funding, and we must continue that funding," she said. "We must support and expand what we know works throughout our state. You know the list, it's SAGE and P-5; it's relief for financially struggling rural districts; it's initiatives targeted at global literacy and economic development; it's helping Milwaukee, our state's largest school district; it's special education categorical aids, bilingual and bicultural aid; it's school nutrition programs and school breakfast; and yes indeed it is 4-year-old kindergarten."
The state and nation, she said, must not shortchange our students.
"Our schools need the resources to accomplish our educational mission, and nothing, nothing will happen without great teachers and education support professionals," she said. "And you - the devoted professionals who educate our children every day - deserve no less than repeal of the QEO."
"It is through solidarity, and it is through action that our voices will be heard," Burmaster said. "Together we fight for children and quality education in Wisconsin."
Discussing the tragic shooting at Weston Schools this fall, Burmaster said, thankfully, tragic events in schools are very rare.
"The heroes we saw in the Weston School District, however, are not rare in any school community. Educators act courageously on behalf of our students every day.
"Educators and education support professionals work daily to build a safe school climate where all students feel valued and a part of the school community. You make - every single day - the elimination of the bullying, shunning, and harassment that contributes to an unsafe school climate a high priority. You work to build a culture of trusting relationships that includes communication between and among students and adults. And you bring such a compassion to your work that is tied to firmness so our students know their safety is important and that adults will act to keep them safe and engaged in school."
Every day, she said, Wisconsin's educators "are working to ensure that the mind and the spirit of every child is strengthened, not broken."
"Children are desperately seeking role models in whom to believe and in whom to trust their dream, and in great schools like the ones in which you serve you are those heroes and those role models for this generation. And that is why, once again, I want to recognize and thank you - individually and collectively - for all of your efforts. You make a tremendous contribution."
She praised Wisconsin educators for working on the "New Wisconsin Promise" and working to close the achievement gap between students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged children, children of color and their peers.
"We have the will in this state, and we have the proven ability to succeed in closing the gap," Burmaster said.
Burmaster praised the governor, saying that "our efforts have no greater ally than Governor Doyle, and he has proven over and over again over these last four years that his first priority is indeed ensuring quality education in Wisconsin."
"If Jim Doyle had not been there these last four years, it really doesn't take much imagination to visualize the desperate state that Wisconsin's great schools would be in today," she said.
Posted November 2, 2006