News Briefs - January 19
UW-Milwaukee proposes for-profit charters
For-profit schools would enter Wisconsin for the first time under a proposal
from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The UW-Milwaukee is expected
to recommend the creation of three charter schools, two of which would
be managed by the Edison Project, a for-profit company that operates in
51 school districts throughout the country. The university’s Center
for Charter Schools plans to ask the UW Board of Regents to enter into
charter school contracts to create a science specialty school, an Academy
of Business and Economics, and a charter school run by the YWCA of Greater
Milwaukee. “The Edison Project has a poor track record in the few
districts in which it has operated,” WEAC President Terry Craney
said. “We are extremely concerned that the UW-Milwaukee wants such
a questionable company to operate in Wisconsin and take on the vital role
of educating our children.”
Legislators propose additional technology funds
In the wake of reports that three rural areas did not receive any funds
from a new state technology program for schools, several legislators are
proposing the state use a utility fund to make up the difference. Three
rural regions in the northwest and southwest did not receive any of the
$6 million Technology for Educational Achievement (TEACH) grants issued
to districts for computer training programs. Legislators said that was
unfair, and proposed using the Public Service Commission’s Universal
Service Fund to make sure school districts in all parts of the state have
technology assistance.
EAA seeks charter funding
The Experimental Aircraft Association museum in Oshkosh is seeking a
state grant to study the feasibility of operating a charter school. The
school would focus on math, science and technology as they relate to aviation.
DPI explains graduation test
The Department of Public Instruction is distributing thousands of brochures
to explain the state’s upcoming high
school graduation test. The agency is mailing brochures to every district
in the state, in order to help administrators, teachers and parents prepare
for the test. The exam will be given for the first time in the spring
of 2001, but not required for graduation until the 2002-2003 school year.
Students will have four chances to pass the exam. The DPI brochure lists
three to five sample questions for each of the four academic subjects
covered by the test.
WEAC PR Division wins national award
WEAC’s Communications/Public Relations Division won a national award
for community organizing this month. The division’s public relations
handbook, “Building Relationships,” won the PR Council of the
States’ community organizing award at its national conference.
Posted January 15, 1999