Majority of Wisconsin Schools Meet Standards

The state Department of Public Instruction’s list of Schools Identified for Improvement shows the vast majority of Wisconsin public schools are providing great schools for their children, but there are some areas that need improvement, according to the president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council.

Only 72 out of the state’s 2,200 schools do not meet the standards for Adequate Yearly Progress required by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

“The ESEA is an under-funded federal mandate requiring the identification of schools needing improvement,” WEAC President Stan Johnson said. “The ESEA punishes schools that do not conform to its one-size-fits-all standards. This cookie-cutter approach to education reform presumes that all children are alike and learn the same material at the same rate.”

Johnson said the law provides no true education reform.

“We in Wisconsin know what has proven to increase student achievement: initiatives like lower class sizes, 4-year-old kindergarten programs, and an investment in professional development for staff,” he said. “By every measure, Wisconsin’s public schools are among the best in the nation.”

Johnson said WEAC supports public school accountability.
“We will work to ensure that every child in every Wisconsin community attends a great school,” he said.

Johnson said that 11 schools on the list were private schools that contract with Milwaukee Public Schools.

“MPS is working with these schools to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress requirements of ESEA,” he said. “These schools are being held accountable just like MPS schools.”

Johnson noted that the Milwaukee private voucher schools that receive public funding are not subject to the ESEA requirements.
“The voucher program is unaccountable to taxpayers and is an unwise use of scarce educational resources,” Johnson said. “WEAC has consistently called for voucher schools to be subject to the same accountability requirements as public schools.”

Johnson said that in spite of the fact that the ESEA is a misguided law, WEAC will strive to ensure that every child attends a great school that has classrooms that work.

Posted July 11, 2003