New test scores should serve as 'rallying cry' for Wisconsin

New test scores showing that Wisconsin has the nation's largest achievement gap between white and black students should serve as a rallying cry to correct the problem, NEA President Reg Weaver said Thursday (October 4, 2007) in Green Bay.

"Instead of hanging your heads or pointing fingers, I hope you will seize this opportunity to focus attention on the achievement gaps." --------------- Reg Weaver

"I know this report is disappointing, and probably even embarrassing, to educators in Wisconsin. But instead of hanging your heads or pointing fingers, I hope you will seize this opportunity to focus attention on the achievement gaps," Weaver said in prepared remarks to be delivered at a Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) conference on Promoting Multi-Culture Success. "I hope you will take this as a rallying cry to fight even harder for the resources we need to close the achievement gaps."

Those resources include universal pre-kindergarten programs, smaller class sizes, tutoring and mentoring for children who are at risk of falling behind in school, and more competitive compensation for education professionals to help ensure that schools can attract and retain the best and brightest teachers and education support professionals.

The 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress scores showed 4th- and 8th-grade black students in Wisconsin have the lowest reading ability of any state, and the reading achievement gap between black students and white students in Wisconsin is the worst in the nation.

Weaver said that in addition to closing the achievement gaps, Wisconsin schools and schools throughout the nation need to lower drop-out rates and increase emphasis on vocational-technical training at the high school and college levels.

Weaver told his audience that even though most of them are not directly involved in K-12 education, they should join in efforts to improve those schools.

"If we continue to fail minority students in grades K-12, they will not be able to take advantage of the opportunities you are offering in your great technical colleges," he said. "And that won't just affect their own economic future, it will affect our entire nation."

Weaver noted that a recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that the United States is falling behind in opportunities for advanced education.

"The 16 colleges in the Wisconsin Technical College System are doing a great job of providing opportunities in your state, with more than 300 programs for associate degrees and technical certification," Weaver said. "But I encourage you to continue to expand the programs you are offering, so the people of your state will be able to compete for new jobs in the 21st century economy."

He said nobody knows exactly what our economy will look like in 2030, but there is one thing we know for certain: "If we want our children to succeed and prosper in the knowledge economy of the 21st century, we must support and strengthen our public education system. And when I say public education, I mean everything from pre-kindergarten to technical colleges and universities."

We must continue to break down barriers between preschool, elementary, secondary and higher education, he said. To achieve that goal, we must reduce the nation's dropout rate.

Dropouts, he said, "aren't just falling through the cracks, they are falling into a crater that threatens to swallow our economy." Dropouts cost society in terms of lost tax revenue, crime and incarceration costs and the "awful price for squandering the human potential of millions of young people." One study, he said, found that our economy would grow by $309 billion if every student graduated from high school.

Weaver commended Wisconsin for its successful programs to integrate technical education between high schools and technical colleges.

"Now the challenge is to continue that trend – and to make sure that minority students are able to complete the programs they start," he said. "You can move toward this goal by increasing your minority faculty members … and by ensuring that every student who wants to get a technical education is able to afford it."

Technical colleges, he said, must take the lead in ensuring that educational opportunities are available to all students at every level.

"And you must join educators across the nation as we all seize the opportunity to fight for the resources we need so we can ensure that every child in America is able to compete in the 21st century economy," he said.

Posted October 5, 2007