Education in many parts of Wisconsin has turned into a two-hump camel.
Many young people are doing very, very well academically – with one of the humps on charts showing results. The other hump is composed of students doing very poorly in school. The numbers of B-minus and C students are down dramatically.
“The middle is missing,” said Bruce Dahmen, former Madison Memorial High School principal, just weeks before he died unexpectedly Feb. 11.
Elected state officials are scrambling to find inexpensive answers to the education questions. Gov. Scott Walker wants to expand voucher schools, but the idea collected a black eye when one Milwaukee voucher school closed abruptly late last year after getting hundreds of thousands of state tax dollars. Three former Assembly speakers, all Republicans, are lobbying for expanded vouchers and other taxpayer-helped private school choices.
One idea is to force under-performing schools to close. That assumes that some new organization – be it a charter school, a voucher school, or private education – will better educate the struggling students.
Political twists and turns also play a role in the education dialogue. Tea Party groups are upset with Wisconsin’s acceptance of the Common Core program of standards to improve education. Some 45 states are using it as a way to improve education.
Walker has responded to the Tea Party concerns and his office has helped draft new legislation under which Wisconsin would create its own program with a 15-member oversight board. Walker could get to appoint six of the members. However, some business groups have urged Walker to stay with the Common Core approach.
— This column was excerpted with permission from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association’s State Capitol Newsletter, a weekly column written by veteran Capitol correspondent Matt Pommer.
