Education
Imagine Your Community Without a Public School
I grew up in a small Finnish community in northern Wisconsin. My mom finished eighth grade and went to work to help support her family. Her immigrant parents were farmers on cut-over land. My dad, the story teller, said he was kicked out of school after the first grade. He probably quit after third grade because he too had to go to work to help his immigrant parents who were also subsistence farmers.
Like the Norwegians who believe in “Books Before Bread,” my grandparents and parents were readers. We couldn’t afford many books, but we always had plenty ...
Wisconsin Leading the Way in State Cuts to Schools?
The following article is a reprint of a recent news release by Senator Kathleen Vinehout to the people of Wisconsin. Middle Wisconsin feels strongly that the citizens need to be aware of the harm being done to our public schools and our children by the transfer of tax dollars to private institutions.
Wisconsin Leading the Way in State Cuts to Schools?
by
Senator Kathleen Vinehout
“Hard to believe we are in competition for last place!” said Pepin Superintendent Bruce Quinton. This is hard to believe indeed.A recently released study of state budget cuts to local ...
Moral Monday – – – The Immorality of “Rocketship Education”
The educational immorality called “Rocketship Education” being imposed on the children of Milwaukee is the product of years of deliberate, calculated transfer of wealth out of inner-cities all across America. It is a well-researched fact that poverty is the single most important factor in any failure of our public schools. As stated in a report from the Economic Policy Institute:
“Decades of studies have affirmed that the single most important factor affecting educational achievement are inequalities of wealth and poverty. Since the inception of testing under No ...
Rocketship Is Not Rocket Science
A chain of charter schools called Rocketship started in California and has now come to Wisconsin. Rocketship Southside Community Prep opened in Milwaukee in August 2013, and Rocketship plans to open seven more schools in the city with 4000 students by 2018 according to the organizations website http://rsed.org/ . In the next five years, the company plans to open eight school-chains in seven cities and expand enrollment to 30,000.
Rocketship is a low budget operation “that relies on young and inexperienced teachers, that reduces curriculum to near-exclusive focus on ...
Taxpayer Funded Private Schools
Once again the expansion of taxpayer-funded private schools in Wisconsin is in the headlines.
In February, private/religious schools will begin the application process to join over 120 other private/religious schools that are now subsidized by taxpayers.
On December 12, 2013, Life Skills Academy (LSA), a Christian, taxpayer-funded voucher school in Milwaukee, closed its doors without notifying anyone and moved to Florida to set up another taxpayer-funded private school.
One out of 66 students at LSA tested proficient in reading or math. Sixty-six students had ...
