Senate Bill 286 (on “accountability”) is a Direct Attack on Public Education and MPS and Gives a Pass to Voucher Schools
On Thursday, in Madison, there is an Executive Session of the Senate Education Committee to consider SB286.There will be no public testimony. SB286 will probably make it to the Senate floor the week of Feb. 10. Some noteworthy features of the SB286: 1) While public schools would be forced to close or turned into an independent charters, voucher schools would not be forced to close but would not b
Accountability Bill: Privatization Driven
4 features of the proposed Accountability Bill (SB 286/AB 379) are :
1. Low performing schools will be closed or turned over to independent charter management organizations (CMO).
2. The MPS Superintendent will have the power to contract directly with CMOs, circumventing the elected School Board.
3. 90% of the funding goes to the CMO. (Presently approximately 80% goes to the CMO.)
4. Failing schools in MPS are only given 1 year before sanctions begin, rather than 3, and this stipulation is retroactive.
Following is the Legislative Research Bureau analysis of the bill’s application to MPS:
Public schools
If DPI determines that a public school, other than a charter school, has received a grade of F for three consecutive school years, or has received a grade of F in three of five consecutive school years and a grade no higher than D in the other two school years, the school board must close the school or contract with a high−quality charter management organization (CMO) to operate the school as a charter school. (In the Milwaukee Public Schools [MPS], if the school board opts to contract with a CMO, the superintendent of schools, instead of the school board, enters into the contract on behalf of the school district.) A CMO is considered high-quality if, in each of the two preceding school years, the improvement in the average scores of pupils attending each charter school operated by the CMO on state assessments in reading and mathematics was greater
New Accountibility Bill Wording Released
3 features of the proposed Accountability Bill (SB 286/AB 379) call for : 1. low performing schools will be closed or turned over to independent charter management organizations (CMO), 2. the power of the board to enter into contract with the CMO is relinquished to the superintendent, and 3. 90% of the funding goes to the CMO. (Presently approximately 80% goes to the CMO.) Following is the Legisla