Rallies on Monday / DAMAGING changes in store for WI public schools in one list
THE PROTESTS
Sun Prairie Monday June 8, 4-6 PM (they need volunteers)
Green Bay Monday June 8, 7:20 AM – 8:00 AM
Appleton Monday June 8 11:45 AM – 1 PM Press Conference to Support Our Schools
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM Honkin’ Good Rally for our Schools
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM Honkin’ Good Rally for our Schools
THE LIST
This list is abbreviated* from a (PDF) letter that was recently sent to parents of children in the Rhinelander, WI public school. (doesn’t even list everything – already massive)
1. School District of Rhinelander public schools and schools across the state will have their state aid cut to allow for voucher expansion, i.e. public tax dollars used to pay for a student’s private education….
2. According to Michael Griffith, a senior policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States, this budget drives Wisconsin under the national average in per pupil spending…
3. The new law eliminates many standards for licensing teachers – no bachelor’s degree would be needed to teach our students in multiple subject areas. …
4. The tests that students are required to take will be different for the third consecutive year. … This change also makes it impossible to compare public, private, and charter schools.
5. The proposed law allows students in special education to use $12,000 in publicly funded annual vouchers to attend private and parochial schools. In these schools, students would not be guaranteed the legal rights and protections afforded to them by federal law. …
6. The new law would allow “learning portfolios” to replace up to one-half the credits needed to graduate from high school. The law would require that a diploma earned in this manner be the equivalent of a diploma earned through actual course completion. This proposal has the potential to change what high schools look and feel like across the state; including the likelihood that the rigor needed to earn a high school diploma would be significantly reduced, jeopardizing both in and out-of-state college acceptance.
7. The new law would allow home-schooled students and virtual school students to participate in any extra-curricular or athletic team that our school district offers. …
8. There is a new requirement in the law that mandates passing a civics assessment for high school graduation. This would be a 100 question test. This test is in addition to the multitude of other state mandated tests that students are already required to take. This proposal, set to become law, has had very little discussion and has no plan for implementation.
9. Our schools will be subject to a rating system based on stars. Can a star-rating system adequately portray the quality of our schools? The current school report cards indicate if schools are failing to meet, meeting, or exceeding expectations with specific feedback on areas of strength and recommendations for addressing concerns.
HOW TO CONTACT LEGISLATORS
You can visit the legis.wisconsin.gov site and enter your address on the right to find your legislators and contact them about these issues.
IT LOOKS LIKE THIS
Add any other events related to public education in a comment please. Thanks.
* Sorry I’m not copying, pasting, and reformatting this whole letter today. My neighbor downstairs was having NOISY drama at 3:00 in the morning. I’m low on sleep.Rallies on Monday / DAMAGING changes in store for WI public schools in one list : blue cheddar:
