I posted earlier today about the menu of budgets cuts and lowered standards that the Wisconsin legislature has prepared in its quest to assault public education. Just one hour ago, this story was posted (an attentive reader sent the link to me).
GOP legislators want the University of Wisconsin to authorize additional charters in districts with more than 25,000 students—that means Madison and Milwaukee. The UW charter institute may authorize charters even if the local school district objects. That shows you how much these GOP legislators care about local control. This is definitely an ALEC attitude; ALEC encourages state authorizers that can override local school districts’ decisions.
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Bob Delaporte, who works for Joint Finance Committee co-chairwoman Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said the intent behind the proposal is “to leverage change in large urban school districts with systemic rates of failure,” and based, in part, on the State University of New York’s Charter Institute.
“We are confident the proposal can fundamentally transform the educational opportunities that are available to students in Wisconsin’s two largest school districts,” he said, pointing to Department of Public Instruction data that shows just under 40 percent of Madison students have tested proficient in reading in recent years.
But Madison School District superintendent Jennifer Cheatham blasted the proposal, saying in a statement “We are incredibly determined, and we are making progress on behalf of all children. But at every step of the way, the legislature puts more barriers in our way and makes our jobs more difficult.”
Madison School Board member Ed Hughes called the proposal “breathtaking.”
“It looks like the UW President is required to appoint someone who could then authorize as many publicly-funded but potentially for-profit charter schools in Madison as that unelected and unaccountable person wanted,” he said.
The proposal requires the DPI to reduce a school district’s funding by the same amount that is paid per student to independent charter schools, which is currently about $8,000.
“And under another budget bill provision, we’d have to provide these students with sports and extracurricular activities for free,” said Hughes, referring to a previous committee-approved provision that would require school districts to allow students not attending public schools to participate in after-school activities.
Ignore the rhetoric. This is a proposal to defund public education and transfer money and control to private entrepreneurs.
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from novemoore http://ift.tt/1ADnfp0
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