Jessica Mcbride

Milwaukee and Racine data - the fairer comparison - shows private choice students outperform public school students in 32 of 36 grade-level comparisons. This is an opinion piece. Half-truths are contemptible. As the Oxford Dictionary explains, half-truths “deliberately convey only part of the truth in order to deceive someone.” DPI issues half-truths on an annual basis, when it releases state test scores that compare students from low-income and moderate-income families with all students statewide. They do it even though they know it is deceptive. Here’s the half-truth from DPI’s Oct. 8 press release: “For 2023-24, assessment results show public school student proficiency rates in English language arts and mathematics were at 48 percent and 49.4 percent…Students participating in the state’s Private School Choice Programs had proficiency rates of 30.9 percent (ELA) and 28.3 percent (mathematics)... This is classic false equivalency. Pure apples and oranges. No reputable sc...

As a local school board member, I have witnessed firsthand many of the issues of today that students are facing. Covid played a huge role in frightening children – as well as many adults. Thankfully, four years later, it appears as if many people in our country have gotten over the initial governmental reactions and mandates to a disease that, in hindsight, was most deadly to the infirm and elderly. Imagine being a child or young adult during that terrible period in our history. Not really knowing what was happening. Unable to see people’s faces due to mandatory masks. Not being allowed to play or gather with friends. No socialization whatsoever. Falling behind in school due to lessons being virtual. Seeing parents and other loved ones lose their jobs because they refused to get a vaccine shot, or because their place of employment shut down. Going to a store where workers are behind plexiglass and there are arrows on the floor telling you where to go. Not allowed to visit peopl...

Wisconsin State Rep. Bob Donovan will request an audit of the Milwaukee Public School District on Monday "to find potential waste, fraud, or abuse." In a letter that will be sent to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, Donovan asks the committee for an audit of the previous four fiscal years of the Milwaukee Public School District. According to Donovan, National data has shown that the Milwaukee Public School District (MPS) test scores are well below average and continuing to decline when compared to other large city school districts across the country. "On April 2, voters in Milwaukee will be asked to increase revenue limits to generate $252 million in funding over the next four years. This comes after voters already approved a 2020 referendum of $87 million and MPS received $772 million in federal emergency funds for the COVID-19 response," Donovan said. Donovan continued, “Citizens deserve a clear vision and purpose from MPS for again coming to vote...

Wisconsin is considering a massive shift in how public and choice schools get their money. The Wisconsin Assembly approved the plan to decouple the Racine and statewide school voucher programs, replacing the local property tax money that currently pays for those programs with state dollars. “Currently, legacy charter schools are completely funded by [general purpose revenues]. The Milwaukee Choice program will be funded completely by GPR by 2025,” Rep. Ellen Schutt, R-Clinton, said. “What this bill does, is says that new independent charter schools, and the rest of the choice program should also be funded by GPR and not by aid-reductions from the local school district.” That would shift millions of dollars for choice schools in Wisconsin from local school districts to the state. It would also mean a steadier and more reliable stream of dollars for choice schools. “Decoupling resolves an issue that involves how the current funding mechanism affect public schools and property...

It’s a rare day when everyone is a winner from an education finance measure. New information from the non-partisan, authoritative Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) confirms that is the case for Assembly Bill 900. School boards, school district business managers, and parental choice advocates: Take note! Learn about this proposal and tell your legislators to support its change that treats Wisconsin taxpayers fairly. At issue is school choice decoupling , a topic I wrote about here last month . Briefly, the state currently uses two systems to finance parental choice programs. Beginning next year, state funds will fully finance students in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. In contrast, property taxpayers are substantially affected by the system used to finance the Racine, Wisconsin, and Special Needs choice programs. The latter system allows school choice opponents to claim that growth in the popular choice programs increases property taxes. It is an administrative headache f...

Litigation of school choice and school vouchers in Wisconsin Supreme Court should end, the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce said on Wednesday. The state's largest business group filed an amicus brief with the court. It asks justices to reject the lawsuit that seeks to end school choice and school vouchers. “Since its founding in 1911, WMC has been dedicated to making Wisconsin the most competitive state in the nation in which to conduct business,” the brief states. “WMC and its members have a strong interest in this case. Many employers in Wisconsin, along with the public, support school choice. If the Petitioners get the relief they are seeking, the result will harm students, their families, teachers, and businesses and consumers who rely on a skilled workforce.” The group says thousands of families across the state will be “devastated” if school choice comes to an end. “If the it prevails in this case, the negative impacts for the students currently using these ch...

Despite test scores that show nearly 60% of students in Wisconsin schools cannot read or do math at grade level, more than 90% of school districts in the state meet the state’s expectations. The Department of Public Instruction recently released its school and school district report cards. “Statewide, achievement improved from 2021-22 to 2022-23, though for many schools and districts, 2022-23 achievement performance is lower than pre-pandemic levels,” DPI said in a statement. “Report card achievement scores, overall scores and ratings may have decreased despite upward trending achievement performance.” Of the 378 public school districts in the state that received a report card this year, 357 met or exceeded expectations. Quinton Klabon with the Institute for Reforming Government questioned that. He told The Center Square some schools met expectations while having 12% of their students able to do math at grade level. “What is a 3-star school district? It's Green Bay, a...

The legal fight over school choice in Wisconsin could be growing. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty asked to join the Supreme Court case that would end the state’s school choice programs. “On behalf of our clients and about 65,000 students who benefit from Wisconsin’s choice programs, WILL stands ready to defend the rule of law and the educational freedoms afforded to students and families alike,” WILL President and General Counsel Rick Esenberg said in a statement. Progressive activist and frequent candidate Kirk Bangstad filed a lawsuit last month that says Wisconsin’s four taxpayer-funded school voucher programs are unconstitutional. Bangstad is asking the liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court to strike down those programs and send the money that choice students receive back to the state’s public schools. WILL’s argument is the lawsuit is too broad, wrong and asks the court to end “settled law.” “[Bangstad’s] arguments are factually incorrect and that gran...

Leaders of the Oakland Education Association in Oakland, California, called on school leaders to stand in solidarity with Palestinians and called for a ceasefire as tensions between the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel continue to increase. The union’s leadership shared curriculum resources it encouraged educators to employ in their classrooms, which accuse Israel of carrying out genocide and ethnic cleansing, something a Jewish parent said is concerning for her family as antisemitism is on the rise. Megan Bacigalupi, a Jewish parent of students who attend schools in the Oakland Unified School District, said the union leaders’ statement is concerning given the increase in antisemitic incidents nationwide and in the area, including graffiti and the removal of hostage posters for Israelis taken to Gaza. “We, the members of OEA, express our unequivocal support for Palestinian liberation and self-determination. We condemn the genocidal and apartheid state of Israel,” the no...

Several groups promised to fight a new lawsuit that challenges school choice in Wisconsin. Kirk Bangstad, the owner of the Minocqua Brewing, last week filed a lawsuit that accuses Wisconsin's voucher programs of harming public schools in the state. “At the core of the issue lies the voucher school financing system, which appears to be designed more to harm school districts than to support voucher programs. The impact of this financing scheme has been devastating to Wisconsin’s school districts,” Brian Potts, an attorney on the case, said in a statement. Bangstad is challenging school choice based on Wisconsin's Constitution “The revenue limit and funding schemes for voucher school programs and independent charter schools violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s Public-Purpose Requirement and the Uniform Taxation Clause,” Potts said. “This parasitic funding system is pushing public school districts into an ever-worsening financial crisis, which is leading to what can only ...

"The poor test scores are even more striking when you look at the success of students in Wisconsin choice schools." - Will Flanders; The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty Nearly 60% of students in Wisconsin's Public Schools continue to be unable to read, write, or do math at grade level. The State's Department of Public Instruction released the latest standardized test scores Tuesday, and they show 39.2% of public school students are proficient or better in reading, while 41.1% are proficient or better in math. But those are the statewide averages. Individual schools saw differing results, and the numbers show low-income students did worse across the board. DPI's numbers show 22.6% of low-income students are proficient in reading, and 23.1% are proficient in math. The numbers also show 42.2% of low-income students are rated minimal in reading, while 45.9% of low-income students are rated as minimal in math. Wisconsin’s worst-in-the-nation raci...

“With this TPD action, the Biden-Harris Administration has now approved approximately $8.7 billion in student loan discharges for roughly 455,000 borrowers” A federal student loan forgiveness program aimed at helping out public servants is getting an overhaul after media reports exposed major problems with the program. The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program will undergo an overhaul to make sure more public servants, including members of the military, receive taxpayers' funds to help them repay their debts. "This is an entire system who let down our men and women in uniform," said Seth Frotman, head of the Student Borrower Protection Program. The announcement comes just a few days after media reports, including a CBS “60 Minutes” investigation, showed that military members were frustrated with the program for its complex requirements and complicated approval process that prevented many from rec...

“We are 42nd out of 42 states in the racial achievement gap. I don’t like being in last place.” - Rep. Bob Whitke The Assembly’s Committee on Education on Tuesday listened to experts about a proposal that would require schools to screen children for reading readiness starting in pre-kindergarten. Kids in Wisconsin public schools could soon be screened for reading at much earlier ages, and much more often. The Assembly’s Committee on Education on Tuesday listened to experts about a proposal that would require schools to screen children for reading readiness starting in pre-kindergarten. “This bill requires school boards and independent charter schools to assess the early literacy skill of pupils in four-year-old-kindergarten to second grade using various screening assessments and to create a personal reading plan for each pupil in five-year-old kindergarten to second grade who is identified as at-risk,” the legislation reads. “We have generations of kids who are missing opport...

"No family should be excluded. Options must be available to every child growing up in Wisconsin," a major report on universal school choice says. The drumbeat for universal school choice in Wisconsin is growing; three of the most prominently mentioned Republicans who may run for Wisconsin governor told Wisconsin Right Now that they support giving all Wisconsin parents the right to choose the best school for their children. Their comments come on the heels of a new report released by Common Sense Wisconsin; it was co-authored by Bill McCoshen, a veteran lobbyist who was former Gov. Tommy Thompson's Commerce Secretary. McCoshen has said he's considering a run for governor. Specifically, the plan urges the state to "expand school choice to all areas of the state and eliminating the income limits for participants." We asked Rebecca Kleefisch and Kevin Nicholson whether they also support universal school choice. Both said they do. Kleefisch, Nicholson, an...

"There is more support for school choice among Democrats in Milwaukee than many people think." - Justin Moralez, of the Wisconsin Federation for Children A new poll shows nearly a third of Democratic primary voters support Milwaukee school choice. “Democratic candidates should not ignore or run away from the fact that their constituents support school choice,” Justin Moralez, the Wisconsin Federation for Children state director said. The Wisconsin Federation for Children on Tuesday  released the poll from the Remington Research Group, polling group headquartered in Kansas City, Mo. Pollsters say 31% of people asked said they support vouchers, while 49% oppose them. But the Federation says another 20% didn’t have an opinion, which means voters are nearly evenly split. The poll shows support among Democrats in Milwaukee County for both school vouchers and public charter schools. The survey was conducted July 27 through July 29, and polled 766 likely 2022 Democratic Pr...