Some, like the Tea party are happy about it.
Others are worried that it will ruin the education system here in Wisconsin.
Walker's plan from his Campaign site, mentions retaining, rewarding and training qualified teachers. Though the "non fiscal" budget repair bill AB11 effectively strips teachers of their collective bargaining rights, which many felt was disrespectful, certainly not rewarding, and will be a factor in many of them not being retained, as they seek better opportunities in states where they are valued as professionals, not just the latest punching bag of the far-right.
I am also very concerned about expanding the voucher program in Milwaukee public schools.
The vouchers will be available to more students than ever before.
vouchers need not pay the full tuition (parents will chip in for the rest)
private schools need not do the same testing as the public schools.
This is all done in the interest of creating "competition" but many believe that this program will result in funneling money away from public schools into private religious schools, and that the private schools may be subpar as they are not required to ahve certified teachers,
also, many of the problems of Milwaukee public schools are due to the low socio-economic status of the MPS students. nearly 20% of MPS kids are qualified for special education, and these kids need extra attention and have problems.
I found one comment especially poignant;
I would be very interested to know who Walker is getting advice from
on these reforms and what research supports these decisions. As a
student in Learning Sciences, I have gained an understanding of just
how difficult it is to define "good" teaching and how poorly standardized
tests correlate with what we students to know and how we want
teachers to teach!
Teacher and school evaluation is not easy to understand or change and I
am highly skeptical of Walker's ability to be able to make informed
decision or to even understand the advice he might be presented with.
Walker claims that he needs to get rid of collective bargaining to give
local administration the tools they need to deal with the upcoming
budget cuts but then he is going to come in with sweeping reforms of
his own, taking control away from local administration.
***********************************************
Well said. I am absolutely sure that expanding the voucher program statewide is next on the list of Walker's crazy tea party agenda. This will create institutional racism, it will not 'solve' the education system, because the private schools will not have some special silver bullet that the public schools do not, on the contrary, the private schools will have less- qualified teachers, less oversight, and as a result a sub-par education. Perhaps their tuition fees will limit their students to only the most economically advantaged, so the inequalities in education will be hidden. Perhaps the parents that subscribe to the Tea party ideology will be dazzled by the vanilla pudding classmates, they may not understand or value education in general, and if they are like Walker, they will not understand math, so they will believe Walker when he says that the private schools have improved learning by 7.5 million, or 350,oo0 or some other significant amount that he will have to get back to you about.
on these reforms and what research supports these decisions. As a
student in Learning Sciences, I have gained an understanding of just
how difficult it is to define "good" teaching and how poorly standardized
tests correlate with what we students to know and how we want
teachers to teach!
Teacher and school evaluation is not easy to understand or change and I
am highly skeptical of Walker's ability to be able to make informed
decision or to even understand the advice he might be presented with.
Walker claims that he needs to get rid of collective bargaining to give
local administration the tools they need to deal with the upcoming
budget cuts but then he is going to come in with sweeping reforms of
his own, taking control away from local administration.
***********************************************
Well said. I am absolutely sure that expanding the voucher program statewide is next on the list of Walker's crazy tea party agenda. This will create institutional racism, it will not 'solve' the education system, because the private schools will not have some special silver bullet that the public schools do not, on the contrary, the private schools will have less- qualified teachers, less oversight, and as a result a sub-par education. Perhaps their tuition fees will limit their students to only the most economically advantaged, so the inequalities in education will be hidden. Perhaps the parents that subscribe to the Tea party ideology will be dazzled by the vanilla pudding classmates, they may not understand or value education in general, and if they are like Walker, they will not understand math, so they will believe Walker when he says that the private schools have improved learning by 7.5 million, or 350,oo0 or some other significant amount that he will have to get back to you about.
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