Milwaukee Voucher High School Closes

Voucher schools around the country are proving to be an epic failure and are leaving students and their parents stranded with little or no warning.

It's no different in Milwaukee:

A private Milwaukee high school run by a voucher-school operator that's come under scrutiny this year has been barred from receiving more taxpayer money, state documents show.

And now Travis Technology High School on Milwaukee's north side has closed, forcing about 200 teenagers, almost all of whom attended on a taxpayer-paid voucher, to find different schools to attend when winter break ends.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on Dec. 22 barred the high school from participating in the Milwaukee voucher program because it failed to obtain a special bond this month that was part of an agreement the school's operators signed with the state in October.

On Monday, a receptionist at Travis Tech confirmed the school was no longer operating.

Travis Tech, 8350 N. Steven Road, had 179 children enrolled as of fall 2014, according to state enrollment figures. The high school is one of two voucher schools run by Ceria M. Travis Academy Inc. The other is Ceria M. Travis Academy, 4744 N. 39th St., a much larger school with 437 students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to state enrollment figures.

The nonprofit running the schools is headed by CEO Dorothy Travis Moore and her daughter, Executive Director Wilnekia Brinson.

Both are paid six-figure compensation packages, according to their organization's federal tax filings. Meanwhile, current and former employees have complained to the state and to the Journal Sentinel of lacking textbooks and other adequate classroom materials and resources to help children learn.

They also complained that Travis Moore has regularly employed teachers without bachelor's degrees — the state requires teachers at voucher schools to have degrees — while employing family members with dubious job titles and responsibilities.

Travis Moore and Brinson did not return calls for comment for this article. In previous interviews, they confirmed a handful of family members were employed but declined to produce a full roster of staff members' names, job titles and salaries.

Yeah, it sucks for those kids and their parents that have to find a new school by Monday but hey, at least the owner of the voucher school and her family got paid well, which surely will help them sleep at night:

Federal nonprofit tax filings list the individual compensation for Travis Moore and Brinson, whose total compensation packages totaled $213,000 and $118,000 respectively, in 2012, according to those federal documents.

Brinson said five family members are employed at the organization, which has 67 employees. Travis Moore confirmed that Brinson's husband, Robert Brinson, works for the organization in a student support and security role.

They declined to disclose other family members' job titles and salaries.

A video from a celebratory dinner for the organization at the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2011 revealed that Travis Moore's son worked for the organization, as well.

Over the years, the Travis family has raked in $35 million even though only 2% of their students can read at grade level and only 3% can do math at grade level.

I can't wait for the rousing success the entire state will see in 2015 when Scott Walker and the Teapublicans make the voucher system a statewide program.

God's Li"l Voucher School

In Education, Think of the Visible Reality

 By Jeff Simpson cross posted at Purple Wisconsin.

Journal Sentinel Opinion writer, Christian Schneider recently wrote a column expressing concern about the  fact, that there is a concerted effort to bring out the youth vote!   Now Schneider tells us that while society should not be so quick to allow the youth to vote, taxpayers should pay for them to attend any school of their choice.  Schneider even amazingly attempts to make the case for the massive cost savings of children attending voucher schools(whom he calls invisible children).
When one thinks of a public school student, a specific image typically comes to mind. It may be a boy showing up for elementary school wearing his favorite Minecraft T-shirt or a girl proudly adorned in her rainbow loom bracelets(Edit Note - no one thinks either of these things).
But when discussing public school finance, we often don't think about the "invisible kid," the one who isn't sitting in the public school classroom. The "invisible kid" is instead sitting in a classroom at a private school of his or her parent's choosing, with the education paid for with a state-funded voucher.
When teachers unions criticize the choice program, they always forget to mention these invisible students who aren't taking up valuable space and resources in their classrooms. They frequently complain that the school choice program diverts scarce resources away from public schools, but they neglect to mention that if those invisible students became public students, it would cost school districts millions of dollars and substantially drive up property taxes.
I will overlook the eerily similarities of bad math and economic gobbeldygook that the spokesperson for the Walmart funded, poorly named American Federation for Children also published at nearly the same time. 
The debate between plagiarism and subservience can wait for another day.   There are too many factual errors to correct to figure out who actually came up with them.
If these dopelganger articles are anything, they are timely!  As has been reported throughout the state, the voucher schools have taken us for a very big and costly ride. 
MADISON — Wisconsin taxpayers have paid about $139 million to private schools that ended up being barred from the state's voucher system for failing to meet requirements since 2004, according to a newspaper report.
State Department of Public Instruction data shows more than two-thirds of the 50 schools terminated from the state's voucher system in the last 10 years had stayed open for five years or less, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. They were all in Milwaukee.
Eleven schools, paid a total of $4.1 million, were terminated from the voucher program after just one year.
For those of you scoring at home, that is $139,000,000 of Wisconsin taxpayer dollars.
Nothing tells this story better than Lifeskills Academy from Milwaukee!
A husband and wife running a private Milwaukee voucher school that abruptly closed last month — after accepting a total of more than $2.3 million in taxpayer money — now live in a gated community in Florida by the beach, records show.
Records show Taron and Rodney Monroe started a new private Christian school this year in Daytona Beach. While the school in Milwaukee was running on fumes, they were telling Florida friends they had experience getting government grants for religious schools......
The K-8 voucher school in Milwaukee, LifeSkills Academy, 3434 N. 38th St., served only about 400 low-income students since joining the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program in 2008-'09. Its closing around Dec. 13 forced 66 students to find other schools with little notice.
The school's rise and fall illustrate how unstable operations are still a feature of Milwaukee's landmark voucher program as it heads into its 24th year.
While running LifeSkills Academy in Milwaukee, records show, the Monroes were living in a five-bedroom, 3.5-bath house in West Bend.
I challenge you to go ask your local school district's superintendent what they would do if they had an extra $2.3 Million(I promise the answer will not be a gated community in Florida). 
Let's take a look at the numbers Mr. Schneider did not share:
Last school year, there were 108 schools and about 25,000 students participating in the Milwaukee voucher program, and 146 voucher schools total. The state has budgeted about $210 million for all voucher schools for the current school year, compared to around $4.4 billion in general aid for public schools. 

Scott Walker and the republicans raised the amount of people who were eligible for vouchers last year and will be raising that number again.    The problem is, it has proven to be a subsidy for the wealthy and not easily attainable for those living in poverty.  
The statewide voucher program, in its first year, is at capacity, with about 500 students receiving vouchers statewide, according to the department. Of those, 79 percent did not attend a Wisconsin public school last year.
The program’s enrollment limit will rise to 1,000 next year. The statewide program exists in districts outside of Milwaukee and Racine, which have had programs for years.
Seventy-three percent of students now attending private schools using a voucher were already enrolled in a private school last year, according to the department. Twenty-one percent of students were from public schools. About 3 percent did not attend any school and 2 percent were home schooled.
"invisible children" make up 2/10 of the voucher school students added under Scott Walker's voucher school expansion plan.   To save our friends on the right the math, thats 100 students out of the voucher expansion, added to the 426 school districts in Wisconsin.  Which would actually "drive up costs" at a considerably smaller pace than the many unfunded mandates the republican legislature sends us. 
All of this for schools that routinely underperform public schools!
BUT wait!  There's more!
 In order to understand why there is a such a push to "reform" education, we need to dig deep at some more numbers. 
The main group pushing "for profit" education(ie Voucher schools**), is American Federation of Children(AFC) whose leader is disgraced former assembyman Scott Jensen,  and whose name has become so toxic that they had to change it! 
AFC is a combination of money from the DeVos family(Amway) and the Walton family(Walmart) all blended together under the ALEC umbrella.   AFC has spent MILLIONS(plural) of dollars on Wisconsin elections alone and Jensen alone makes $102,734/yr (the cost of two teachers) to just be their "senior advisor"(with a Governor & legisature so woeful at creating jobs, you cant blame him for taking what he can get).
The question many would ask is why would DeVos and Walton families(who do not even live here) spend millions to increase voucher schools in WI?
Do they truly care about the children of the inner cities and poor?
The answer is simply no!  They do not!
The real answer is it is all part of the "Shock Doctrine".  The money is flowing in, to try and make a massive push to privatize all education!
Or to steal a phrase from our past -
"There's Gold In Them Thar Classrooms!" 
Luckily for us, the people trying to steal it are very very visible!

Your Education Tax Dollars At Work

I can't wait to see how the Walker idiots and paid propagandists try to spin this one:

Wisconsin taxpayers have paid about $139 million to private schools that ended up being barred from the state's voucher system for failing to meet requirements since 2004, according to a newspaper report.

State Department of Public Instruction data shows more than two-thirds of the 50 schools terminated from the state's voucher system in the last 10 years had stayed open for five years or less, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. They were all in Milwaukee.

Eleven schools, paid a total of $4.1 million, were terminated from the voucher program after just one year.

So, Walker and his friends stole nearly a billion dollars from our children's education fund and gave it to these fly by night operations that took the money and ran.

To add to the insult, the money that was siphoned off from our kids went to the education profiteers, who in turned used some of that money to pay the propagandists. It's a Mobius strip of corruption.

Deficits and Accountability, My Morning With Scott Walker

Yesterday morning I was invited by our School Board President to attend a meeting of Southeastern Wisconsin School Alliance.  This was a session she encouraged me to attend as part of my role as our board's legislative liaison.  In that capacity, I work with government officials across the ideological spectrum in order to advocate for the preservation of our public schools through proper funding.  As such, I spearheaded the drafting of a resolution against the voucher program that was passed by our board and sent to our state legislators prior to the passage of the 2013-15 budget.  In the final passage of that bill, the voucher program expansion capped at 500 students statewide.  Though we did not want to see the program expanded, I believe this is much better than what some members of the Committee on Education and on the Joint Finance Committee wanted.  There were other aspects to what was finally passed that were troubling, but I will discuss that later in another article.

Another area where damage was mitigated was the increase in per pupil adjustment/spending.  If you will recall, the original proposal in the state budget put forward by Governor Walker was ZERO.  As in zip, zilch, nada... Democrats in the Legislature and Senate stood strong on this issue and proposed an increase of $250 per pupil.  This amount was in line with what that average increase was in years prior to 2011 and was relative to CPI.  In 2011, Walker's first budget,  that amount per pupil was actually cut by -$528.81 per pupil,  followed by an anemic $50 increase in 2012.   This was just one level of the cuts levied by Walker's first budget, which was the largest reduction to public education in our state's history and the largest in the nation at the time.   So basically he made a huge draconian cut one year which was followed by an minor increase the next and everyone should now be grateful because it wasn't zero or even negative!  Oh thank you Mayor Quimby.  The  $250 level proposed by the Democrats would not have gotten our public education funding back to where it was over the last decade, but would have been a reasonable start to put the system back on sound footing.  In the end, after much negotiation and pressure from education groups across the state, the Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee, led by Jon Richards, were able to get $75 adjustment for 2013-14 and $150 each year thereafter.  This increase helped to offset property tax increases that had occurred across the state in recent years.  In Greenfield we were able to reduce property taxes by an average of 7.39%.  Remember to thank Rep. Richards for this the next time you see him.

This all leads me to yesterday's meeting and why I was eager to attend.  The program led off with a presentation by representatives from the Department of Public Instruction on a variety of subject including overviews of General Equalization Aid, Categorical Aid, and issues related to the way the state performs student counts.  All in all it was a very informative program that was well received by the 40 or so public school administrators and board members in the room.  

The second part of the program, the reason our Board President thought to invite me, was a Q&A session with Governor Scott Walker.  I know what you're thinking, you really wanted to attend such a session? Just let me state, I was willing to do this so you don't have to.  Also, I found it an intriguing opportunity most voters wouldn't get to partake in.  This wasn't a campaign event or a speech, this was a very select group of public officials on their ground, not his.  

The session began with some comments by the Governor about his connection to public education.  He retold the story about his own children and looking at Marquette University High School and Wauwatosa East and deciding Tosa East was the best option for them.  He emphasized this story by stating, "Our choice is public schools."  Let that bit of irony sink in.  If that were truly the case, why has he pushed so hard throughout his career in Madison to build up private schools by allowing them to receive public funds at the expense of public schools?  He again stated, "My goal is not one system or the other, my choice is public schools."  Why has he not acted forcefully to ensure accountability in the voucher program if that is the case?  He responded by stating "I absolutely believe in accountability, not only for tax payers and the public but for parents."  and that he will be supporting, "a school accountability measure next year to make schools receiving public funds accountable for how they use those funds."  When asked about his proposal to further expand the voucher system, he again stated, "there must be accountability."  and added that, "measurements must add value, not just paperwork."  and that, "Accountability shouldn't be measured by a focus on testing."  Think about that for a moment.  Now I am certainly not a testing advocate by any means, but testing does provide data points where certain achievements and comprehension can be measured and compared.  If public schools have mandates for testing and those tests are used to formulate the success or failure of those schools based on the state report cards each district receives, why would accountability mean voucher schools are exempt from that?  As for the rest, based on his past lack of support, I will file his responses in the "I'll believe it when I see it" file.

The discussion then turned to school funding and legislative policies.  When asked, "What is your position regarding a sustainable model for funding public education in Wisconsin?"  He responded by stating that he, "would like to change the aid formula to address the ways in which aid is affected by capital improvements and referenda."  Finally something I would like to see.  Currently, if you make large capital expenditures from Fund 10 (General Fund/Fund Balance), it negatively affects your state aid the following year.  There are ways to reduce the hit in state aid, such as what we passed in our district to expand our technology capabilities.  We set aside $3.5 Million in Fund 10 to be used over the course of 4 years.  This will help us absorb the negative impact.  I always found it odd that districts that underspend their budget were rewarded with more aid the following year, but then take a hit when they spend the money they saved.  Vigilance on behalf of the tax payers in this case ends up harming them with increased property taxes later.  It is my belief that a smart school board should be saving money over time to offset the need to go to referendum for major upgrades in their district.  Tweaking the way that formula works needs to be done and should be managed in a way that provides balance so districts have ways to provide the next level of education in a responsible manner.  I would be surprised if the Governor actually proposes something regarding this, but if he does and does it in a reasonable fashion, it would be the first initiative he has pushed that I would support.

Next the Governor was asked to explain his vision for public education in Wisconsin.  He first went to the standard, "We have to make education relevant." and discussed the need for, "an aggressive push to change the perception of tech and career colleges."  Which tied into a statement about the need to, "target aid to areas of need."  OK, I don't disagree.  He then brought up Act 10 stating that, "Act 10 provides more control at the local level but he would like to see even more flexibility."  If instability among staff equates to more control, that's a new one on me.  We continue to see districts across the state that are dealing with teacher resignations that are becoming harder to fill because of less people seeking education degrees.  Districts are beginning to engage in bidding wars for teachers with specialty degrees.  He further stated that Act 10, "allowed districts to focus on curriculum instead of grievances."  Interesting.  I don't know what the central office in his district looked like when he was going to school, but we have a Director of Human Resources and two Directors of Curriculum and Instruction.  One deals with grievances, the other handles curriculum.  It's pretty clear and basic.  If that is his reason for stripping away workers rights, I'd suggest he think of a better excuse than that.  He did let slip his contempt for unions with the statement, "unions didn't care about newer membership."  when discussing eliminating tenure.  Hmmm...not any union I ever experienced.  

Finally it came time for my question.  First I need to explain that I am a firm believer in the income tax over the property tax.  I believe the property tax to be regressive and disproportionately affects lower income home owners.  At the same time, the current state of our income tax in Wisconsin is also regressive in that higher incomes are taxed too low while middle and low incomes are taxed too high.  Because of loop holes in the tax code many high income individuals pay very little in taxes when compared to middle and low income individuals.  My other objection comes from the fact that at one time the state provided 2/3 of the funding to local districts.  That has not been the case for many years and as a result property taxes sky rocketed over the last decade and a half.  So I began by stating my concern on the impact of reduced aid to districts as it has a negative effect on the property tax levy.  I asked, "In light of the recent report from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau of a projected $1.8 billion structural deficit in the next budget cycle, what is your plan to maintain school aid from the state and protect property tax payers?"  It might have been too much to ask for a real answer on this question as well.  He began by expounding on the great work that the LFB does.  He then went on to criticize their numbers, stating that the LFB do not project revenue growth in their assessment and that his office projects a balanced budget.  Of course, the budget has to be balance by law.  The question was, in not so many words, how do you intend to get there?  He continued by saying that he believes revenues will increase.  OK?  So you're wishing for a good quarter to fix the problem?  Or perhaps some fairy dust?  He then went on to state that he wishes to see changes to how school aid is calculated.  Once again sir, not the question.  Unfortunately the way the program was set up, there were no follow up questions and his denial of the numbers in the Bureau's report was left hanging in the air.  The woman sitting next to me leaned over and said, "What does he mean they don't project revenues?  That's exactly what they do."  I found out she was a former IRS employee and really followed the budget numbers.  

In conclusion, our union men and women best be ready for the next attack, it's coming, and it will be swift.  He is evading answering questions honestly even when there are no cameras and many in the audience were probably friendly to his philosophy.  Most importantly, if you care about having leadership in this state that really understands the needs of providing the best education for our children so that they have every opportunity to succeed, get out there and knock on doors, make calls, and vote for Mary Burke.

Inside a Voucher School

By Jeff Simpson


We brought you recently how Robin Vos is campaigning on destroying our public schools. 

  More school choice is in Wisconsin's future according to an article by Rep. Robin Vos in the Appleton Post-Crescent.  According to Vos, "every Wisconsin parent should also be given the opportunity to enroll their child in the school of their choice" just like we are free to decide where to live, what to wear, what to say, where to go to college, etc.

            Vos says "we should never have implemented a cap [on the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program] and I will work to get rid of it because schools choice works for Wisconsin." 

"but wait, there's more!"

Let's take a look at the "opportunity" that your child could have at a private/voucher school in Milwaukee, with our taxdollars. 

The Academy of Excellence in Milwaukee!  

Are you looking for a family-oriented school for your child? A safe classroom and a place where your child will learn and achieve his or her fullest potential? A non-denominational Christian school in Milwaukee that develops the soul as well as the mind? Afraid of the cost something like this may be? The Academy of Excellence is the answer to your questions! As a participant in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, your child(ren) may qualify for free tuition!

With our small class sizes, quality teachers with a  world of experience, and a staff that is there for you, your child will succeed. And if your child is unable to read, we will provide effective tutoring to make sure that no child is left behind!

Interesting that they advertise small class sizes, when during debates, our friends on the right tell us that small class sizes do not matter.  However, the fact that the republicans are not always honest in their debate is not shocking or news, so we will move on. 

Before we enter into the Academy of Excellence we all need our inside voices:

 Inside voices, but look inside the In-house safety room and you are likely to see kids who while under "in house suspension" are being used as free secretaries(stapling etc...).   Ok let's move on down the hall and head off to science class:

WHOA.  I guess science is called off in this school, lets move on to Recess, I know recess will be great because they tell me so:

Studying is important, but students can study better if they have some opportunities to relax and enjoy the day!

• Recess!

Recess is fun on our secure, fenced-in playground.

 

 To be fair, they did not advertise "all the way" fenced-in playground.  Yikes.  

 We are checking to see if peeled paint and exhaust fumes come with the price of admission or if they are ala carte.  

That was not much fun, now let us head back inside.   

Yikes.....what a message to send to the kids.  I do not think they mean this wicked either:

I am also sure that when they talk about the Academy of EXCELLENCE they mean

Not this one!  

Seriously though, is this the education and learning environment we want for our kids?  Or does short term profit always trump long term investments?

Wisconsin we need to wake up and have this discussion and have it quick or else Robin Vos will be in charge and the Academy of Excellence will be the gold standard in WI.  

More on Vouchers here from the Siren! 

H/T Rebecca Kemble for all of the pics above. 

Robin Vos InAction

By Jeff Simpson

Wisconsin recently released the latest round of test scores.   Once again the public schools outperformed the voucher schools across the board. 

 Students attending private schools receiving taxpayer-funded vouchers in a new statewide program did not score as high overall as public school students on state tests in reading and math, according to data released Tuesday by the Department of Public Instruction.

Perpetually, the data we receive shows public school students outperforming voucher school students.  Our goal should be that every child gets a great education, our future depends on it!    Unfortunately, the millions given to Wisconsin republicans have trumped all of the data and evidence that we have seen. 

Despite all of the evidence that public schools outperform private schools, and all of the other problems we have in Wisconsin - Assembly speaker Robin Vos remains undettered:

Vos also slammed the national Common Core education standards, a policy that has drawn fierce criticism from tea party activists who describe it as a federal takeover of local education.
“We don’t need Common Core because Wisconsin expects higher standards,” said Vos.
He also voiced frustration over the compromise on voucher schools that passed the Legislature last year. The deal expanded the voucher system statewide but capped new participation to 500 students in the first year and 1000 in the second year, a minute change in the context of the millions of school children in the state.
“We should never have had a cap,” he said. “The next time around, that cap will be gone. “

Robin Vos flat out admits that the republican party platform, is to significantly weaken public education, with less transparency and at a greater cost to the taxpayers of WI.

 

Explain to me why you would vote republican this fall?



The people in the 63rd district have a choice this year, you can choose to stay with the adultering tax money wasting ALEC tool or you can hire someone with integrity, intelligence and actually knows the issues, - Andy Mitchell! 

Please send Andy Mitchell to Madison in November!   

Privatization Ploy

By Jeff Simpson

Not that we need a study to tell us that voucher schools do not perform as well as public schools, we have the test scores to prove it.   Professor Gordon Lafer gave us one anyway:

A new report reveals that legislative moves to convert struggling public schools in Milwaukee into private charters─whether for-profit or non-profit─may actually damage the academic futures of far too many of the city’s children.

The report, “Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” was written by Professor Gordon Lafer in conjunction with the national think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

A special briefing on this provocative study will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 24, in the ground floor rotunda of Milwaukee City Hall, 200 East Wells Street. You can join Dr. Lafer and public school supporters from the area to hear about the growing private charter industry and its impact–often negative–on Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and students.

There was a strong push by Wisconsin legislators in the last session to enact bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with less accountable, privately-run and often-for-profit enterprises. Considering many of the unanswered questions, EPI commissioned Prof. Lafer to actually look at the impact these privatization efforts would have on MPS.

The report is an eye-opening investigation into the rapidly growing private charter industry and the effects profit motivated schools can have on the depth and quality of education children receive.

Voucher and for profit schools perpetually get outperformed by public schools, and yet almost like clockwork, the tea party shows up to argue the wrong side of the issue(facts be dammed)!

 

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a prospective presidential candidate in 2016, will be in Milwaukee next week hosting a school choice roundtable at St. Anthony School.

The event will follow a Chicago roundtable the day before and will be held at St. Anthony School's middle school campus April 23. The event is co-hosted by Hispanics for School Choice and the Libre Initiative, a national conservative Hispanic organization whose spokeswoman, Rachel Campos-Duffy, is married to U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.).

Paul, son of former Texas congressman and libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul, is a Tea Party Republican, self-described "constitutional conservative." He's considered a likely 2016 presidential candidate.

St. Anthony's is Wisconsin's largest Catholic school. St. Anthony School president Zeus Rodriguez is also president of Hispanics for School Choice, a Milwaukee-based organization designed to reach out to and represent the Hispanic community on issues of school choice.

Milwaukee's school choice program is the country's largest and first for low-income students. It allows low- and middle-income students to attend participating private schools using state-funded vouchers to pay tuition.


It is funny to me that a serial plagiarist would talk about school choices.  Since he is not a serious student I would guess he does not care too much about your child's education.  

Also full disclosure, Zeus Rodriguez is the brother-in-law of  Assembly rep Jessie Rodriguez (R- Scott Jensen) whose seat was bought and paid for by the formerly convicted felon.   The Rodriguez has ALOT of personal money riding on the perpetual expansion of using public school dollars to line their pockets.

I will give them some credit though, they have not cashed in on our public school dollars the way their peers at Lifeskills Academy have! 

Also full disclosure, Mr. Rodriguez once invited me to come speak at his school and when I accepted promptly disappeared and apparently rescinded the offer.   I wonder how many on the roundtable will be anti voucher schools?

Steve nASS Wants To Talk Porn

H/T Rebecca Kemble

When the subject comes up of Lifeskills Academy stealking $2,000,000 of public education money and bolting to Florida, Steve nASS wants to change the subject to porn!

Get the Best Research on Vouchers

From the inbox:

Get the Best Research on Vouchers

Efforts to shift public dollars from public schools to private voucher schools has momentum in our state and will likely have significant ramifications for professional educators.

Please join UWM's Urban Studies Programs for the 7th annual Henry W. Maier State of Milwaukee Summit. This year's topic is "Life After Vouchers: Expansion, Accountability & Outcomes." A distinguished panel will discuss new research on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the recent expansion of school vouchers statewide, and legislative efforts to create accountability measures for all schools that receive public funding. A reception will follow the panel discussion and Q&A. The event is free and open to the public and is part of USP's 50th anniversary year. For a full list of 50th anniversary events, please go towww.usp50.uwm.edu

What? Henry W. Maier State of Milwaukee Summit, "Life After Vouchers: Expansion, Accountability & Outcomes"

Who? Confirmed panelists are Dr. Deven Carlson (University of Oklahoma); Dr. Lora Warner (UW-Green Bay); and Dr. Mike Ford (UW-Oshkosh). Moderated by Alan Borsuk (Marquette University/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

When? Thursday, November 14th, 3:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Where? Edith S. Hefter Conference Center, 3271 N. Lake Drive, Milwaukee WI,http://www4.uwm.edu/sce/cs_hefter.cfm

The Maier Summit is free and open to the public. For special accommodations please contact Carrie Beranek (414-229-4751 beranekc@uwm.edu)

Voucher Program Expands While Public Schools Receive Less State Aid...Again

From State Senator Chris Larson's weekly e-newsletter:

During this time last year, legislative Democrats warned that schools would face drastic funding cuts, fewer educational opportunities, and reductions in teachers and staff. This was the result of legislative Republicans passing Scott Walker's first budget as governor, which decreased state aid support for Wisconsin's neighborhood schools by over $800 million. Unfortunately, many schools are expected to fare even worse this school year under Governor Walker's recently passed second budget.

Cuts to General School Aid in Our Community

While general school aid statewide increased overall by 1.1%, including in the local Oak Creek-Franklin and South Milwaukee school districts, much of the increase is being diverted to private voucher schools as a result of Republicans expanding the program statewide. According to recent estimates by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), more than half of Wisconsin public school districts will receive less general aid in the 2013-2014 school year than they did for the 2012-2013 school year. In fact, 229 of Wisconsin's 424 school districts, or 54%, will receive less general aid in the current school year. This includes our very own Cudahy, St. Francis, and Milwaukee school districts, which will see a decrease in state aid of $104,435; $199,455; and $1,407,778 respectively. In contrast, schools in the voucher program will see an astronomical increase of up to $1,414 per pupil.

Click here to view the break down of state aid for each school district.

Vouchers for Kids Already Attending Private Schools

Those of us residing in Milwaukee and Racine counties are already familiar with the damage our children, property taxes, and communities suffer as a result of expanding unaccountable voucher schools. Over the past 20 years, we have spent $1.5 billion on a voucher experiment that has failed the students of Milwaukee and Racine. In fact, study after study has confirmed that voucher school students fare no better and often worse than their public school counterparts. Unfortunately, rather than learning from the mistakes of Milwaukee and Racine's voucher programs, Republicans have instead decided to take the rest of the state down with this sinking ship.

Earlier this month, DPI announced the names of schools that would now be eligible to participate in the voucher program, which was recently expanded statewide. The schools took applications for 2,069 prospective voucher students for the upcoming school year and are located in the following districts:

• Appleton
• Beloit and Janesville
• Chippewa Falls
• Eau Claire and Altoona
• Fond du Lac
• Green Bay and De Pere
• Kenosha
• La Crosse and Onalaska
• Madison
• Manitowoc
• Marshfield
• Oshkosh
• Plymouth
• Sheboygan
• Stevens Point and Plover
• Wausau and Rothschild
• Wisconsin Rapids

However, it has become clear that while these students may be new to the voucher program, the majority of them are not new to private schools. In fact, 1,393 students, or 67.3% of applicants, attended a Wisconsin private school in the previous school year. This means that the parents of two-thirds of eligible applicants were able to afford private school tuition or obtain funds without public assistance. The voucher program was created to provide parents of public school students with a "choice" they may not be able to afford on their own, but it looks like Republicans have quietly changed the program to instead offer taxpayer-funded handouts to the parents who can already afford to send their kids to private school.

Click here for more information about who is receiving voucher funds.

Additionally, as our public school students and their parents continue to be penalized by having to support two separate and unequal school districts, the parents of private school students will be further rewarded in this current budget with a tax break totaling $30 million in the 2014-2015 school year for an annual per student deduction of up to $10,000.

Study After Study Confirms Voucher Failure

Yet another study was recently released factually proving that voucher students fare no better and often worse than their public school counterparts. The study, released by the American Educational Research Journal and the Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, has conclusions that are nothing short of shocking. Below are the findings:

• Students leaving voucher schools are the same children the program was designed to help. While the voucher program was created to give poorer, low-achieving students the opportunity for a better education, most of the children leaving voucher schools and returning to public schools are these poorer, low-achieving students. Such data reinforces that the voucher program is failing the very kids it was supposed to help.
• Most students who transfer from the voucher program back into public schools realize significant achievement gains after doing so. Such achievement growth is even more significant for low-performing students. This statistic highlights that students who return to MPS truly do better once they are back in public school.
• Voucher schools are less likely to identify and assist students who require special education. This means that children needing greater assistance are left behind.
• Parental dissatisfaction was the most common reason cited by parents for students leaving the voucher program. Next in line was inadequate handling of special needs students. Such results verify that voucher schools do not always live up to the hype they have created and are frequently found to be a worse option for our children than traditional public schools.

Click here to access the voucher study mentioned.

In addition to this study, data recently collected by DPI shows a snapshot of just how voucher school students are performing compared to their public school counterparts. This data analyzes how all voucher and public school students in 4th, 8th, and 10th grade performed in reading, math, and science during the 2010-2011 school year. According to the data, Milwaukee Public School students outperformed voucher students in eight out of nine categories.

Much of the failings of schools participating in the voucher program can likely be attributed to the lack of accountability and transparency measures in place. Below are a few of the following standards that are in place in our public schools but are not required by schools in the voucher program:

• Teacher Licensure--Require all teachers to be licensed by DPI
• Background Checks--Require background checks on all staff and prohibit a school from employing an individual convicted of certain class felonies, such as sex offenses specified in Wis. Stats. 115.31
• Open Records Law Compliance--Require that schools be subject to Wisconsin's Open Records Law
• Special Education Staff--Require schools to employ special education teachers or therapists if pupils needing such services attend the school to prevent discrimination
• Corporal Punishment Ban--Require schools to follow current laws governing corporal punishment
• Uniform Graduation Credits and Standards--Require schools to conform with specific graduation requirements
• Due Process Procedure for Expulsion--Require a due process procedure when determining expulsion at a school

Voucher Schools Raise Property Taxes

In 2010, state law compelled Milwaukee Public Schools to levy over $50 million in taxes to subsidize the private and religious schools making up the unaccountable voucher program, which amounts to 17% of the total Milwaukee Public Schools tax levy. Due to policy changes in the last Republican budget, the cost of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) rose significantly, exceeding the state's official 2012 estimate and increasing the financial responsibility of taxpayers to 22.6% of the total Milwaukee Public Schools tax levy.

In truth, Milwaukee taxpayers are now being billed for both the largest school district in the state, Milwaukee Public Schools, AND the fourth largest, which is what the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program has grown to be with 22,400 students. The tax levy for the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program already exceeds the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District by nearly $10 million and is expected to exceed Milwaukee Area Technical College's in the next few years. With the expansion of vouchers statewide this is a burden that may now be endured by all Wisconsin communities. While my Milwaukee colleagues and I were able to successfully achieve some transparency by providing separate cost information for MPS and MPCP schools on Milwaukee property tax bills, such transparency does not exist in the other 423 school districts.

It is important to note that there are private schools in our community that provide a great educational experience to families interested in receiving a faith-based education. Unfortunately, it is impossible to weed out the bad from the good without the necessary transparency measures in place. As it stands, the voucher program remains unaccountable. Our children and Wisconsin's property taxpayers cannot afford to support the bad, unaccountable institutions that have failed our children and taken advantage of the voucher program. If we continue down this path, it is not only Wisconsin's future workers that will suffer, but also our state. Our children's success or failure dictates whether Wisconsin will succeed or fail.

Quote Of The Day

From Facebook:

"Only in the alternate political reality that is Wisconsin today can you take $550 from every school kid in 2011, give them $150 in 2013 and call it 'progress.' Only in this Wisconsin can you open up all 424 school districts to competition from unaccountable, underperforming, taxpayer-funded voucher schools and call it 'reform.' Only in Scott Walker's Wisconsin can you ask taxpayers to foot the bill for three school districts instead of one and say you're putting taxpayers first."

-Angela McManaman, MPS mom and Wisconsin taxpayer.

Darling Doubles Down On Dumbness And Dishonesty

A few days ago, I demonstrated to you, gentle reader, that State Senator Alberta

Darling (R-19th Hole of the nearest country club), was a voucher school drop out.

I did this by showing how she went on the Charlie Sykes show falsely claiming that the Green Bay School District's graduation was 40%, when in reality it was twice that.

So it caught my eye tonight when she sent an apology to Charlie Sykes' listeners, all nine of them.  With interest, I looked at what she had to say:

Senator Darling's office has asked me to post the following statement 

“The statistics I used on the Charlie Sykes Show on Wednesday regarding the graduation rates in Beloit were inaccurate and I apologize.  I remain committed to making sure every child in Wisconsin has the opportunity for a great education.”

Talk about double the dumb, double the dishonesty.

She totally blows off Green Bay and the error she made with that district.

To make matters worse, she also tries to gloss over the fact that she is trying to ram through voucher schools even though they have been shown to be utter flops time and time again.

I think I overestimated Darling when I called her a voucher school drop out.  She's more likely a preschool drop out.

Alberta Darling: Voucher School Drop Out

You wouldn't smile either
if you just got caught in
yet another lie.

This past Wednesday, State Senator Alberta "I ain't no" Darling went on the Charlie Sykes show to peddle Scott Walker's budget and agenda to drive this state further into the ground.

One of the myriad of turds she was trying to polish was the one of voucher schools.  Starting at about the 11:30 mark, you can hear Darling trying to justify selling out the education and the future of the state's children with this statement (emphasis mine):

“Well you know, if you look at two of the areas the Governor targeted – Beloit and Green Bay – most people will say, ‘No, Green Bay doesn’t have a problem like Milwaukee.’ Well, the graduation rate is the same as or similar to Beloit – like 40%. So there are a lot of ah school districts around the state that are not far behind Milwaukee in terms of need of great improvement and need of the state’s attention. So we’re gonna see a compromise on the voucher program and it’s gonna be a good one.”

So Darling is saying that the graduation rate in Green Bay is around 40%.

As the PolitiFarce guys would say, let's check those numbers.

The DPI issued their numbers, and as the gentle reader can plainly see, the graduation rate for the Green Bay School District in the 2011-12 school year is 80%, up two points from the previous year:

And for kids that stay at the same high school for all four years, the graduation rate jumps up to 95%.

That's a far cry from the 40% that Darling is claiming.

Now, it could be that Darling, who is an avid golfer, has been spending too much time on the links.  More likely, she's been spending too much time at the 19th hole.

But no matter how you look at it, Darling's accuracy was grossly sub par.

We rate Darling as golfing knickers on fire.