Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts is hosting a press conference to highlight her bill calling for an overhaul of school finance by July 2009 Thursday, April 19 at 10 a.m. in the Capitol’s Assembly Parlor on the second floor of the West Wing (State Street). Please try to make it to show overall state support for this important initiative!!
Daily Archives: April 18, 2007
Reminder: Press Conference on School Finance Reform Thursday, 10 a.m., Assembly Parlor
Filed under AMPS, Budget, Local News, Pope-Roberts/Breske Resolution, School Finance, Take Action
We are not alone #9
A spiral of cuts coming to the Waukesha School District.
According to gmtoday, to address the budget deficit in the Waukesha School District, calls have come for “the proposed elimination of elementary, middle and high school athletics, clubs and other co-curricular activities for a combined savings of $1.2 million.”
And, that’s only about one-third of the total cuts needed of $3.7 million. The tentative list is to fill gaps in the 2007-08 budget and is being presented now to give community members as much time as possible to respond.
District administrator Dave Schmidt said, “The list I have presented is really a list of bad choices, but given the current reality of the deficit we face and state laws that limit us, we’re left with few options of where to cut.”
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, Local News, School Finance, We Are Not Alone
1% of Teachers Find NCLB Effective Tool to Assess Quality of Schools
TeachersNetwork.org conducted a recent survey with 5,000 teachers in 50 states. Some of the findings:
“Survey results show how for the majority of teachers the emphasis of NCLB on high-stakes testing is not working. Only 37% of respondents found standardized tests “somewhat useful” but 42% deemed them “not at all” helpful to their teaching. Over 40% claim that these tests are encouraging them to use rote drill, and 44% report that the tests are pushing them to eliminate curriculum material not tested.
Over 40% believe that NCLB does not result in teachers making instructional decisions that are best for their students or that it’s helping to reduce the achievement gap in education-its primary goal. And fewer (3%) agree that it encourages them to improve their teaching effectiveness with all students. Fewer still (1%) find it is an effective way to assess the quality of schools.”
Continues here.
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, Best Practices, No Child Left Behind
Salaries for New Teachers in Wisconsin Lowest in the Nation
Wisconsin teacher salaries rank almost dead last. Only North Dakota pays new teachers less. According to the “The Survey and Analysis of Teacher Salary Trends 2005,” Wisconsin teachers just entering the field are earning far less than their national counterparts. Wisconsin was ranked 49th in the nation for beginning teacher salaries, at $25,222, only slightly ahead of North Dakota. Read more here.
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, Budget, Local News, National News, School Finance
We are not alone #8
Eau Claire makes some painful decisions.
“Little Red School parents and staff exchanged hugs and condolences Monday night after the Eau Claire school board voted 5-to-2 to close the school. But the cost-cutting measure, one of more than $5 million cuts approved at the meeting, didn’t surprise school supporters.
‘Honestly, it doesn’t come as a shock,’ said Barb Habben, a second grade teacher.
Parents and students had prepared for the worst, said Little Red parent teacher association president Kathy Buyze. After the vote several audience members left the auditorium.
……
‘There’s a lot of frustration, and a lot of unanswered questions,’ she said.
Board members said they regretted closing the school, but needed to make the cut to help balance the budget. .
‘There’s not a person up here that wants to make these cuts,’ board President Carol Olson told a crowd of more than 1,000 inside the Memorial High School auditorium. ‘We wanted a successful referendum, so we wouldn’t have to do some of these things … But we have to move forward and allow our district to make some decisions.’ In all, the group eliminated a little more than $5 million from its 2007-08 budget.
………..
During an 80 minute public comment session before the meeting, more than 40 students, parents, teachers and community members expressed their opinions about the district’s budget. The speakers addressed a wide array of topics, ranging from the importance of language courses to the value of administration positions.
When the board later moved ahead with budget reductions, audience members routinely booed the comments of members who advocated cuts. After a failed motion to disregard the district-developed list of budget reduction, several attendees walked out of the meeting. More audience members left after the board voted 5-to-2 to close Little Red School, which will save $586,000 annually.”
Robert Godfrey
Filed under AMPS, Local News, School Finance, We Are Not Alone
AMPS 