Back to School in Wisconsin
Lasee’s Notes
As hundreds-of-thousands of kids pack up their backpacks, grab their bikes, or catch a bus to school, they are heading back to some of the finest schools in the nation. We must continue to improve our system and ensure that our children receive the education they need to become valuable members of our society.
Let’s take a look at the positive things we have in our Wisconsin schools.
There are more teachers per student and more non-teachers than ever before. They are among the best compensated in the nation. Our children enjoy many new school buildings and a large selection of non-core classes and extra-curricular activities as well as busing for convenience.
Recently Wisconsin students finished second in the national ranking on ACT college tests. Nearly 70% of our high school students took the test. This is the second year in a row our kids have outperformed students in all but one of the 25 states that use the ACT exam. Minnesota held the top spot for the third consecutive year.
Wisconsin 4th and 8th grade students routinely score above the national average on math and reading tests. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Wisconsin 4th graders scored 4 points higher than the national average in both reading and math last year. Wisconsin 8th graders scored 7 points higher than the national average in math and 6 points higher in reading.
Compared to other states our kids are getting a good education.
Still we can and must do better. We must look to other nations that are educating their children better while holding the line on costs for their taxpayers.
John Stossel co-anchor of ABC News’ “20/20” recently did a show entitled “Stupid in America” which compared American schools to those in other industrialized nations. Specifically he tested Belgian students against American students in a series of identical knowledge exams. The Belgian kids scored better than our kids in every area tested.
Stossel also found that while Americans test well above average in comparison to other kids on international tests at age 10, by age 15 when we are tested against 40 other nations our kids finish well below average. He concluded that the “longer kids stay in American schools, the worse they do.”
Why are our kids consistently falling behind those of other nations?
One reason is competition. Unlike our school system which tells parents where there kids can go to school and what they will study and when, in Belgium and other industrialized nations, their public schools are run as a free market. People are encouraged to shop around for the best school that meets the needs of their child and spend their voucher wisely.
Belgian public and private schools compete for the government tax money that is attached to each child. If a school underperforms and does not attract students it doesn’t do so well. This voucher system ensures that Belgian kids are receiving the best education available for the money they have.
That’s a great idea. We do have a Charter School Program in Wisconsin that allows parents to send their kids to other schools than their assigned public school, as well as the Milwaukee voucher program. However, it is only operating in a handful of communities. We should look to expand this proven program throughout the state and voucherize our entire system. Schools would have to compete for the opportunity to educate our children, rather than assigning them to a school that may not meet their needs.
We also need to reform the way we compensate our teachers for the important work they do. Under our current system, we pay our teachers according to the number of years they have worked or the number of degrees they have attained. There is no incentive or bump in pay for a teacher who improves student performance, who works extra hard, spends extra time, or innovates. We need to look at a merit pay system that will give the biggest raises to the teachers who get the best results. This will motivate our teachers to improve their methods and it will help us weed out the complacent ones or at least pay them less than the best.
Wisconsin enjoys good schools compared to the rest of the nation. Still we can and must do better. The education of our children is far too important for us to allow other nations to pull ahead.
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Lasee’s Notes is a weekly column by Representative Frank Lasee, 2nd Assembly District, covering events in the Legislature and statewide.
As hundreds-of-thousands of kids pack up their backpacks, grab their bikes, or catch a bus to school, they are heading back to some of the finest schools in the nation. We must continue to improve our system and ensure that our children receive the education they need to become valuable members of our society.
Let’s take a look at the positive things we have in our Wisconsin schools.
There are more teachers per student and more non-teachers than ever before. They are among the best compensated in the nation. Our children enjoy many new school buildings and a large selection of non-core classes and extra-curricular activities as well as busing for convenience.
Recently Wisconsin students finished second in the national ranking on ACT college tests. Nearly 70% of our high school students took the test. This is the second year in a row our kids have outperformed students in all but one of the 25 states that use the ACT exam. Minnesota held the top spot for the third consecutive year.
Wisconsin 4th and 8th grade students routinely score above the national average on math and reading tests. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Wisconsin 4th graders scored 4 points higher than the national average in both reading and math last year. Wisconsin 8th graders scored 7 points higher than the national average in math and 6 points higher in reading.
Compared to other states our kids are getting a good education.
Still we can and must do better. We must look to other nations that are educating their children better while holding the line on costs for their taxpayers.
John Stossel co-anchor of ABC News’ “20/20” recently did a show entitled “Stupid in America” which compared American schools to those in other industrialized nations. Specifically he tested Belgian students against American students in a series of identical knowledge exams. The Belgian kids scored better than our kids in every area tested.
Stossel also found that while Americans test well above average in comparison to other kids on international tests at age 10, by age 15 when we are tested against 40 other nations our kids finish well below average. He concluded that the “longer kids stay in American schools, the worse they do.”
Why are our kids consistently falling behind those of other nations?
One reason is competition. Unlike our school system which tells parents where there kids can go to school and what they will study and when, in Belgium and other industrialized nations, their public schools are run as a free market. People are encouraged to shop around for the best school that meets the needs of their child and spend their voucher wisely.
Belgian public and private schools compete for the government tax money that is attached to each child. If a school underperforms and does not attract students it doesn’t do so well. This voucher system ensures that Belgian kids are receiving the best education available for the money they have.
That’s a great idea. We do have a Charter School Program in Wisconsin that allows parents to send their kids to other schools than their assigned public school, as well as the Milwaukee voucher program. However, it is only operating in a handful of communities. We should look to expand this proven program throughout the state and voucherize our entire system. Schools would have to compete for the opportunity to educate our children, rather than assigning them to a school that may not meet their needs.
We also need to reform the way we compensate our teachers for the important work they do. Under our current system, we pay our teachers according to the number of years they have worked or the number of degrees they have attained. There is no incentive or bump in pay for a teacher who improves student performance, who works extra hard, spends extra time, or innovates. We need to look at a merit pay system that will give the biggest raises to the teachers who get the best results. This will motivate our teachers to improve their methods and it will help us weed out the complacent ones or at least pay them less than the best.
Wisconsin enjoys good schools compared to the rest of the nation. Still we can and must do better. The education of our children is far too important for us to allow other nations to pull ahead.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lasee’s Notes is a weekly column by Representative Frank Lasee, 2nd Assembly District, covering events in the Legislature and statewide.
posted by John Q Cheesehead | 11:30 AM
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