WKCE results released; state budget hearings scheduled

I have been reviewing test data over the past days, because our WKCE results were released.   Our news release is here.  The short story is that our reading proficiency rates are up.  Math scores have slightly decreased (one percentage point).  We have more work to do to ensure all children achieve to high standards, and we will keep at it.

A lot of attention has been paid to the WKCE scores for the children in the voucher schools (the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program schools).  This is the first year that state standardized tests were given to voucher school students.  DPI reported the results here.   I think a couple of points have been made very clear with the WKCE scores. 

Firstly, voucher students need to continue taking the tests. Governor Walker’s proposed state budget wipes away the yearly assessment requirement for voucher schools.  We believe Milwaukee parents and students benefit from knowing how their schools perform, and that all schools should be accountable. 

Secondly, the WKCE results show students in voucher schools clearly lag behind those in MPS, even though these schools have fewer students with challenges.  Almost 20% (roughly 17,000) of MPS students have special education needs, but only approximately 1.5%, (a total of 444) voucher students do.  That means that all together, the 102 voucher schools are serving a special education population that is equal to what MPS serves in just one of its district schools:  Hamilton High School.  This disparity could have had an impact on our WKCE results, but our students continue to make progress, thanks to their hard work and the district’s consistent instruction.

The governor proposes to lift caps on voucher enrollment and income limits, and to eliminate testing for voucher schools while at the same time, proposes to de-fund the public education system that serves all children, regardless of their abilities -- a public education system that, based on test results, is serving children better. 

There is opportunity in the data.  This is the chance for all those involved in the decision-making to focus the discussion on what works best for kids.   The data released this week makes it very clear.

Speaking of that discussion, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee will hold four public hearings on the governor’s two-year budget plan.  It appears there are no evening or weekend hearings, and that there are no sessions in Milwaukee, though there is a session scheduled at the State Fair Park Expo Center in West Allis on April 11.  Here’s the full list of meeting dates and locations.   I encourage you to attend a budget hearing, and get involved.

You don't have to be invited

Governor Walker had a news conference on Wednesday about his proposed biennial budget and invited some school superintendents to appear with him.

Many people asked me whether I was invited.  For the record, I was not.  But I have spoken to the Governor a few times over the past months, and I am confident that we will talk again. 

Governor Walker stated in that news conference that despite the cuts he calls for in public education, school districts would be able to cover their losses because of the provisions in his budget repair bill.  He’s talking about the dissolution of collective bargaining and the increased ability of some districts to boost employee contributions to health insurance and pensions.  Of course, MPS settled a contract with its biggest union before the Governor was elected, and that contract extends through 2013. 

The Governor showed a spread sheet and stated that the financial picture is not so bad for districts such as MPS.  But the governor’s figures were not complete.  He left an entire column of figures out of the equation.  The chart showed only how much of the cut in state aid is offset by the potential savings, and his figures do not include the total reduction in spending authority.  This is a key difference, since the magnitude of the revenue limit reduction, along with the reduction in categorical aids, is much, much greater.  

We will take some additional time to analyze the Governor’s figures, but we stand by the preliminary analysis that has been provided by our Finance Department that the district faces $74 million in cuts proposed by the governor in the coming school year. As some additional financial information becomes available, it is likely that the cut will grow larger.  

I will also assert that there is a greater impact looming, and few people are discussing it.  The lifting of the income limits for parents participating in the voucher program will continue to erode MPS student population, thus further reducing state aid.   And the funding flaw is still not fixed – it has Milwaukee taxpayers picking up more than a third of the cost of each voucher student, even though no voucher students can be counted for the purposes of state aid.  When anyone talks about the full impact to our schools of the Governor’s budget repair bill and the proposed new budget, these things must be mentioned.

There is good information about potential budget impacts circulated by the Department of Public Instruction and the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

I think it is important to read as much as you can right now, attend listening sessions and get involved in the discussion.  And you don’t have to be invited to a news conference to do that.