Thanks to State Senator Luther Olsen for his likening the Wisconsin legislature to a banana republic, and not the clothing store. Senator Olsen referred to the legislature about face relative to its partisan decision to countermand its 2011 decision to seek a single vendor for Wisconsin’s Student Information System. He correctly infers a negative impact upon any contractor who considers doing future business in Wisconsin and their lack of assurance that a legitimate contract will not be subverted by politicos. Olsen’s attempt to uphold legislative integrity was pummeled 13-3 in committee and his argument was canned before it could gain momentum. Governor Walker’s campaign announcement that “Wisconsin is Open For Business” really means open only for the business that special interest lobbyists can endorse.
Bananas come in bunches and another banana going bad in the current bunch of stinky business relates to the Wisconsin legislature pushing the caution button on implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Forty-five states, including Wisconsin, have adopted the CCSS as their PK-12 academic standards. The Wisconsin legislature adopted the CCSS in 2010 with little to no discussion. Since then, the English/Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics standards have been rolled in each Wisconsin school district.
As with every reform in public education, commentary is on the record for and against the CCSS. A common thread in all comments is that the CCSS are standards and not curricula. Interpreting the standards into instruction is critical work and is much more than just buying a new reading or math text series. Hence, there is some natural labor slap-back against the CCSS.
However, there is almost consensus that the CCSS are better than the amalgam of non-standardized standards that independently populated the thousands of school districts in these 45 states. And, there is an unspoken consensus that the real hurdle is not the instruction of the CCSS but the accountability of educators for student achievement on new assessments that will be aligned with the CCSS. The real caution button is not being pressed because of questions about the value of the CCSS but in fear of the angst that will rise when student achievement not only does not improve but takes a significant dive in the first year of CCSS assessments. Someone is forgetting what we already know – significant organizational change cannot be validly evaluated for at least five years. Politics, though, seldom can wait five years for valid results.
As promised, the CCSS in the sciences is ready to roll out this summer. Social Studies standards are still in the writing process. Although the Wisconsin caution button says “let’s hold more discussion in Wisconsin about the CCSS,” politically pushed caution buttons have a habit of becoming sidetracking actions. So, politically it will be acceptable for Wisconsin children to learn from updated ELA and Math standards, science and social studies standards will remain in the last century. Bad business once again!
Two bananas do not make a very impressive bunch. A third banana going bad in our bunch is the legislature’s discussion of opening school choice vouchers to all school districts in Wisconsin. Instead of limiting the districts open to vouchers, the new thinking is to make choice/voucher available in all school districts and place a numerical cap on the number of vouchers to be allowed each year. The proposal would allow 500 vouchers in year one and 1,000 in subsequent years. State Superintendent Evers appropriately acknowledged that few if any such legislated quotas ever are static. The real politic of deciding who will receive such a limited “golden ticket” seems to point toward a quick expansion of the quota to lessen the anger of non-recipients. As has been demonstrated by the proposal under consideration, special interests in favor of choice/voucher will not take “no” for an answer.
Interestingly, Governor Walker proposed expanding the voucher system from Milwaukee and part of Racine County to a dozen-plus of the largest Wisconsin districts where student achievement on the new state report card fell below satisfactory. The political “compromise” is to expand choice/voucher to all districts with a quota that is certain to be “watery.” Great compromise
Not a great season for bananas.