Rep. Thiesfeldt, Rep. Kitchens, and
legislative members of the Education Committee,
My name is Todd Alan Price. I’m Director
of Policy Studies at National Louis University, speaking for myself. If we
really want to be responsible to the 860,000 public school children we would be
crafting solid policy initiatives that improve student engagement. If we wanted
improved accountability let’s provide the funds/resources available to hire
more educators, provide bonafide career paths with better compensation (like teacher leader programs, part of the
RESPECT initiative from the federal government), and support the persons on the
frontlines who do the teaching, collect the data and retool the curriculum and
instruction as needed to be able to make an impact on the student outcomes.
Equally important from a scientific
measure, rather than a faith-based one, we should use diagnostic assessments to identify the point at which a child is struggling;
we should use formative assessments, which
are ongoing and immediately useful to the teacher to move the child incredibly
forward.
But the resources are few and far
between. I know my colleagues would be very supportive of your committee examining
what does it specifically cost to support
each and every child in the state of Wisconsin to be fully ready to be
successful, to have the tools in place to be able to learn? If we as a state did that, then we could have
an honest and robust conversation around choice in education, which would take
at its starting point, equal opportunity.
If this committee wanted to help children
in underperforming schools, you could start by working to improve our
neighborhood public schools so every child has a good public school to attend,
no matter where they live or what their family circumstances are. I agree
parents are the first teacher and I am one too. My children go to two great
Kenosha neighborhood public schools, Grewenow and Roosevelt Elementary
respectively. They have great teachers, and dedicated principals, support
staff, and they are focused on moving the curriculum forward toward best
practices and improved student outcomes, I know this as a parent who attends
the teacher-parent meetings and support the community engagement events.
A.B. 1 doesn't help these schools much,
just seems to place more “accountability” on top of all of the other
accountability mechanisms that teachers and principals and school board members
are laboring under. WE should support promising initiatives such as co-teaching and universal design for learning, and we could be supporting school
districts to improve their practice by examining new promising pedagogies, including blended learning. Instead we
are seemingly placing schools with AB 1 under increasing audit measures.
Since we know that schools that do well
on the Report Cards are in communities with engaged parents, well-trained and
experienced teachers, a vibrant economy, and schools that have resources to
provide every child with the opportunity for a great education - why aren't we
writing a bill that would require the Legislature and State of Wisconsin to
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for providing those same resources and opportunity to every
community school in the state? Parents in Kenosha to the rest of the state of
Wisconsin would appreciate, I’m certain, excellent schools. Let’s begin that
conversation, thank you for your time.
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