Follow Up: No Child Left Behind

Yesterday's post Madison Schools and No Child Left Behind Nonsense provoked a number of comments including two which need greater exposure.

Regarding my reference to the inadequacy of Town of Madison services, Dianthus asked, "Would you please name some of the resources available to city residents that are not available to town residents?"

For starters we have police services. The city of Madison continues to provide a higher level of service on the South side than does the town police department, which continues a decades long practice of relying on the city of Madison for backup -far more than the city relies on the town.

Then look at the city's supportive services through its community services budget -- the town has nothing comparable.

The second more important comment came from Stephen. It is succinct and needs no elaboration:

What is not captured in the NCLB numbers is that Lincoln is a terrific school with a caring and motivated staff. My wife works as a Bilingual Resource Specialist there, and so is very familiar with the kinds of challenges (most of them caused or compounded by poverty) her students have to face every day. Kids who live on the edge of homelessness have a lot more on their minds than readin', writin', and 'rithmetic.

NCLB is more concerned with the collection of bogus metrics unmoored from reality than with the actual education of real children. It is bureaucratic make work designed to undermine support for quality public education.

Comments

[Stephen M. Leo]

Paul,

Thanks for the tip 'o the hat. Among other things, I'm an alderman in Middleton, and I read your blog every day. I especially appreciate your posts on governance and the challenges of being a practical lefty elected official in a political climate strewn with the detritus of three decades of unconstrained free market fundamentalism.

Regards,

Stephen Leo
Alderman, 8th District
Middleton, WI

[R.J.]

For starters, the Town of Madison never asked for the influx of thugs, the City of Madison did/does. It's only fair. Why not annex this "prime" locale?

[Tim M.]

Those of us who live in the Town ARE being annexed, RJ. Some of us will be Fitchburghers, others Madisonians. And guess what? The "prime" parts of the town are going to become part of MADISON.

[R.J.]

Whichever gets more of these loses.
http://midwestpropertyconsultants.com/sitebuilder/images/clintonspringsfacade-722x457.jpg

[Brian]

NCLB is horse and buggy accountability. The device can be improved but it's still a horse and buggy.
The better measures such as performance exhibitions are the next generation electric car. Hundreds of schools around the country use this "big picture" of what students know and can do for their accountability to their stakeholders. One teacher in DeForest this school year used a related model and invited the Wisconsin State Journal to report on her student's presentations. The students were evaluated by a panel of experts from outside the school district. Amazing! Well, except that the reporter left the key part of the story out of the story.

www.performanceassessment.org

By the way, last month was National Student Exhibition Month. Reader, do you recall ANY mainstream media even covering this event?

[Jackie Woodruff]

Many of us feel that a great deal of the problems facing our schools have to do with State Funding and needed reform.
Walk on the Child’s Side Set for June 16th Event highlights the need for a change in the way schools are funded

On June 16th, in an effort to shed light on the problems with the current school funding system, people from all over Wisconsin will convene on Madison for a symbolic walk to the State Capitol, where participants will rally for change.

The event, which will begin at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Library Mall, will mark the 10th anniversary of Walk on the Child’s Side. In 1999, educators, students, parents, and community members set off on the first walk, starting in Butternut and ending at the Capitol, where participants made sure that the governor and lawmakers understood the adverse effects of the school funding formula.
A decade after the first Walk on the Child’s Side and 15 years after the state’s school-funding system was passed into law, the problems continue. Today, the funding crisis Wisconsin’s children and public schools face is worse than ever. It is time to make a change. Join us on June 16th and help support a better education for Wisconsin’s children.

“SFN members understand the state of the economy,” said Bob Borch, assistant superintendent of finance with the Elmbrook School District and spokesperson for the nine-member network. “We also know that for the last 15 years school districts throughout Wisconsin have been forced to lay off staff, increase class sizes, and make cuts to programs and services because of the state’s school-funding system.”
“Good times or bad, nothing has been done to change the system and head off the crisis,” Borch said. “Now the education and the futures of children all over the state are in jeopardy.”
Borch said the SFN not only endorses the Walk on the Child’s Side but encourages its partners and their members to be in Madison, June 16.
WHO: Wisconsin education advocates
WHAT: Walk on the Child’s Side’s 10th Anniversary Reunion Tour
WHEN: June 16, 2009, 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: The walk will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Library Mall, on the 700 block of State Street. The walk will continue up State Street to the Capitol. A rally will be held on the steps of the Capitol at 12:00 noon.
Updates, as well as further information and details (including information on parking sites) can be found at http://www.frontiernet.net/~ntu/, and at http://www.excellentschools.org