Scott Walker's Plan: Education

8/8/2019 Scott Walker's Plan: Education

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www.ScottWalker.orgFor more information or to volunteer:

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DO YOU CARE ABOUT WISCONSIN

SCHOOLS& EDUCATION GOALS?

I D O T O O. T H I S I S M Y P L A N T O I M P R O V E T H E M .

THE

WALKER PLAN

TO MAKE WISCONSINS

EDUCATION SYSTEM

WORLD CLASS

Paid for by Friends of Scott Walker, John Hiller,Treasurer

P.O. Box 100828 Wauwatosa,WI 53210


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Education for the 21stCenturyHigh Standards and Accountability

We trust teachers, counselors and administrators to provide our children world-classinstruction, to motivate them and to keep them safe. In the vast majority of cases, educationprofessionals are succeeding, but allowing some schools to fail means too many students beingleft behind. By ensuring students are learning a years worth of knowledge during each schoolyear and giving schools the freedom to succeed, Wisconsin will once again become a model forthe nation.

- Scott Walker

For years, Wisc onsin had the d istinc tion of b eing a na tiona l lea der in ed uc a tiona l

reform. From the g round brea king M ilwa ukee Parenta l Cho ic e Prog ram to polic ies

a ime d a t expa nd ing the role of c harter sc hoo ls in c om munities ac ross the sta te,

Wisc onsin was view ed as a p ione er in ed uc ationa l innova tion a nd c rea tivity. Wisc onsin

used to rank 3rd in fourth grad e read ing, now we re 30th.

Sc hool d istric ts a re often steered off trac k by one-size-fits-all manda tes tha t suppress

innova tion. Onc e we eliminate outd a ted and unnec essary rules, sc hoo ls will have the

freed om to set high stand ards and the a bility to m eet them.

Fortunate ly, Wisc onsin can ag a in be a lea der in ed uc ational exc ellenc e b y refoc using

on suc c ess in the c lassroo m. Our stud ents, our teac hers, and our sta te s future dep end

on us ta king this ac tion.


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Foc us on Fundam enta ls

Tod ay, 33% of Wisc onsin fourth grad ers c annot rea d a t even a basic leve l p roo f tha tWisc onsins educ ationa l system is fa iling our c hild ren. To turn things around , we ha ve toput a n end to soc ia l p romotion for students who c anno t rea d a t the end of third grade.In fourth grad e, rea d ing b ec om es the p rima ry tool for ga ining know led ge in every other

sub jec t. To b orrow a phrase used by othe rs, fourth grad ers are no longer lea rning torea d , they are rea ding to lea rn.

By estab lishing b enc hmark guide lines in g rades K-3 and prov id ing sc hools and teac herswith flexib ility and resources, we c an identify child ren who need add itiona l help we llbe fore they rea c h third grade.

At the same time , sc hoo ls have to return the ir foc us to the funda menta ls of read ing ,writing , sc ienc e a nd math to e nsure ba sic skills a re mastered . By esta b lishing rigorousand c om prehensive lea rning standards tha t a re future-foc used , disc ontinuing the use ofoutd a ted and ineffec tive tests, and using 21st c entury eva luation me thod s, teac hers

and pa rents c an b etter judg e a students ac ad emic a c hievem ent. Pa ired with ac om prehensive da ta system tha t a llow s pa rents to trac k student p rog ress, we c anidentify lea rning c ha lleng es ea rly on a nd c orrec t them before it s too la te.

This foc us c an be b etter imp lem ented by rev iew ing a ll one-size-fits-all sc hoo l ma nda tesand e limina ting a s ma ny as possib le. We shouldn t be m icromana ging sc hool distric ts,but rathe r set ting high sta ndards and g iving d istric ts the flexib ility to me et them.

From there, sc hoo ls c an foc us on teac hing m arketa b le skills suc h a s those o ffered inSTEM (sc ienc e, tec hno log y, eng ineering a nd m ath) educ a tion prog rams. The job s of

tomorrow will req uire spec ific typ es of wo rkers and by ma king STEM p rograms a priority,stud ents will beg in lea rning essentia l skills in e lementa ry sc hool.

Reform Failing Schools

In the past year alone, Wisc onsin ha s twic e lost out o n hundred s of millions of dolla rs offede ral Rac e to the Top ed uca tion funding b ec ause Governor Doyle a nd Mad isonpolitic ians lac k a real commitment to ed uc ation reform.

We c an t beg in putting meaning ful reforms in p lac e until we know w hic h sc hoo ls a refa iling and how. Sc hools should b e g raded just like stud ents on a sc a le o f A to F.Grad es awa rded under this ra ting system will be based on ob jec tive c riteria suc h a sgradua tion rate s, passing rates, enrollme nt in Adva nc ed Plac em ent courses,standardized test scores, and teacher and administrator evaluations.

Persistently failing sc hools will be required to sign turna round c ontrac ts. In exc hangefor a c ommitment of resources and support from the sta te, sc hoo l boa rds andadministra tors will selec t one of four turna round mo dels.


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Transforma tion: ad ministra tors a re rep lac ed and sta ff is review ed with stud entac hieveme nt as a ma jor c onsideration.

Turna round : ad ministra tors and no less tha n 50% of the sta ff a re rep lac ed withstudent ac hieveme nt as a m a jor c onsideration.

Resta rt: the sc hool is c losed and reo pene d as a c ha rter sc hoo l. Closure: the sc hool is c losed and stud ents a re enrolled elsew here.

Sc hools tha t fail for three c onsec utive yea rs must selec t an alternate mod el. A sta tefunded Turnaround Taskforce will p rovide needed guidanc e to sc hoo l d istric tsensuring tha t the y d on t d ra in financ ia l resourc es from Wisc onsin s ma ny suc c essfulschools.

Rec ruit, Reta in and Reward Grea t Tea chers

In every other profession, exce llenc e is rew a rded and tea c hing should b e no d ifferent.To m ake sure o ur c hild ren a re rec eiving the very best instruc tion, we ha ve to reward thebest tea c hers and prov ide support for the und erpe rforming ones. Persistently

underpe rforming teac hers, how ever, c annot b e a llowed to c ontinue to fail ourstudents. Under my plan, tea c hers will be eva lua ted based on the follow ing fivecriteria:

p lanning a nd p rep aration, c lassroo m environme nt, qua lity o f instruc tion, professiona l responsibilities, and yearly stud ent p rogress.

Tea c hers will rec eive a n overall ra ting of ineffec tive, needs imp rovement, sa tisfac tory, or exemp lary. Tea c hers who are ra ted ineffec tive two yea rs in a rowwill lose the ir tea c hing lic ense, while a ll tea c hers ra ted as sa tisfac tory or exem plarywill be e lig ib le for bonuses. While teac hers should b e held a c c ounta b le for the irstudents p rog ress, they c annot c ontrol what ha ppens to students outside thec lassroo m. Tha t s why stud ent eva lua tions a re only one o f five c riteria used to e va lua teteachers.

We will a lso c rea te a new c lass of highly qua lified , well-pa id teac hers who w ill be g iventhe o pportunity to a dvanc e in their c a ree r. These highly qua lified tea c hers will bec a lled on to m entor othe r teac hers, while still devo ting most of the ir time to c lassroo mteaching.

Fina lly, we m ust strea mline the lic ensing proc ess and op en the d oo r to a sp iring teac herswith rea l world experienc e. We must a lso remove a rb itra ry barriers like residenc yreq uirem ents tha t keep qua lified tea c hers out of struggling d istricts.


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Finding Effic ienc ies

Sc hoo l distric ts must b e given the too ls to red uc e the b urden on prop erty taxpa yers bysha ring resourc es, poo ling purc hasing pow er, c ontrac ting for servic es, expand ing theuse o f tec hnology like o nline lea rning , and eve n voluntarily merging, when a pprop ria te.Meanwhile, pa rents should ha ve the ab ility to sc rutinize spend ing dec isions which is why

I will fac ilita te loc a l efforts to post expend itures online just a s I have done in Milwaukeewith the co unty budg et.

The Q ua lified Ec ono mic Offer (QEO), which he lped hold d ow n loca l sc hoo l costs formo re tha n 15 yea rs, will be restored and tied to revenue c aps to a lign ea c h d istric t sexpenses with their reve nues. Med ia tion and arb itra tion c hanges will a lso b e ne ed edto ensure tha t loc a l ec ono mic fac tors a re c onsidered a long with other c om mo n sensefac tors whe n arbitra ting teac her c ontrac ts. And w e c an save more than $68 million peryea r by a llow ing sc hool distric ts to e nroll in the sta te hea lth c are p lan.

We must a lso exam ine the ma ndates p lac ed on sc hoo l distric ts by the sta te, partic ula rly

those tha t a re unfunded , and c onsider free ing d istric ts from as ma ny as possible.Untying the hands of loc a l ad ministra tors will free them to innova te a nd find even moresavings.

More Choic es for Parents

We need to p rovide mo re high q ua lity ed uc ationa l op portunities for fam ilies, whe therthey live in rural distric ts or urba n a rea s. Sc hool Choice, Charter sc hools and Virtua lCha rter sc hools a re a ll serving stud ents in innova tive and effec tive wa ys. These o ptionsshould be expa nded .

Parents should have c ontrol over the ir c hild s ed uc ation, not the go vernment. TheMilwa ukee Parenta l Choice Prog ram and c ha rter sc hoo ls a round Wisc onsin ha ve beensuc c essfully serving stud ents for over a dec ade. While these o ptions aren t foreveryone, they should b e expa nde d a nd enc ourage d for pa rents who w ant them. I willremove the enrollment a nd eligibility c aps on sc hoo l cho ic e and virtua l cha rter sc hoo ls.I w ill a lso e nc ourage a llow ing mo re a uthorizers of indep endent c ha rter sc hools so theentire sta te c an b ene fit from this innova tion.

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Scott Walker's Plan: Education