Education in America: State-By-State Report Card

At first, I was pleasantly shocked today when I stumbled across the Education in America: State-By-State Report Card . Although we ranked in the top 10 in most money spent per pupil (no big surprise), I was pleased to discover that we ranked 8th in overall achievement and 3rd in graduation rates when compared with other US states. Then it occurred to me that the graduation rates of both Racine (79%) and Milwaukee (65%) are holding the rest of Wisconsin back, due to the fact that these school districts have relatively large student populations. It is nice to be ranked at #1 and #2, but not for having the worst graduation rate.

Milwaukee has started addressing the problem; MPS offers numerous choices to the families including magnet schools and diverse specialty programs. Also,since the early 90’s the state legislature has made it possible for the children of Milwaukee most at risk for failure to attend charter and voucher schools. It is time for RUSD to step up to the plate and begin offering comprehensive choices for the families and children of eastern Racine County. Dr. Hick’s reform plan, the Quality District Model, has some merit, but it is clear that it does not work for all children. We cannot continue to use one approach for all of our children; we will be doomed if we do. After 5 years of the QDM and no real improvement, it is now time to seek other options. We cannot continue on the path we are on; we may have lost a significant group of students already and cannot afford to lose any more.

If Milwaukee and Racine schools could improve their results to match the rest of the state; I believe Wisconsin could be #1 in every category in a very short time. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to be #1 in something we can be proud of?