MADISON, Wis (WSAU-Wheeler News) The Wisconsin Senate’s version of a school accountability bill is getting more support from educators than a more-stringent Assembly version. At a Senate committee hearing yesterday, public school officials and advocates supported the idea of giving the same achievement test at all schools that get tax funding.
They also favored the continued practice of giving schools more general evaluations on how well they’re meeting state standards — instead of the A-to-F letter grades the Assembly bill proposes. The Assembly package would let schools choose from a list of achievement tests, which could give private voucher students different exams than those in public schools.
John Humphries, who heads the Wisconsin School Psychologists Association, said parents deserve objective information — and part of that is to use a single statewide assessment. School choice advocates have said it’s more important to compare voucher students to each other. They also favor the Senate’s proposal for two state boards — one to help low-performing public schools improve without sanctions, while refusing to let failing private schools take new voucher students.
The Assembly bill also has that last provision — but it would convert failing public schools to independent charter schools. Now that both houses have held hearings, G-O-P leaders will try to come up with a final version that could pass.
