What about demanding that the federal government fully fund IDEA instead of shifting the costs to the states and local school districts? 1 in 110 children in this country is being diagnosed with autism, yet IDEA is funded by a miniscule percentage. Our choice is to take money out of general education funds or deny services. When will our state politicians and representatives in Congress insist that the federal government pay its share for educating special needs children? How many of those high school dropouts have undiagnosed and unaddressed learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, etc.?

Tony Evers hits the nail on the head. We need to make education a priority. Kids today are different than yesterday. Education needs to change as well. Focus on problem solving, communication, comprehension, critical thinking, and most importantly, the ability to evaluate the quality of information presented. We need to invest in training teachers, & attracting and retaining the teachers we have. We need teachers who can engage kids in learning regardless.
Unfortunately, the current legislature and governor have chosen to cut, rather than invest, in education. Young teachers are re-evaluating career paths, and districts don't have the money to invest in 21st century training. And we are driving out experienced teachers who know how to connect to students.
Yes, there are failing schools. Reforms have been tried, with no success. We need to change the culture surrounding those communities so they can support their kids. They need to learn the importance of early reading, proper nutrition, and value the pursuit of knowledge, even in the face of poverty, hopelessness, and crime. After all, the community has more influence on school success than the schools themselves.
N.P. makes a valid point. Our special needs kids require more intensive, expensive help. We can't afford not to provide that support.
With the current power brokers in place, and the divisiveness of Wisconsin politics, I don't see the necessary changes that Mr. Evers talks about ever coming to fruition

Personally I think it's quite clear that the current administration does not value public education. Without a restoration of state aid there is very little that school districts can do. Walker's toolbox pretty much includes nothing beyond cuts and larger class sizes.

Investment is needed, indeed. But parents need to make the investment, not the state. Improving education is not a matter of money, parents need to invest their hearts and minds, and not at PTA social activities. Parents need to help kids with their homework, help them study for test, remember what learning is like and relearn all that science and algebra they forgot. They need to show their kids that education is important. The funding Dr. Evers has in mind is superfluous. Parents need to invest their care and attention, set an example, not pay higher income, sales or property taxes.

We're spending plenty of money on schools. Consider the recent minor cutbacks a "teachable moment" for those whose natural inclination is always to go to the well one more time rather than to figure out how to effectively and efficiently work with what they have.

There's really only one word that applies here: Communist.

Ooh, I was waiting for that bad word and here it is!
It really does not apply here at all.
Gov. W. has done his share of teaching by example by disrespecting the entire profession of educators, depicting them as people who don't pay their share.

Tim, you are making a good point. Unfortunately, this is not the reality we live in. The question is, can we sit around and wait for more generations of parents who don't do their share, while more generations of parents grow up, not even knowing that they have a share in their kids education. Since dollar is the language spoken here, let's just say that that is very expensive to the taxpayers. Translated into Christian it would say something like love, compassion, do unto others, what would Jesus do, etc., etc. I am mentioning this because there are lives, futures, happyness and well-being at stake here. A contry which esteems itself to be Christian cannot promote social Darwinism and feel good about it.

Nate: there ARE all these problems. There IS all these problems is incorrect. Your parent should have taught you that. It is not the school's job. :) just kidding...

If we do not instill the value of life-long learning in every citizen in this country, we fail ourselves and our future generations. I continue to be amazed at these discussions: how did the word "communism" pollute this discussion? Education requires work. Often, it seems that Americans believe in a "silver bullet", a short-cut", or other "pill to swallow". Our educational infrastructure is ruptured. The Tea Party and Republicans are attempting to exclude the majority of people from our nation's opportunities. As voters and parents we can no longer tolerate this increasing bifurcation of society. And, as parents, we need to step up and actively work with each of our children.Further, our educational challenge, this national crisis, also requires that we recognize that Teachers are a precious commodity. In all of these conversations we need to do a better job of listening authentically. Then rather than name calling, the throwing of verbal hand-grenades into dialogues, we need to step out of the political paralysis and define our Desired End-State for our city, state, nation, and world. Once we know where we are going, we can judge each action against whether it brings us closer or moves us further away from that desired end-state

Alan Borsuk had an article in the 9/24/11 Journal Sentinel about the low rate of parental involvement in MPS schools, and I believe he cited studies indicating that parental involvement is closely related to how well a child does in school. The question is why is this the case. While there is a small minority of parents who are neglectful or even abusive, the vast majority of parents love their children and want them to do well in life so what impediments are there that prevents them from being more involved with their child's education? If those impediments could be clearly identified, then perhaps we could come up with ways to overcome those impediments. Aside from this, there still are ways to design education so it is more attractive to both students and their parents. Coincidentally Charles Blow had an interesting article in the 9/24/11 New York Times on a school in Harlem that has created an impressive program that has resulted in success for students from very impoverished backgrounds. I would gladly link these articles to this comment, but I am a slow learner, and do not know how to do that.

It can be done but there has to be a sincere wish to do so. We are talking about generations of neglected students, wno are now parents. If there is a sincere desire for this country to break the cycle of poverty and misery, this work can no longer be relegated to churches, YMCA and volunteer organizations of the middle class, which is being blead simultaneously. This is work, there are jobs to be done that need to be paid! Job creation right and left! See it?

Radical thoughts:
-The decline in reading and test scores have much less to do with the quality of education and more to do with the students themselves. My guess is there's a high correlation between the decline in test and reading scores and the rise in minority and immigrant populations.
-Check out the results of the Abecedarian project:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abecedarian_Early_Intervention_Project
What's the takeaway here? The parents make poor choices in nutrition and lack of stimulation of the child during the youngest years. By the time the children reach K4 level or so it's all over. Real solution? State run boarding schools for these kids where you can control their nutrition, stimulation and environment. It's probably cheaper in the long run than a life of crime and/or government entitlements. Some parents are incapable of giving their kids a fighting chance.
-Some students simply don't have the chops for an education past 8th grade. We are wasting money on carrying those students through the end of high school. We're wasting their time and also distracting the other students in high school. In 8th grade they should be tested out. If you aren't cutting it, here's a voucher for learning a trade. We would save a ton of money and likely also give some of those kids an opportunity at having meaningful employment(welders, electricians). We spend a preposterous amount on each student; instead of spending more let's spend wisely.

More radical thoughts:

-Stop pouring cash into for-profit "universities" and "colleges" that are popping up everywhere and are so prevalent on the television now. Cut off the student aid for these type of "universities". A good sign you as a student are in trouble: your "university" is headquartered in a shopping mall. Do you really want a nurse assisting you in the hospital that has a degree from Southwest Harvard Online Degrees? Think of all the real good we could do if we took that student aid and put it into learning centers like MATC. If you are going to one of these for profit "universities" it's highly likely that you really belong at MATC or a similar place. And if you graduate from MATC you actually have a shot at getting a job after graduation because your degree actually means something.

Did I miss something in this entire "dialog"? We all seem to have an opinion on this or that but I have yet to see a simple set of 3 things that each of us - as parents or grandparents - can "do" to help the youngsters we can interchange with. Meanwhile, the kids/youngsters sit in front of the Wii or TV (worse) and get mesmerized by murder and mayhem....c'mon, give me 3 initiatives or simple things to do for any youngster I come across (or could come across) today!!

Or, simply go away...people with grandiose ideas but no specific plan or instructions to resolve the problem can be called communists, I guess.

Don

1. You could take a child to the Library and find out about all of the different resources and activities available that make learning interesting and fun.
2. You could take a child for a walk in the park and have a conversation about all of the different plants and animals you see.
3. You could get some crayons and/or some paints and have fun drawing pictures together.

I agree that working with your kids is the greatest blessing for both parents as well as their children. Turn off the TV's. Unplug the electronics. Begin with color and the imagination, fairy tales, and myth.educational movement that is more overlooked than well known in the United States is the Waldorf Schools started by Rudolf Steiner at approximately the same time that Maria Montessori started her approach. I have put 3 of my 5 children through Waldorf and believe it to be a far more complete, fully engaging and challenging education than anything I have seen in this country. Students along with their teachers matriculate from 1st through 8th grade. Technology is eschewed. TV and Game Boys, Computers and other unnecessary distractions are avoided. Our children far out-perform their peers by the time they reach 4th or 5th grade, altho if compared against them at age 7 many of you would laugh. Reading is not forced upon students. Imagination is the force of nature that is emphasized. (There is a Waldorf School on Brady Street, one in Pewaukee and several others throughout the state. This is a global educational movement, based upon Steiner's teaching of the whole child; schools can be found in Russia, Australia and throughout the United States). We need critical thinking and continuous education in our country if we have any hope of regaining our status as a world leader in education, innovation, and in any of the other ways in which we have declined over the last 50 years.

Did I just read you say segregation is the key? The most absurd comment I've read in perhaps forever. Not only are you insisting that the average classroom of black students require someone willing to "use physical force" but you're also insisting MPS schools are full of street punks. Perhaps step foot in a classroom before you make such wild assumptions. Also if you compare a classroom in WFB to one in the central city the student perfrom better because they have a better economic situation at home, they largely come from two parent homes where parental involvement is more likely and they have the resources in their schools (computers, supplies, higher paid- better quality teachers, etc) it has nothing to do with being seperated from another race. Wherever you're getting your obscure study based information it's just more ignorance to me. Now on the other hand your comments do speak to the lack of strong black role models and economic inequality that definitely plays into the class room situation. Don't take my comments personally I just think you're missing the boat here.

235301,
Are you saying that people in trades, such as my electrician, are people who did not make it in high school? That is pretty insulting. Think about it!

Education is important for everyone and it is a basic right! I cannot believe some of the things I read here. No wonder this country is in such dire shape. Reactionary opinions about race are really the final straw. There is no such thing as black kids and white kids. All of them are our kids! All of them, not just those whose parents care, have the right to learn. If they do not have the help at home, they will need the more help in school. We cannot change the wind but we can adjust our sails!

@ St Swithin & Terry

You guys are easy --- you think a rational, logical or correct interpretation of a study is what Angry White Dude wants!

He is being deliberately provocative to get a response --- but when you respond, you simply reward his behavior and encourage him to continue making outlandish statements.

On the other hand, he may just not be that bright ???

Whew! if you don't have a scorecard, you can't tell the players. In many ways this discussion goes back to "nature vs. nurture". Certainly we need many more people involved, more parents who care, and great teachers everywhere. @Cornelia, thanks for speaking up! Both the erudite and highly practical skills need to be taught. And, no one - at least no thinking person - can disparage skilled craftsmen. I always think that it would be great to get all the respondents together; facilitate what they believe is the best of all possible worlds for all - their desired end-state. I believe this group would prove to be no exception.As to "segregation" v integrated schools: Integration - how can we demand anything less? I remember 1967's riots and flying bullets. The Racism we suffered from them is very much still alive, a sad and tragic fact. Our children will do better thankfully.

The biggest roadblack to all of this is politics. Politics takes the focus off of personal responsibility and the "it takes a village" approach - that tneds to work by the way, and makes it a plicy debate usually with a price tage attached to it. The propoganda of politics is awesome to me in the way that our political system has mastered a way of making those victimized by it, not only support it but see the good in it. Why aren't thjose who make policies listening to our demands? Because they don't represent us. How can they? They aren't anything like us. Until a working man or a teacher or a police officer can ignite a movement of activism that sweeps across our country. Or until a regular man (or woman) who isn't backed up by hundreds of millions of dollars can be elected to high office, our practical demands will never be addressed. That's the death of the American Dream to me. We watch and suffer helplessly while those in power pay ping ping with our lives. And I'm sick of it and I hope all of you on this thread are as well.

@Terry: no arguments. What works in Waldorf schools is the parent involvement. As a community "we hold these kids" - there is a sacred duty to raising children. It really is not how many computers a school has. Computers are a distraction; and the subject of technology is irrelevant to student learning. Start a parent group or demand that the Parent Group become one of 3 or 4 columns holding up the School. If each of us were to take it to your schools: maybe the odd-blocks who we elected will take the cotton out of their ears and put it in their mouths. best

Nick - thanks for adding what you have today. I learned a lot from your words and gained some inspiration. on a local level I am so impressed with the things going on in Tosa. I always beleive even limited action is better then words. I hope perhaps Tosa can continue to be a beacon of leadership in this community. I think starting an education advocacy group in this district would be great. Not a board. This group could be made up of parents, college student (future teachers), administrators and teachers as well as college professors and professional people. In these groups real conversation focusing on what schools, parents, teachers, adminstrators, need to be focusing on to imporve the learning experiences for those in the district. I think the only way politicians ever react to things is to see things that happened and worked. They then swoop in to copy the idea, rename them and take credit for them- who cares what they do as long as it serves our childre...

@235301 I agree with you- we need to better evaluate our students and find a path for them that fits their abilities and future desires and yes if they are more inclined to do a trade lets best train them for post HS life working in a vocation and planning their finances at an age when other kids are in college. More skilled workers is a good thing for this country.

@David T: point well taken. I see those comments as verbal hand-grenades designed to see if they can raise our hackles. most people who hide behind the naming attitudes of Morality Plays don't have a a great deal of depth of thought or insight to add beyond their single dimension as it is, now do they?

@Terry, i can't speak to the Tosa model in the larger context of that city, but I have been privileged to teach at Pius for a brief time and have a daughter there who is a sophomore. They have a powerful and dynamic leadership team. They expect, demand, and willingly receive parental involvement. We need to commit similar involvement to the schools of our respective children and offspring. We can't expect politicians, who can't be straight with the everyday person because of their partisan allegiances, to do much for us.We can, hwoever, do a great deal for our teachers, our children, and our fellow parents by stepping up and speaking up and getting involved. additionally, of course, we can throw out of office - via recall or general election - those politicians who block better, broader, deeper education for all. Republicans seem to have forgotten that investment is the key. If you know the business concept of "the cash cow", think analogue to the current decision not to invest and out fall from grace unto the 2nd or third tier of world "powers". And, read: That Used to be Us, by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum.

tim haering - You are comical ! I was in college for my BS degree and any time I tried to help my high school teens, I only confused them. Math and science is taught so many different ways each and every year I never could understand it. Each school and teacher has a different approach.
Is this good or bad to have so many different approaches to subjects that a parent would have to quit their job to be in school with each child to understand what the child needs to understand ???

Personally, I'd like to see us move beyond the old public school system to something more in touch with modern times. I can and do learn more in a day on my own with a broadband internet connection than I ever did in a month of public schooling - I only wish these tools had been available when I was a child. For the tens of thousands of dollars spent per pupil already, we could do far, far better than this.

@jbw: hi; before everyone waxes high praise on internet learning; please, go out and read "The Shallows" - the subtitle is along the lines of "how the internet is ruining our brains". Willingness to learn is what is critical. Clicking between hypertext links is a great distraction and we see many images, but there are many dangers there. Among the least noticeable: 60 % of the entrees on Wikipedia are said to be faulty.
Sure the web is great. It doesn't replace good educators, strong teaching, a desire to learn, and parents who just plain care, parents and teachers and community members who give a damn!

@Cow Dung @ Tom Kerry: Guys, I do not believe that I said that I don't believe in the internet or electronically enhanced learning methods. Clearly, none of you know my love affair with technology, computers, the internet, and all that jazz. Nor my background in teaching, training, certification and accreditation. It is not a panacea. It never will be. Again, I think perhaps you would be better off reading Nick Carr's book, The Shallows. If you think he and I both are off the deep end, then let me know. I still maintain that our best critical thinkers will not learn to learn through the net. But then again: i wonder if any of us knows what it means to think or whether any of us is ready to begin to think: myself included. best, ngp

N. Peske: two things. First, Professor Swanson both asked me to say hello and to say he does remember you, but didn't know the reach went all the way to 12th and the Ave. Secondly: I have grown kids and children still in grade school at Waldorf and at one time we had 8 machines in our home in Detroit. That said: I have come fully 180 degrees away from using computers or video games or even TV for our very young. Waldorf Studies both here and in Europe have come to the conclusion that early exposure is very very detrimental. And, I know someone does want to tell me that I am a Luddite; but, again, no. If I read into your comments correctly, you and I both suffer or are blessed to be multi-channel learners. Studies 50 years from now may prove that i was an alarmist but I would still urge parents not to hand their iPhones, iPads, game boys, et. al, over to their kids - at least not until they are in the upper grades. Better ability to read, to use their imagination, to not be distracted, to follow through: those are a few of the highlighted benefits from keeping people away from TV, computers and electronic baby sitters. best, ngp

@Angry White Dude: come out into the sunshine! did I read correctly that we need to keep the white population at above 60% to survive!?
Can you imagine "parallel universe"? Because frankly that is what you are living within or on or whatever you call it. I believe at the current rate white will be at around 36% of the total population before 2040 - but I don't have the source in my hand. Have you read any of the futurist works readily available at Barnes n Noble or online? I suggest that you pick up A Brief History of the Future, by Jacques Attali. You are correct when you realize that no injection - by either party - will provide overnight relief. This "present now" is what we have given ourselves as a gift - after all that is why it is called the "present". It will take decades to regain what we gave up. Frankly, if we allow , if we actively support partisan paralysis , we may not be in the top 50 of nations in the near future. Rather than throw hand-grenades, designed to inflame or to obscure, into the discussion we need to come together to co-create a sustainable future highlighted by the ability for all to flourish

@N. Peske: I do not have the study results handy. In brief: the issue is the early exposure to video games and computers from which the Steiner influenced medical researchers seem most to recoil. ADD and ADHD in particular to have a direct correlation to using computers and video games (and to using TV as an early "baby sitter"). My anecdotal information pertain to 2 grown sons and 3 daughters 15 & under. I do not dispute that there are a myriad of benefits to be gained from technology, including the code breaking and other skills that seem to appear. The next generation (my 15 and up group) will demonstrate the ultimate wisdom of what we now allow. Personally, I have swung fully to the Heideggerian side which recognizes the danger inherent in technology, especially when we users lose our awareness of its power, and of those decisions we abdicated to the technology. hope that isn't too esoteric. I can make it touch ground, but this forum seems to be the wrong place.

N.P. (oops, almost gave away your first name): thanks for the link. I will have to ask someone at Tamarack for the names of the people who did the studies. I did attend a review of the data within the last several years, and I believe that one of the doctors sends his children to the Pewaukee area Waldorf school, Prairie Hill. The Steiner movement's concern is with the very young. Do you know the image of the dracula hunter with his crucifix: their reaction to giving a 1, 2, or even 9 year old a hand-held or sticking them with a computer or pad, is nearly as intense as their belief - now supported by fact-based evidence - that very early exposure leads to those conditions, which in turn turn to behavioral and learning issues, that often go for life. I do have 2 kids diagnosed with ADD or ADHD of my own,and I do admit they were not brought up without something stimulating to overmuchness their cortices, ;-)o the Steiner doctors, the waldorf physicians ease up on the stricture as the children grow older, but their attitude is very different from "main stream" . Their program graduates have become some very remarkable people in their respective fields over the years.

I'll have to see the research, indeed. I did read the two popular books on the "horrors" of TV--The Plug In Drug--was one; I read the footnotes and searched the net to find some of the key research from the 80s and it was, as I say, truly laughable. I'm sure Waldorf is good for some kids but it seems terrible for certain types of learners. Now that 1 in 110 children is being dx'd with autism and we have epidemics of ADHD, and 10 percent of kids have sensory processing disorder, we really need to look at how to educate these kids (mostly boys, about 2 to 1). Many are visual, kinesthetic learners. They're not getting enough movement. They have "nature deprivation disorder." The employment numbers for people with autism is depressing, and ADHD makes you more likely to be unemployed, in prison, and/or have a substance abuse problem. If they're drawn to visual stimulation, we need to work with visual stimulation! If they need movement and hands on learning, we've got to stop cutting recess and offer more labwork in science and the like. Let them express their knowledge through skits, oral presentations, mini movies made on a computer. We can't let these boys (and some girls) slip behind! (P.S. OK to reveal my name)

n.p.: that would give away the gender, and since I am taking a seminar in Shagspeare (can't get a job) ...anway: I did send a request to a friend of mine at Tamarack. She has a hectic schedule, so ...and I dasn't bug her. best

Everts a Doyle stooge ... Same guy pushing school Logo / name changes .
Warriors , Fighting Irish , Falls Indians , ....... Look @ the schools today like
Milw..... Tony Baloney