Jim Doyle's Failure to Educate

On Governor Jim Doyle's campaign website, he touts his accomplishments regarding education in Wisconsin.

Governor Jim Doyle: Fighting for Our Schools, Lifting Up Our Kids

Governor Jim Doyle’s mother was a teacher. First Lady Jessica Doyle has been an educator for over 25 years. Governor Doyle is a product of Wisconsin’s public schools.

He knows the value of education, and just how important good schools are.

As Governor he has fought for our public schools – and he’s gotten results.

Increasing Expectations, Standards, and Opportunities for All Wisconsin Students

Wisconsin has the best public schools in the country. Wisconsin students score at the top in national tests like the ACT. But Governor Doyle knows that we cannot sit back and rest on our laurels. He believes that high expectations of our students, and high standards in the classroom, are the keys to continued success.

Do you get the feeling that Doyle lives on another planet?

Is he engaging in a Clintonian parsing of words?

How can Doyle possibly state that "Wisconsin has the best public schools in the country"?

A new study places Wisconsin 46th and gives it a "D-" overall for not setting stronger academic standards.

(Note: There are 50 states. Are Wisconsin public school students taught that?)

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

It's the fourth time in three months that a national study has accused state officials of shirking their responsibilities, particularly to minority students and those from low-income homes. Two national education reformers said Monday that Department of Public Instruction officials have misled citizens about their work to improve the quality of education in Wisconsin.

The report being released today by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation in Washington uses harsh terms in critiquing the standards that are intended to guide instruction in Wisconsin schools. "Depth is nowhere to be found," it said of the science standards. "This document has no structure or method," it said of the world history standards. "Skimpy content and vague wording," it said in describing the math standards.

In June, a different group ranked Wisconsin No. 1 in the country in frustrating the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Also in June, a third organization focused on Milwaukee and Wisconsin as examples of places where more inexperienced - and therefore, less proficient - teachers are disproportionately assigned to high-needs schools. And two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education rejected as inadequate Wisconsin's plans for dealing with federal requirements that every student have a "highly qualified" teacher.

..."There is a drumbeat, and the drumbeat says that Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Wisconsin citizens by saying all is well," said Michael Petrilli, vice president for national programs at the Fordham Foundation.

Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust, which issued the June report on teacher quality, said the theme behind the reports was partly about complacency in Wisconsin about how kids are doing. But she said a second theme was a question of "how honest state leaders are being with the people of Wisconsin."

...Wisconsin has some of the largest gaps in the U.S. between children from higher-income homes and those from lower-income homes, and between white students and African-American and Hispanic students.

...[Kevin Carey, research manager for Education Sector, which criticized Wisconsin for its work on No Child Left Behind,] said: "People in Wisconsin have a sense that the state has one of the best education systems in the country. . . . However, I suspect that that sense of being one of the best has reduced the urgency among educational policy-makers in Wisconsin to try to be better."

Remember that Doyle claims "Wisconsin has the best public schools in the country."

Hmmmm.

He and WEAC, relentless campaigners against No Child Left Behind, are not serving in the best interests of Wisconsin children.

Should public school education be dictated by the whims of a powerful union and a governor willing to do its bidding?

Shouldn't it be about preparing children to be skilled, productive members of society?