Wisconsin Kids: The Sweet Smell of Success

This is weird.

Alan J. Borsuk writes:

Children in Wisconsin have the eighth best chance in the U.S. of succeeding in life, at least based on a scoring system created for a national report on the state of education released today.

In a separate kindergarten through 12th grade "achievement index" in the report, Wisconsin rated 10th in the nation.

Both results were included in the annual "Quality Counts" report from Education Week, a weekly publication widely read among educators, released on Wednesday.

...The "chance of success" index was based on a comparative analysis of 13 factors affecting the lives of children in each state, including family income, educational attainment of parents, the percent of children in pre-school programs, the percent of parents who are fluent in English and the percent of adults who hold steady jobs.

This report, by Editorial Projects in Education and funded in part by the Pew Center for the States, presents a rosy picture.

I'd like to know what the chances of success are for Milwaukee kids.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee public high schools have one of the worst graduation rates in the country among large school districts, according to a new report that takes the unusual step of trying to make comparisons across large school districts as well as states.

Ninety-four of the 100 largest school districts in the country have higher graduation rates than Milwaukee, where the graduation rate is 45%, according to a study by the Manhattan Institute, a think tank in New York.

...The Manhattan Institute studies have repeatedly found that while Wisconsin has one of the highest graduation rates overall, it also has one of the worst graduation rates for African-American students. This year, Wisconsin came in third, with an overall graduation rate of 85%. For African-Americans, the statewide graduation rate was 55% - the second-lowest in the country. MPS was about 60% black in 2003, according to the state Department of Public Instruction.

...In Milwaukee, the report puts the graduation rate for girls at 53%, compared with 39% for boys.

I hate these numbers games and these surveys.

The fact is the odds of success aren't good if kids don't graduate from high school.

Only 55% of African-American Wisconsin kids graduate -- the SECOND-LOWEST rate in the U.S.

How does that spell success?

I'm asking you, education braggart Jim Doyle, about to be sworn in for your second term as governor.

There's an enormous racial gap in Wisconsin.

That's nothing to be proud of.