The MPS Report Card

Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent William Andrekopoulos is troubled by data showing that Milwaukee may have the highest suspension rates in the country.

The figures are part of the MPS Report Card, a report examining the performance of city schools.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Accompanying the release of a mass of data about the performance of schools in Milwaukee, Superintendent William Andrekopoulos is calling for substantial changes in the way teachers and schools handle the suspension of students for behavior problems - suspensions that come by the thousands.

"We're doing a lousy job of sending kids out of the classroom," Andrekopoulos said in an interview. He added that Milwaukee Public Schools may have the highest suspension rates in the country. Nearly half of all ninth-graders, for example, are suspended at least once a year, and many of those students are suspended multiple times.

Andrekopoulos said he has asked the Council of Great City Schools to analyze suspension practices in Milwaukee and make recommendations on how to reduce the rate. The organization, which has 66 large urban districts as members, provides consulting services on such issues.

Too many suspensions, which usually involve ordering a student out of a school for one to three days, are for minor matters, he said, such as routine classroom disruption.

The dilemma of suspensions is that while teachers often seek them to deal with disruptive students, those students can't be educated while they are out of school. While many teachers say they spend too much time dealing with a handful of misbehaving students rather than teaching the bulk of their students, Andrekopoulos argues that ways can be found to keep many of those students in class or, in the alternative, at least keep them in school.

"The suspension data is terrible," he said. "This is a grave concern that I have as superintendent."

He said he wants to see a big push in coming months for improvements in how teachers handle classroom behavior issues and how students are led to become engaged in school. This could take more professional development work for teachers, different approaches to instruction, more counseling for students, and creation of more alternatives within schools for misbehaving students, he suggested.

Almost half of all 9th graders receive at least one suspension.

That's a shocking statistic.

Andrekopoulos says that students are suspended for "minor matters."

He makes it sound like kids are being suspended for the slightest offenses. While it's appropriate to respond to this embarrassing suspension rate, I think Andrekopoulos is troubled for the wrong reasons.

Rather than complaining that students are being suspended inappropriately, he should be upset that so many students are behaving in an unacceptable manner. I highly doubt that they are being suspended for little things.

Other points of interest from the report:

• The ninth-grade "parking lot" problem remains big. In 2006-'07, the percentage of eighth-graders promoted to ninth grade was 97.1%, a slight increase from earlier years. But many kids get stuck there - there were 9,002 freshmen that year, more than 2,000 more students than in any other grade in MPS. Thirty percent of ninth-graders were repeating that grade. Academic success among freshmen overall was not good. Forty percent had grade point averages of a D (1.0) or worse. Only 33% had averages of C (2.0) or better. Ninth-grade attendance was 76%, the lowest of any grade in MPS. "We're leaving too many kids behind at ninth grade," Andrekopoulos said.

Would Andrekopoulos prefer that the 9th graders just be pushed through?

The onus is on the students, with urging from their parents, to perform at a level that makes them worthy of moving on to 10th grade. Forty percent had a D average or worse and just 33% were at C better. That absolutely sucks.

It sounds totally appropriate to require the students to repeat 9th grade if they aren't performing. If they aren't ready to work at a 10th grade level, it would be doing them a disservice to advance them.

It shouldn't be surpising that 9th graders are doing so poorly, considering that attendance for that grade was just 76%.

Andrekopoulos is upset about suspensions. He wants students to remain in school instead of being punished with suspensions. OK, but a quarter of 9th grade students are choosing not to show up in the first place and those attending cause problems when they're there. That's terrible.

The suspensions themselves aren't the problem. The reasons for the suspensions is the problem. The suspensions are a symptom, a manifestation of out of control students and academic failure.

Gee, I wonder if there's a correlation between horrible attendance and horrible academic performance and being left back.

Maybe someone should do a study on that.

The MPS Report Card does cite attendance as being a "serious problem."

• Attendance overall showed little change and remains a serious problem. The average attendance, when all grades are put together, was 87.7%, with elementary grades the highest (92.6%) and high school grades the lowest (79.4%). Attendance overall was down slightly from the prior year.

That sucks, too. No improvement has been made in attendance. ZERO.

The first rule for academic success: SHOW UP FOR CLASS.

Students have to be in the classroom on a regular basis.

The fact is the parents of students are failing to monitor their children and emphasize the importance of working hard in school.

A good education is a passport to success as an adult.

Furthermore, students must actively take advantage of the educational opportunities being provided to them at taxpayer expense. "Getting" an education is not a passive process. Students have to make it happen. And parents have to make sure their children are doing the right things to succeed.

Too many MPS students have no respect for education and their parents obviously aren't holding their children accountable for not applying themselves.

The latest crap being touted at workshops and the implementation of new techniques by MPS teachers can't take the place of parental involvement in their children's education.

More than anything, the MPS Report Card reveals just how widespread the problem of dysfunctional families in Milwaukee is.

Of course, if one has an entitlement mindset, education isn't necessary. Why bother when government handouts are available?

Today's failing students are tomorrow's criminals.

The MPS Report Card is really like a predictor for the future of Milwaukee, reaching far beyond the school system.

The future looks terribly bleak.