A Reasonable Letter I Disagree With.
Start over. I was quite a bit into this blog and focus confusion left me pulling up a Netscape search. I lost about ten minutes of work will try again! Save early save often, right?
The Appleton Post Crescent published a letter by Jane Rufe a teacher at Appleton East and an active Democrat (very active, google her and see). Jane was telling us why the Post Crescent is right in supporting Elizabeth Burmaster for Wisconsin's State Superintendent of Schools. I excerpt two portions of her letter and respond to each portion as to why she is wrong and Gregg Underheim is the better person for the job.
Jane's letter contains nothing insulting or out and out outlandish so I did not even consider her for the Eight-Ball award.
I would say there are competing goals here, at least in the way the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) view things. In order to reduce class size we need to hire more teachers. Hiring people is an expensive proposition especially if they are to keep up the credentials Jane contends they do. I know teachers often complain about all the extra training they had to go through and have to continue to go through to keep their teaching certificate and use this to justify their demands for higher salaries.
So what is the answer? We can find ways to make teachers more productive or we need to hire more teachers at ever higher expense. Appleton, I am proud to say is one of the state's leaders in working to make instruction more productive with virtual schools. So too the Northern Ozaukee County school district. What is WEAC's reaction? SUE! What is the reaction of Elizabeth Burmaster's DPI (a "defendant" in these suits)? To support WEAC (at least in the case vs. The Northern Ozaukee County School District, I do not know the DPI's stand in the Appleton suit, which by the way WEAC lost). That is the DPI is not interested in finding out how to educate more efficiently they are only interested in hiring more teachers.
So I am not convinced the Burmaster's DPI is terribly interested in reducing impact upon the taxpayer.
Secondly there are questions on the impact of reduced class size. Reports I have read from The Heartland Institute suggest the impact in general is minimal and is not worth the expense. That there are more effective ways to spend our educational dollar.
See the following reports:
What is this again? Oh I forgot the term when one puts up a silly argument then refutes it. Ohhhhh, that's right a strawman! "For the life of me, I cannot understand why every Wisconsinite is not proud of our public schools." I am for the most part. How are the schools in Milwaukee doing? Not as well as the Neenah or the Appleton schools I bet. In any event it is not a matter of pride it is a matter of dollars. If Wisconsin schools are doing so well why then do we need smaller class sizes? If Wisconsin schools are doing so well why then is WEAC suing the Northern Ozaukee School District?
Ms. Rufe, we can not continue down the same path of tapping the taxpayers for ever larger portions of their paychecks. Sooner or later the taxpayer is going to revolt and then the schools will be in real deep doo. Gregg Underheim is bold and brave willing to experiment to find ways to improve educational productivity.
Gregg Underheim is working on superchargers and Elizabeth Burmaster is working with horseshoes. Vote for Gregg Underheim for Wisconsin State Superintendent of Schools!
The Appleton Post Crescent published a letter by Jane Rufe a teacher at Appleton East and an active Democrat (very active, google her and see). Jane was telling us why the Post Crescent is right in supporting Elizabeth Burmaster for Wisconsin's State Superintendent of Schools. I excerpt two portions of her letter and respond to each portion as to why she is wrong and Gregg Underheim is the better person for the job.
Jane's letter contains nothing insulting or out and out outlandish so I did not even consider her for the Eight-Ball award.
The New Wisconsin Promise is working to provide relief to property taxpayers while ensuring students are placed in classrooms that are successful. The Wisconsin Quality Educator Initiative guarantees that Wisconsin’s teachers remain among the best in the nation.
Her priorities include investing in small class sizes and early learning initiatives, closing the achievement gap between minority and majority students, tackling truancy, promoting service learning efforts, helping rural schools and keeping property taxes under control.
Her priorities include investing in small class sizes and early learning initiatives, closing the achievement gap between minority and majority students, tackling truancy, promoting service learning efforts, helping rural schools and keeping property taxes under control.
I would say there are competing goals here, at least in the way the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) view things. In order to reduce class size we need to hire more teachers. Hiring people is an expensive proposition especially if they are to keep up the credentials Jane contends they do. I know teachers often complain about all the extra training they had to go through and have to continue to go through to keep their teaching certificate and use this to justify their demands for higher salaries.
So what is the answer? We can find ways to make teachers more productive or we need to hire more teachers at ever higher expense. Appleton, I am proud to say is one of the state's leaders in working to make instruction more productive with virtual schools. So too the Northern Ozaukee County school district. What is WEAC's reaction? SUE! What is the reaction of Elizabeth Burmaster's DPI (a "defendant" in these suits)? To support WEAC (at least in the case vs. The Northern Ozaukee County School District, I do not know the DPI's stand in the Appleton suit, which by the way WEAC lost). That is the DPI is not interested in finding out how to educate more efficiently they are only interested in hiring more teachers.
So I am not convinced the Burmaster's DPI is terribly interested in reducing impact upon the taxpayer.
Secondly there are questions on the impact of reduced class size. Reports I have read from The Heartland Institute suggest the impact in general is minimal and is not worth the expense. That there are more effective ways to spend our educational dollar.
See the following reports:
- British Study Casts Doubt on Benefits of Class-Size Reductions
- Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: A Critical Look at Smaller Class Sizes
- Class-Size Reduction Brings Mixed Results
- What Should We Expect from Smaller Classes?
- Teachers, Not Students, Would Benefit Most from Smaller Classes
- Florida Voters May Regret Class Size Vote
For the life of me, I cannot understand why every Wisconsinite is not proud of our public schools. Wisconsin has one of the highest high school graduation rates in the country; for the last 15 years, Wisconsin students have scored the highest or second-highest on the ACT in the nation; we have more and more students taking advanced placement exams; third-grade reading scores are the best they have ever been. I could go on.
What is this again? Oh I forgot the term when one puts up a silly argument then refutes it. Ohhhhh, that's right a strawman! "For the life of me, I cannot understand why every Wisconsinite is not proud of our public schools." I am for the most part. How are the schools in Milwaukee doing? Not as well as the Neenah or the Appleton schools I bet. In any event it is not a matter of pride it is a matter of dollars. If Wisconsin schools are doing so well why then do we need smaller class sizes? If Wisconsin schools are doing so well why then is WEAC suing the Northern Ozaukee School District?
Ms. Rufe, we can not continue down the same path of tapping the taxpayers for ever larger portions of their paychecks. Sooner or later the taxpayer is going to revolt and then the schools will be in real deep doo. Gregg Underheim is bold and brave willing to experiment to find ways to improve educational productivity.
Gregg Underheim is working on superchargers and Elizabeth Burmaster is working with horseshoes. Vote for Gregg Underheim for Wisconsin State Superintendent of Schools!
posted by Marcus Aurelius at 9:04 PM
<< Home