Like I said - unsupportive and disrespectful. That pretty much sums up your last post and proves my point.

Boy, it would be nice to live in a community where teachers are appreciated for the jobs that they do despite unsupportive parents, disrespectful students, and clueless public citizens. Oh, I forgot. This is Janesville.

Yeah, grandy. Those COUPLE of days that some teachers called in sick to protest probably would've made all the difference. Oh wait. The test is given in the fall. Protests didn't happen until the middle of winter. Hmm...

Fear: Well stated and you make perfect sense. I am a Christian, but I agree with you children don't need religion rammed down their throats.

thank YoUsE to great plain. :-)

Yada: Youse funny!

BOND - Read or at least try to understand the No Children Left Behind law before making a silly union comment that is fictional like your Bond persona. Since you do not support unions - please continue to support bacteria - it's the only culture you probably still have left in your life.

asking - thank you. You said it while I was thinking it, as I was scrolling through.

btw - franklin scored very high the year before - again, the reason why they ended up on this list, as "no child left behind" (a ridiculous measure in my opinion) demands increase in achievement from year to year.

do any of the nay-sayers here even know anything about "no child left behind"? it's not a level of achievement; it's a level of advancement. that's why dr. ehrhart commented on the higher scores the year before being a reason. WI still ranks number 2 in the nation for academic achievement.

chelleandlou:
You're making dangerous generalizations about a school based on your daughter's words and your past negative interactions with the school. While no school is perfect, Franklin does have a universal discipline system it implemented this year. There are things to work out, but the description of students being sent to the office for a cross eyed look is just false.

There's an axiom that states parents shouldn't believe everything they hear from their kids about school and teachers shouldn't believe everything they hear about home life from students. I'm sure some students were more prone to causing trouble and had to have an alternate behavior plan-perhaps these were your daughter's friends or classmates. Unless you were in the school every day or know the particulars of every student's discipline history and behavior plan, it's just wrong to make such broad, sweeping comments.

I know of many more parents/students that have nothing but positive things to say about Franklin. In fact, it's a vocal minority, including yourself, that have negative things to say. Hopefully you and your daughter will have a positive experience in high school. If not, you need to look at the constant in your daughter's education and negative interactions with school: you.

Still waiting for an answer NVgrf.

How can this be? According to the union teachers, they are the best!

why don't you home school your kids if you are not happy with the school system.

People need to read the book The Deliberate dumbing down of America. This book will explain why the schools are failing. The book can be read on the internet in its entirety. Educate your self as to why the education system in this country ia all messed up. This has been done on purpose. When society realizes what has been going on the you know what is going to hit the fan.

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I have to disagree with some of the comments about Franklin. My son has been there for the last 2 years and has excelled both academically and socially. He has consistently scored in the 98th percentile on all tests. I attribute that both to the teachers and to us as parents. There are good and bad at all schools.

According to this article, "'They almost had to much growth last year,' Ehrhardt said"

I believe he really said "They almost had too much growth last year". Not to worry, the Gazette will hire 5th grade level readers and writers as editors and contributors.

Is keisha "chellandlou" too? It figures.

NCLB and all other benchmark testing is a waste of time and money! U.S. schools have been implementing these tests over the past 10 years or more and yet we have not closed the gap between us and some of the best educational systems in the world (which have no benchmark testing). So why are we so far behind the rest of the world? Culture! Do our students put education before sports and jobs? No. Do all the testing you want, it's not going to change a thing until our children view education as a priority and not something to do between sports and going to work. To make matters worse, I see that the state's GOP is going to roll back Wisconsin's Child Labor Laws. Great.

lvmyself -- thank you for taking ownership of your children's learning. It always shows in the classroom when the students have supportive parents at home who are involved. We have students arrive for K who do not know the difference between letters and numbers. They do not know color names or which way to hold a book. They do not know that people write for different reasons -- lists, stories, letters (notes), etc. This lack of knowledge in a 4-5 year old starts the child behind in a culture where reading and understanding math is critical.

Some days, when feeling overwhelmed by the daunting tasks these unprepared children face, I wish we could deny enrollment until the parents have spent time preparing them. . . My 3 year old granddaughter knows the names of the eight primary & secondary colors, can sort letters from numbers, enjoys trying to order numbers 1-9, knows how to hold a book and even tracks text with her finger when she "reads" & knows when/which way to turn the page. Is she a genius? No. But her mother and grandparents spend time reading to her, coloring with her, putting puzzles together, counting things -- like the tractors in a picture -- anything will do. She counts puzzle pieces, etc. It is the adult involvement with the young child that makes the difference. Consistent playtime and laughter as she discovers the patterns that organize words and numbers. . . Anyone can do it, if they turn off the electronics and spend even 30 minutes a day interacting with their toddler.

bigdaddy -- unions did not cause the corruption in the banking and housing industry, the war on terror, inflated profits for health care & pharmaceutical industries, or contribute to the funds of the ultra-rich getting richer and richer by shutting down jobs for middle class Americans and sending them to severely impoverished workers in other countries -- why? to increase their own coffers. Really wish you would think before you write.

I find it funny how parents want to blame the teachers. I have 3 children, 1 with cerebral palsy and a cognitive disability, ALL 3 of my children could read entering kindergarten. My point, it is the parents people need to be putting blame on. My other 2, have tested advanced levels. My kids went to Franklin and 1 just graduated from Parker on Thursday. This is a great school district. It is the parents failure NOT the schools...

It doesn't surprise me one bit that Franklin is on that list. I'm so glad my daughter is done with that school. Maybe if Franklin focused more on education and less on punishing kids their scores would go up. A kid can't even look at a teacher or staff member cross-eyed without getting sent to the AP office. AND there is no uniformity in punishment either, they label certain kids as "trouble" and focus on them rather than actually investigating to see if maybe it was someone else. Good riddance Franklin!

Lots of posters want to seize on this news to make a political point, and in so doing they make themselves part of the problem. If kids fail a test, it's because they haven't prepared themselves adequately to pass it. And what would kids rather do than study? Play video games? Spend time online? Watch TV? Shop? Party? There are a million distractions, each one a lot sexier than studying. Who wants to be a grind? It's not cool. Is it? Why not just accept the kids' lack of performance? Think about it.

Be prepared for these results to be worse over the next few years. Title 1 and other teachers who help the special education students are being laid off due to cuts. There will be many more children left behind.

Okay, when kids fail a test, it's because . . . the test is too hard. By that reasoning, if the test is made easier, then everybody will pass and everybody will be happy. You know what to do.

I thought unions give you a better product, well here's your proof its not true. May be they should stop teaching about unions in school, as it show it doesn't work.
Also you can't go after Walker on all the money issues with the schools, the average house price has dropped 23% in some area that effects, the school district tax base, look at all the homes that are sitting empty and are bank repose, more tax lost.
Its called the public school are dumb, they spent every dime they had, now they have to cut back and force teachers to take other jobs in the district that they don't know.
Why don't you see this happening at alot of your private school, because they don't over spend, most of the school board members are business owners. Private schools don't get any money from the State like the public schools, you here them bitching, but the teachers love their job, also they don't have a union looking over them all the time.

ummm...being rammed down your throats? how about the fact that we have to cater to the CRIMINAL ALIENS that you pathetic losers are ramming down our throats? They don't even bother to learn English, yet they are put into our classrooms. Think that might have something do do with test scores? How about the UW so glowingly bragging about back-door ways to allow CRIMINAL aliens tuitions at lower rates than deserving, LAW-ABIDING students? Isn't that aiding and abetting criminal behavior? ( see http://www.gazettextra.com/weblogs/lates... ) But since the SOCIALIST PIGS at the gazette staff don't allow comments on such controversial topics, we can't post about it there. So I'm commenting on it here.

Unfortunately these are the kind of numbers that are so skewed that cause right wing apologists to point fingers and say,"SEE, our system doesnt work!" When they dont understand the depth of the study or the demographics involved. You see a percentage on a cool colorful chart on Fox Noise and try to Demagogue. Makes me really wanna shake some sense into thes idgits, you know?
Milton is a fantastic school district!! Wonderful teachers and staff, my child proudly attends there and I am ecstatic with his education! Unfortunately the same idgits think taking money AWAY from public ed will make things better. Just slash teachers spending AND cut programs for kids! There you go thats a solution! Or maybe I should send my kid to some christian cult school where he has religion rammed down his throat as a part of the curriculum.
The facts are that too many kids dont have parents involved. Case in point. I belong to the parents group at my childs school. We organize events to raise money for the school so they can pay for extras that may not be in the budget. At my sons elementary school there are over 300 students, there are 5 FIVE, parnets involved in our equivalent of the PTA. What on gods green earth is that? I will never buy that folks just dont have time. While some may not, most do. The meetings are ONE night a month for an HOUR!! Is that too much to ask? The reason our education system is what it is numbers wise, is because too many parents let their kids play video games 2 hours a night. They let their kids screw off outside till 10 oclock on school nights. Hell I see parents with youger school aged kids at Wal Mart now and again at 1 or 2 min the morning ON school days!
Dont you people DARE blame the teachers for this, ITS the parents. These people that blame teachers are just not educated and hold a grudge. There is even one poster on here that suggests he/she/it(Kiesha) will home school, good luck to your kids. You are worried about an agenda at school that doesnt jive with your twisted ,sick, rhetorical views? Your kids are destined to be socil misfits now thanks to your own ignorance. Congrats!

So these Milton schools don't make yearly progress because of some students with disabilites results. This does show how a goal of near perfection for all students is stupid, and NCLB is currently being reissued with some changes. Single testing measurements mean junk results.

Funny when the educated folks make REAL, cognitive arguments about standards set by politicians with an agenda. Taxandspend and the rest of the rhetoric trolls seem to go away. Excellent!
Taxandspend/local81/jodymac/cass has been sent a pink slip about 4 times by the Gazette staff. Why dont you just stay away, or find a blog where your level of intellect is acceptable(Sesame street). Your condescention toward educators and education in this community has been well noted. Your points and "facts" are always shot down. Then you disappear, why dont you just stay away?

NV-when did I complain about the union?

NCLB is a joke! If special education students were proficient or advanced, you could take them off the special education list. There is a reason they are labeled as a students with a disabilities. When an eighth grader is reading at a 4th grade level and the reading test is at an eighth grade level or higher, your not going to get great results. Then again, wasn't NCLB set up by the Bush Administration? Walker's demand that all students be able to read by third grade will fix it though! NOT

dtb....You write like a second grader and in the same breath complain about education and the union??!! God in heaven help us all!!!

It's also tough to compare one year's eighth grade to the next. A completely different group of students took the test in 2010 than did in 2009; perhaps this group of students had an overall higher ability level, lower ability level, more/less special education students...there are many factors. A more telling statistic would be to see if the group of seventh graders in 2010 improve as an eighth grade in 2011. That would be comparing apples to apples, not the way the current comparison is done.

And as far as giving Franklin teachers pink slips Monday morning....today was the last day of school. I guess taxandspend expects the school board to make house calls next week. Sodemann could use his Phones Plus car and write off the mileage!

Gazette -- please do some check as to how WI schools compare to other states in the nation on this NCLB issue.
Balance -- are area schools performing well by comparison to the state? to the nation? Or are we reporting the inevitable failure to meet AYP that was built into this legislation?

Eh - in 3 more years EVERY school will fail this test...because at that time only having 100% of all students pass every test will get the school a passing grade. It is an interesting standard....you must pass every category and sub-category to get a passing grade. Passing 33/34 is not good enough!

Keep in mind Edgerton is well known for its services for kids with disabilities and special needs. For a school district of their size they are well ahead of the curve in terms of helping these types of kids and they do a fabulous job. When you annually raise cutoff criteria the measurements really become meaningless.

This "sentence" alone shows why we need better schools: "The disable children they are talking about are the children the Teacher Union have failed by Teaching children to speak Spanish, and not be able to read a book in English by them self."

Is it really a surprise that student subgroups such as students with disabilities or English as a second language are not making the grade?? the requirement that EVERY subgroup performs the same is utterly stupid. However, since funding is based on performance it is pretty common for administrations to halt teaching the normal curriculum and "teach to the test". this does NOT benefit the student.

taxandspend: "This has nothing to do with special education level student. They do not even take these tests. Note Special Education is not a issue in Janesville because of no child left behind. Note Special Education is fully funded by the Federal Government per amendment 504 from 1974." Where have you been? The feds have never promised to fully fund special education. They have promised to fund at 40% but have only met funding costs at 8%. Here is a link: http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive...
The state of WI has promised funding at a higher level, but has never met that level -- I was unable to find the exact amount. I did find that for 2009-10, categorical aide for special ed in WI was about 28%.
The mandated requirements for sp ed services have never been funded at promised levels, but local districts must meet state and federal laws. Putting the larger burden on local revenues.

taxandspend -- sorry but you are misinformed. EVERY special needs student is counted. Students with brain trauma, cognitive disabilities, might not take the same test, but then their scores count as 0 for the group of disabled students. The NCLB legislation has always demanded that no matter the circumstances or abilities every student be counted. It is a statistical impossibility to achieve. Thank legislators who are not realistic, but like to sound good.

We do have great teachers. The problem is the parents who expect to be "served" instead of seeing themselves as a part of their own child's education. Teachers and parents should be partners in the education of children. All the blame for failing students cannot be placed on the teachers who are responsible for an entire classroom full of kids at different levels and abilities. Parents need to take a role in the education of their own children. And people with enough time to comment on here all day should be volunteering to help the kids who don't have parents who care or don't have the time, (while working 3 jobs or constant overtime) to help with their kids education.

Students with disabilities have disorders that hinder them in achieving grade level standards. They need specialized instruction. If they were achieving at grade level, they would not have a disability. If they could achieve at grade level with just a little extra help, they would not have a disability. It's unrealistic and frankly, stupid, to expect all students to achieve at grade level, especially if they have a disability.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: Delavan's School system is a farce.
This will continue if you keep electing democratic and liberal members to the board. This system is a self serving good-ol-boys club and it needs to be dismantled.

The goal of the law is that EVERY student in EVERY school will be proficient or advanced in EVERY academic area by 2014. That's EVERY student, regardless of G&T or Special ed programs. So as the target percentages approach 100%, more and more schools (even the good ones) will be on the "failing" list.

OK...I've read this twice, where does the article state that they did not have a special ed teacher ? Placing students in regular classroom settings is known as mainstreaming, the article states that help is given to them when needed.

It just goes to show when you get government involved in education you don't get what you pay for.

I was under the impression, the districts have had teachers to care for the challenged children. Can anyone set us straight here?

All the money we pay for property taxes and they don't have a special ed teacher! WOW. They pay TOO MUCH out to the teachers they have and probably can't afford the special ed one.

I'm a bit confused with the way this is written. So are the "missed benchmarks" the result of disabled children, only? "Disabled students" covers such a wide array of conditions. And, if these kids are supposed to "keep up" with their counterparts, it sounds unattainable to me. How is a special education teacher supposed to teach these kids with such diversity in the class room? This story just makes no sense to me.

Don't even want to think about what Janesville scores will look like next year with all the staff cuts and the forcing of teachers into positions they don't want. :(

"students with disabilities" That can mean many things. What kind of disabilities? They clump these students all together? Appears to be another poorly thought out testing brainstorm. C'mon Gazette....what's the story?