On Official fears election problems

Posted on January 17 at 9:52 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

It's interesting to me how a software compatibility issue has been turned into a partisan squabble. This is what the article tells me. As usual in most large companies, which a state government can be considered, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. Somebody got a deal on this software and probably got a promotion because of it, without even checking if it would be compatible with existing systems. Just plain old Peter Principle in action. The person who chose the software has risen to their level of incompetence.

On Vote turnout could hit 30 percent Tuesday

Posted on April 5 at 4:54 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

It's a sad day when 30% voter turnout is considered "high" for any election. What is wrong with you people? If only 30% of you are voting on a GOOD turnout, a whole lot of you who complain have no blinking right to open your yaps. No vote, no complaints allowed. It's my motto.

On Gov. Walker proposes deep cuts for schools

Posted on March 3 at 1:27 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

This link below will show you that the Wisconsin national performance on ACT was 17/50 in 2010. We are second AMONG STATES IN WHICH 50% OR MORE OF THE STUDENTS TAKE THE ACT.

http://www.act.org/news/data/10/states.h...

This link is a table in which SAT performance is ranked by pure score and percent participation is included. As participation increases, scores decrease. The ACT data are presented as well, but not ranked. You'll have to do that on your own. These data are from 2006.

http://www.gsci.org/documents/2006%20SAT...

I have tried to mention the fact that these data must be viewed in context on numerous threads, but nobody seems to care about the facts. I am empathetic to the cause of sitting down to the table and discussion this like adults, which neither party seems capable of doing at this time. When you spew data that you read with no context, you weaken your cause. Please vet your sources and do research prior to perpetuating as God's Honest Truth.

The original site that has been used to tout WI as #2 has a disclaimer on it now because of the misuse of this data.

On Wis. gov holds his ground as protests continue

Posted on February 22 at 11:38 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

I attended a school board meeting just last night in which the district administrator stated that the projected loss in per student reimbursement from the state has gone from $100 per student or less a month ago to possibly $500 per student in the current bill. For our little district, that will increase the projected 11-12 deficit by about $900,000 dollars if everything remains the same in the budget. Retirement concessions in the new bill will only address about $540,000 to $720,000 of the additional deficit. The budget as of last January already had the district spending over $100,000 more than it expected to see in revenue. I know from experience that school boards currently have to make decisions between such things like replacing 20-year-old outdated science texts and funding federally mandated programs. What do you think the board chooses to fund? What do you think really suffers in the long run? Considering that the district has hacked out all the fat in the budget gradually since the nineties and has been hit particularly hard in the last 3 years, where in the world is it expected that they will find the extra quarter of a million dollars or more? That kind of budget adjustment can only come from reduced staffing.

Any statement from the Governors Office that this will prevent lay-offs can originate from one of two scenarios, as I see it. Either Gov. Walker is intentionally lying or he cannot foresee the consequences of this action (is stupid). Either way, it troubles me that such a man was elected to lead our state in a time of such trouble. From the day of his election, he has been fomenting dissension amongst the little people to create a smokescreen to hide his true agenda. His adversarial approach is low class and simply offends me.

On Wis. gov holds his ground as protests continue

Posted on February 22 at 11:10 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

In a related thread (Walker seizes chance to take on unions), at least two people have posted that this action could place us in the company of 10% of the states in the union who have similar public sector employment policies and laws. Those states not coincidentally post ACT composite scores in the bottom 12% nationally, ranging in rank from 44-50. These posters go on to compare labor supported Wisconsin's performance of #2 as being starkly different. These are important facts to consider, but propagate a false rumor generally considered true amongst Wisconsinites.

I am a freelance reporter for a small hometown newspaper covering the school board beat. Prior to that I served a three year term on the school board. The "Wisconsin is #2 on the ACT" is an oft repeated rumor because people do not delve into the rest of the story. Wisconsin is #2 on ACT performance AMONGST STATES IN WHICH MORE THAN 50% OF PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE THE TEST. Go to the ACT website to see how Wisconsin fares nationally, when all states are considered. As both posters on the other thread are quoting states ranking 44-50 out of 50, I conclude that they didn't know about the qualification. This is completely understandable, because local Wisconsin journalists often fail to include this caveat in reporting ACT performance. For the last year for which data are available, Wisconsin performed 17th out of 50 in the nation on the ACT composite score. Midwestern and interior colleges and universities prefer using ACT for entrance exams, therefore enriching their numbers. Coastal areas prefer SAT results, thereby depleting their numbers. The highest performing public schools are located on the East Coast. Additional information that is pertinent to this discussion is that numerous states (6-7 with more added each year) have begun using the ACT as a requirement for graduation to fulfill No Child Left Behind Act requirements. Therefore 100% of the public school students in those states take the ACT. As one may expect, early scores for those states are abysmal because students with no college prep classes have to take the test. But these states are included in the 35 states with greater than 50% ACT participation. Thus the need for the qualifying language.

This does not reduce the bleak reality that if WI joins the other five states with this public sector policy, we will soon be headed to the bottom of the ACT heap as well instead of at the top third of the nation.

On Walker seizes chance to take on unions

Posted on February 22 at 10:52 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

To Bealab (Feb 20 @ 1:48pm) and fattigman (Feb 20 @ 3:10 pm): These are important facts to consider. I am a freelance reporter for a small hometown newspaper covering the school board beat. Prior to that I served a three year term on the school board. The "Wisconsin is #2 on the ACT" is an oft repeated rumor because people do not delve into the rest of the story. Wisconsin in #2 on ACT performance AMONGST STATES IN WHICH MORE THAN 50% OF PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE THE TEST. Go to the ACT website to see how Wisconsin fares nationally, when all states are considered. As you both are quoting states ranking 44-50 out of 50, I conclude that you didn't know about the qualification. This is completely understandable, because local Wisconsin journalists often fail to include this caveat in reporting ACT performance. For the last year for which data are available, Wisconsin performed 17th out of 50 in the nation on the ACT composite score. Midwestern and interior colleges and universities prefer using ACT for entrance exams while coastal areas prefer SAT results. Thus the need for the qualifying language.

This does not reduce the bleak reality that if WI joins the other five states with this public sector policy, we will soon be headed to the bottom of the heap as well instead of at the top third of the nation.

On Wis. gov holds his ground as protests continue

Posted on February 21 at 1:13 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

This whole experience has been interesting to view as a parent. Our older daughter is strongly invested in her school record and would never do anything to jeapordize it. Her participation in the Evansville Sit In only took place when she knew the rest of her class would be absent from biology class. Our middle child is in middle school and has the strong passions of that age coursing through her and got furious with me when I said I support doing something about this deficit but not the method in which the gov is going about it. That our governor was (gulp) right that we are in a bad spot. She knows how much it pains me to say that, but still has the black and white outlook of youth fueling her rebellion, as it should be. Our baby is eleven and he and I had a long discussion about what to do to fix the budget. He came up with plan after plan to fix the problem and I guided him as to the kind of research he needed to do to see how he could accomplish that, likening the budget to a lemonade stand to put it in familiar terms for him. He has a knack for math and was sure his was the right solution. They all think the governor is a bonehead, by the way, but each go about it in their own way. They are the product of a left leaning independant and a dyed in the wool Republican, so they each have come to their own political conclusions, also as it should be. A very teachable moment and while I wish it weren't so immediately pertinent to us in Wisconsin, I appreciate this opportunity to remind myself of what great independantly thinking individuals my children have become.

My favorite part of the story is Ian's Pizza on State Street getting all their business from pizzas donated from around the world to the protestors. Where else but in Madison WI would that be happening? Cool Beans.

On Wis. gov holds his ground as protests continue

Posted on February 21 at 10:10 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Since when are protesters who leave the area "cleaner than when they got there" nearly violent? The police glowingly emphasized the civil part of this disobedience in the Sunday Wisconsin State Journal. It's clear that plenty of propaganda exists for both sides at this point. It's also clear that the message the gov intended to send was lost in his heavyhanded method. If it is true that WEAC and all the teachers' unions have agreed to the monetary concessions in the bill, and Walker refuses to budge, not only was his original message untrue, but his true goal is now clear.

It is very difficult to discern truth about anything regarding this very complex issue. I long for the days of unbiased news reports when the politics of the owners didn't overshadow "just the facts ma'am." What seems to be true is that the tax breaks Walker has implemented for business won't take place until the next biennium, beginning July 1, 2011. They are not part of the current projected 2011 fiscal deficit. But they do contribute to the 3.2 billion dollar deficit in the next biennium.

The current deficit was "created" from a perceived surplus because Wisconsin owes a lot of money, some from raids on other funds and some to Minnesota for the reciprocity agreement we have with them. There never was a true surplus because Wisconsin is indebted to others and that money is spoken for.

All public employees will feel pain now. Except the police and firefighters unions, who ratified their new contracts last week with the very rights and privileges the gov. seeks to deny the rest of the public union employees. It is no doubt a source of extreme embarassment to these folks to be a croney-pawn in the governor's tactics.

Lost in the entire debate is the tiny kernal of truth Scotty has tried to convey with his boneheaded maneuvers. Wisconsin needs to balance the budget. Surely there are enough fine minds in this great state to solve this problem in a productive manner.

On Police capture fugitive lizard

Posted on October 8 at 5:46 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

I'm surprised to be so relieved to hear that this poor tropical creature has been found and placed in an environment in which he or she can thrive. I'm not a lizard enthusiast, but it really aggravated me that some moron would release a creature to certain death, one that has previously depended on the kindness of people to survive. Yeah Peter Pan! May your days be warm and full of tasty insects.

On Janesville teachers say 'yes' to the contract

Posted on September 17 at 11:26 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Here Here, Stubby (9-17 at 5:34 a.m.).

"I would say that finding ways to engage, motivate and teach 30 kids from 30 families who utilize 4 or 5 different learning styles, and simultaneously educating 4 or 5 with special needs while maintaining classroom discipline and a positive learning environment and keep up with all those parent contacts.....
(whew - tired just typing that and I didn't even mention the counseling requirements) makes surgery or shuttle flight engineering look pretty simple."

This is what a really great, effective teacher does every day. Unfortunately, they are as rare as the really bad teachers. Most teachers fall on the big spectrum in between. The more challenges that meet the teachers in the classroom, the fewer teachers who will be able to meet the "really great" standard and more will become the "really bad" teachers. Teachers are now expected to provide differentiated instruction to a classroom of highly diverse students while maintaining discipline, providing guidance and counseling emotionally fragile students and, OH YEAH, teaching them something along the way. Public Schools have tried to be everything to everybody and have become nothing for anybody. The Janesville School Board knows this is the best compromise contract. Unfortunately, some of the problem has come about because of bad business management in the JCSD. The finance committee should have been able to better guestimate what salary increases would be expected so there wasn't such a surprise to the budget process so late in the game. I hope they used a very conservative estimate of state aide for this year or they will have the double whammy experienced by the Madison School District last year.