Why Local Leadership in K-12 Education Matters February 2025 The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) recently released “The Nation's Report Card”, which measures student performance in math and reading. The key findings according to NAEP in the Fewer than a third of students nationwide are working at the NAEP Proficient level in reading at both grades. Scoring at the NAEP Proficient level means consistently understanding written text and interpreting its meaning. 42% of eighth-graders report high confidence in mathematics, not significantly different from 2022, a decline from 49% in 2019 ...

Everyone is talking about all the chaos in Washington D.C. I want to encourage us all to refocus. In all likelihood, the end results of what happens in Washington will not impact residents of Rock County nearly as much as what happens in our local municipal and school board elections. The candidates you choose on April 1st will have a direct impact on the direction of your community or your schools. They will determine the priorities they think should be funded. They have the ultimate ability to raise or lower your property taxes. (NOTE: Rock County’s property taxes are higher than 96% of all counties in the US! This is relevant to personal income, or people’s ability to pay - Source.) ...

Each time school districts go to the taxpayers with a referendum request, an inevitable question is, “What happens if the referendum fails?” The answer to that question is largely dependent on the school board which ultimately approves the budget. School district officials constantly claim a disaster will occur if more taxpayer dollars do not come into the district. The scare tactic is effective and even referendums failing on the first request often get approved on the second try. Evidence to the contrary of the ‘gloom and doom’ forecast by administrators is not readily available since most referendums pass. However, we, and indeed the state, can look for at least one case study right here in Rock County....

WHY DOES THE DPI SCORING MATTER? Like any successful business or individual, there needs to be some method to measure & compare performance and progress over time. The WI Department of Public Instruction (DPI) provides the only method for parents and citizens to track the performance and progress of their school district over time, as well as compare to other school districts. The DPI Scorecard is not a perfect tool to accomplish this objective, but it is the best available method today. Since parents and taxpayers deserve to have this accountability, and since DPI believes this program is not effective to measure and compare performance and progress, then it is incumbent on DPI to develop and provide a better assessment program and to make it consistent from one year to the next....

Happy New Year! How were your holidays? Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? Of course you didn’t. At some point, as we grew into responsible adults, most of us learned that there’s never enough money to get everything you want. One has to learn how to prioritize wants and needs and you stay within your budget. If you and I agree on that point, how is it we have an education system in Wisconsin that still believes “Santa taxpayer” can bring districts everything they want? ...