Wisconsin DPI trying to dictate to private schools

Brother Bob Smith:

The issue of school choice has been at the forefront of political debate, media attention and community discussion for a number of reasons in recent years, and that's good. This successful program has provided hundreds of lower-income southeastern Wisconsin families with the opportunity to choose a school that best fits their educational needs, and the more attention, review and consideration it receives, the better.

Now comes debate as to whether special education students have similar choice options and discussion about whether the program should grow, how students qualify and providing equal per-pupil reimbursements to public and private choice schools. But most troubling to me and Messmer Catholic Schools, however, is a topic that hasn't been openly discussed but alluded to by actions of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

As you may know, DPI recently filed a waiver request with the U.S. Department of Education seeking to be excused from the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Instead, DPI proposed its own accountability standards and intervention procedures for under-performing Wisconsin schools.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 1, 2012 2:26 AM
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