Who gets on the ‘bad’ school list? And what should come of it?
Who you calling bad?
It’s such an important and hot question now, as Republicans in the state Assembly make ambitious and fast-paced moves to launch a new accountability system for schools in Wisconsin.
They introduced a sweeping proposal Wednesday, and there is a public hearing on it this coming Wednesday, amid signs of divisions within the conservative ranks.
But let me start with my own bad problem.
Last week in this space, I said the accountability issue was about to heat up, and I said the term accountability was a fancy way of asking, “What are we going to do about bad schools statewide?”
I go to great lengths to avoid using a word like “bad” as a general label for schools where low percentages of students are rated as proficient or better in reading and math.
I’ll describe them as high-needs schools, low-performing schools, schools with low levels of academic success, high-poverty schools and a few other labels.
I stay away from “failing schools,” which is one of the labels the draft of the new proposal uses. At least I don’t call them “Schools Identified for Improvement,” which is what Wisconsin officials called them for several years.
But this time, being a bit too flippant and wanting to talk plain talk, I said, “bad.”
