Negassi Tesfamichael:

Almost half of the schools in the Madison School District need to provide additional support to certain groups of students, according to accountability reports compiled by the state earlier this year.

At schools that were identified in the reports, black students and students with disabilities were most commonly found to have poor outcomes compared to their peers — a trend mirrored by schools across the state. The reports were released publicly for the first time in March as part of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

Related: “The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”

and

Why are Madison’s Students Struggling to Read?

Yet, taxpayers spend far more than most K-12 school districts, between $18-20k per student depending on the documents one reviews.