Scott Girard:

In 2021-22, there were 1,714 out-of-school suspensions (OSS) given to 766 students in grades 6-8. That was up from the 986 given to 529 students in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 school year, and most significantly from the 1,459 given to 714 students in the last fully in-person school year, 2018-19.

OSS dropped at both the high school and elementary school level, the latter aided by an October 2021 change to the BEP that forbade suspensions as a punishment for students in grades 4K-5.

Among high schools, there were just 12 more OSS in 2021-22 than 2019-20, despite an extra three months of in-person instruction. The 909 suspensions last year was well below the 1,303 given out in the 2018-19 school year.

In-school suspensions (ISS), meanwhile, were down at all levels of schools with fewer students involved. The largest drop from 2018-19 came at the high school level, which went from 1,286 ISS then to 320 last year.

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”

My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results

2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results 

Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.

“An emphasis on adult employment”

Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]

WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators

Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results

Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.

No When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?