Yesterday, this writer told you how Illinois has thirty schools where ZERO students are proficient in reading. Some of those schools spend tens of thousands per student and not a single kid can read on grade level.
It's inexcusable.
But Illinois is not alone. Its northern neighbor (and this writer's home state) also has some literacy problems:
The fact the state superintendent of public schools, Jill Underly, either a) doesn't know this or b) is lying is almost the bigger story here.
This is what the Institute for Reforming Government reports:
New national NAEP test scores released on Wednesday show only 31% of young Wisconsin students are proficient in reading, far below the 52% claimed by Superintendent Jill Underly’s lowered standards. Students are not recovering from the pandemic; in most categories, Wisconsin students scored worse in 2024 than they did in 2022 and 2019.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the gold standard of education testing, with the Department of Education releasing key results every 2 years for 4th, 8th, and 12th graders. “Proficient” resembles a “college-ready” standard. “Basic” resembles a “grade-level” standard. Superintendent Tony Evers previously aligned Wisconsin state tests with NAEP, but Superintendent Underly shifted 2024 state tests to a lower standard.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Scores are lower than 2019 and 2022: Just 31% of 4th graders scored Proficient in reading, far below the 52% claimed by the 2024 Forward Exam. This is down from 33% in 2022 and 36% in 2019. 39% scored Below Basic. In mathematics, 42% of 4th graders scored Proficient, not 54% as the Forward Exam claimed.
Black students ranked last in the nation: Wisconsin’s Black students ranked last in 4th grade reading and mathematics, scoring 8% and 5% Proficient, respectively.
Hispanic and White students had mediocre scores: Hispanic 4th graders tied for 32nd and 38th, scoring 20% and 24% Proficient, respectively. White students tied for 21st and 15th, scoring 38% and 51% Proficient, respectively.
Milwaukee’s Black students scored last in the nation among big cities tested: Only 5% of 4th graders scored Proficient in reading, and only 5% did in math. To illustrate this calamity, 90% of Black Milwaukee 4th graders were likely to get this question wrong: “Of 698, 699, 700, 701, 702, and 703, which are odd numbers?” 90% of Black Milwaukee 8th graders were likely to get this question wrong: “What is the slope and what is the y-intercept of y = 2x + 3?”
Milwaukee Black students are last in the nation.
LAST. IN. THE. NATION.
Appalling.
Google says Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) spend $18,000 per student. The state of Wisconsin gives MPS $587.1 million in general aid, about 40% of the district's budget.
And our students are LAST IN THE NATION.
We should be embarrassed.
This is basic stuff.
We're going to share the entire thread.
COVID lockdowns ruined a generation of kids.
We need new standards.
And a complete reform of Wisconsin's public education system.
Wisconsin's current governor, Tony Evers, was once the state school superintendent. This is also on him. And the Democrats who run the City of Milwaukee and MPS.
The bottom has fallen out. And kids are on the losing end of this.
Wisconsin has school choice. Thank goodness.
However, those who live in the Milwaukee and Racine school districts are limited to private schools who are in Milwaukee and Racine.
The public schools, especially MPS, need to be reformed.
School superintendent Jill Underly is up for reelection this year and has two people running against her in February's primary. Perhaps it's time for a change.
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