Friday, June 10, 2011

"Last-Minute" an Apt Description of Wisconsin's 2011-13 Budget


Chalkboard: Green Bay superintendent blasts 11th hour deal on vouchers. (Capital Times, 6/10/2011)

Excerpt:  According to Maass, there has been no significant pressure from the community to offer a voucher program in his school district. He cites Green Bay's rising test scores, rising graduation rates and school reform efforts that include strong public/private collaborations and innovative new programs as evidence that the public schools are working hard, and well, to meet the needs of students and their families.

"In three years as superintendent I have not had a single conversation with anyone, including principals at the private and parochial schools, who has indicated there is any organized interest in developing a voucher program for our district," Maas says.

Maass, who is leaving Green Bay to take a position in Massachusetts at the end of the month, says he was surprised when he heard Gov. Scott Walker say in a May 9 speech in Washington, D.C. that vouchers should be extended to parents in Green Bay. In his speech, Walker also talked about expanding the long-established voucher program in Milwaukee that was developed to give low-income families educational options. Walker also suggested that the voucher program should be expanded to Racine and Beloi
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