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11/6/2009
Montgomery: Lost opportunity to commit to great teachers
On Wednesday, President Obama came to Madison to speak before a group of students, their parents and their teachers at James C. Wright Middle School about strengthening our nation’s education system. By all accounts, his speech was well received and for good reason. Improving the quality of education provided to students in our local schools is a unifying issue. The President succinctly explained why that is so by saying:
“American prosperity has long rested on how well we educate our children. But this has never been more true than it is today. In the 21st century, when countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, there is nothing that will determine the quality of our future as a nation and the lives our children will lead more than the kind of education that we provide them. Nothing is more important.”
The challenge, of course, is to reach consensus on the steps necessary to achieve this worthy goal. The cornerstone of President Obama’s education reform plan is a new Race to the Top competitive grant program whereby states compete for a share of $4.35 billion in federal funding based on the following criteria: a) academic standards and testing; b) teacher training; c) student performance reporting; and d) overall improvement across the spectrum of schools from the high-achievers to the under-performers. Those states willing to make a stronger commitment in each of these areas will receive a greater share of the federal funds to offset the costs of implementing these important educational reform measures. Recognizing the importance of nationwide participation, the Race to the Top program has only a few prerequisites.
Unfortunately, Wisconsin’s existing accountability “firewall” law prohibits the state from competing for the Race to the Top grants. In fact, Wisconsin is one of only three states which has a law on the books that prohibits school boards from using student achievement to evaluate teacher performance. That’s why President Obama chose to come to Wisconsin. He wanted to make a personal pitch to Wisconsin lawmakers to get rid of its accountability “firewall” law which he called “not a good message in terms of accountability.”
On that point, President Obama is right. Earlier this fall, I joined with a group of my Assembly colleagues to author legislation eliminating the existing firewall so as to allow, but not require, school boards to evaluate their local teacher’s performance based in part on student achievement. This common sense accountability measure gets at another point made by President Obama in his speech that “we’ve got to do a better job of moving bad teachers out of the classroom.”
With President Obama, Governor Doyle and dozens of legislators all in support of this modest change, one would think that putting this bill into law would be easy. That’s not the case. Standing in the way is the Madison-based Teachers Union. Their leadership and their lobbyists are out in force trying to stop or at least weaken the proposal. They have already convinced the Senate Democrat majority to make teacher evaluation contingent on the labor contracts between local school districts and their teachers and prohibit school boards from using student performance to dismiss or discipline teachers. Practically speaking, these changes replace a firewall with a confusing maze that each local school district will have to navigate in effort to use student achievement as a factor in evaluating teacher performance.
Today, the Assembly Democrat majority sided with their Democrat colleagues in the State Senate and the largest, and most powerful, Madison-based special interest group. An opportunity to compete for $4.3 billion in federal funding to improve our schools may have been lost. It’s up to federal government to decide if the action taken by the Democrat-led Legislature was a sincere effort of accountability or simply a cynical attempt to grab the cash. More important than any amount of money, though, was the lost opportunity – an opportunity to show our commitment to great schools with great teachers who provide our school children with the world-class education they deserve from a state that places great value in public education.
Phil Montgomery is a Republican and represents the residents of the 4th Assembly District.
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• Solberg: Healing After an Abortion
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• Blame it on the outmoded computers
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• 8th Congressional Candidate Forum, Jan. 25
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• Join the blaze orange army and say ‘Enough is Enough’
• The future of government-run health care
• Tax on banks is a really bad idea
• Roth, Savard on the stump, grassroots style
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• Rahmlow: Savard, Bies frontrunners for State Senate
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• Why am I not surprised?
• Talk health reform with Feingold (Th), Petri (today)
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• Burri: Yup, Dems really are going to bypass a conference
• The $2.7 billion Wisconsin deficit no one told you about
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• Rahmlow: Why is Van Hollen dodging the Nebraska deal?
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| 2009 |
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• The Lawton-Bader files
• Yup, it’s the TAX LEVY, not the tax RATE
• Ellis: costly automobile insurance laws must be rolled back
• If not Barrett, who?
• The subsidy game
• Burri: Bailouts, Banks, Health Care, and the Mob
• Attend Appleton Schools budget meeting tonight
• A public option WON’T increase costs? That’s delusional!
• Appleton Schools budget meeting Monday
• Wisconsin should be screaming for accountability
• Burri: If anything, we need more obstructionism around here
• WI on the leading edge - in the wrong direction
• Rep. Montgomery: Utility Customers Join State’s Crime-Fighting Efforts
• Public Conservation and Recreation Lands Total 16.5% of State
• In the crow's nest of the Titanic, shouting 'Iceberg!'
• Is Rep. Nelson a political hack?
• Health care: The road ahead will be brutal
• Kagen's pandering again
• Birthers - good stuff for you
• How much do we bend over backward for seniors?
• The trouble with health care is paying for it
• Two-parent families: The Gold Standard
• Burri: Kids... the joys and blessings
• Very, very worried about health care
• Rep. Huebsch: Wisconsin is proof government health care isn’t the answer
• School district contracts push up tax levy
• What? Obama, the Peace Prize?
• TODAY - hearing on Campaign Finance Reform
• Appleton School District tax levy up way too much
• CBO report is out - and the bill isn't even written yet?
• So, how much do YOU budget for health care?
• Burri: Copenhagen trip was amateurish
• “Sotomayor, you have blood on your hands...”
• Cap and Trade. Always follow the money
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• Future Wisconsin Conference for Conservatives, October 10, Wauwatosa
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• Important votes Tuesday, including Appleton Common Council
• Democrats are becoming supply siders??
• Further debunking Hillary myths
• WEAC has created an unsustainable monopoly
• From Mark Gundrum: One of the greatest honors an American can experience
• 'Operation Chaos' working?
• Joe Martin the best candidate in Appleton's 8th
• State programs to cut? - Volume II
• Oh the naivete of youth
• Not just disingenuous - flat wrong
• Steve - you will be missed
• Make cuts only AFTER you're elected....
• Getting serious: What programs can we cut?
• Rep. Steve Kagen joining me on Jerry Bader Show today
• Rep. Van Roy: Dental Care Pilot Program
• Has Dave Obey turned the corner on earmarks?
• Speaker Huebsch: Governor turns down Federal Aid?
• Mark Rahmlow: "We're Broke."
• As taxpayers, how do we know if it's a Chevy or a Lexus?
• This is trash talk - about a veteran
• Frank Lasee: Take time to get the Compact right
• 'The Gableman Ad' - is it racist?
• Roth thankful, Kagen shaking money tree
• Gov. Doyle's office not enamored with Freedom of Information
• Governor Doyle will never do it
• Leadership on smoking ban? Not Hanna
• Rep. Van Roy speaks out about smear ads
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• Losing the Hastert seat is NOT a trend and NOT curtians for the GOP
• First suggestion for 'slashing' programs
• Big money-saver for municipalities
• More one time fixes. Nuts.
• Any chances???
• I'm doing the Jerry Bader Show, today, the 11th
• Representative Frank Lasee: Final Waltz of the Season
• Guest Blog: It's not the county's business to be in the nursing home business
• Yup, Hillary won Texas and Ohio
• Gableman/Butler race featured - and it isn't pretty
• Lies from Planned Parenthood and NARAL
• He who sacrifices liberty.....
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• The Troha sentencing, Doyle and that $200K
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• Guest Blog: Governor Doyle, cancel your Ireland trip
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• Lots of ideas. No money.
• The Cigarette Tax - "Poor Policy Instrument?"
• School budget Lite?
• Frankenstein - not in the library, but in the legislature
• A librarian, a legislator, a president
• $1.25/pack - NO, NO, NO, and NO
• Kagen and Reagan in the same breath?
• Menasha: behind the 8-ball, but not biting the dust
• Any way you slice it, Wisconsin government wants (further) in on health care
• The World is Flat...what about health care?
• The PAC - too precious to fail. Day 3
• News follow-ups: Appleton West, Kagen at the White House
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail - Day 2
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail
• New Transit Tax coming your way
• Rep. Petri has his finger in the dike - I guess
• AASD Retirement Costs Burdensome
• Health care, health care, health care, health care
• Water rate increase was no slam dunk
• Education for all is just a bad dream
• New Year's resolutions from a parade snob
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