Schoolhouse Rap

Math teacher Jake Scott from Silver Spring, Maryland, has come up with some well-produced rap videos to help his students learn about quadratic equations and trigonometry. I suspect these kids are too young to remember Multiplication Rock.
h/t NPR.

I never thought I'd see the day

...when the Madison Urban League would support separate-but-equal schools.

I believe that Kaleem Caire is sincere in his desire to help close the achievement gap, and in his belief that Madison Prep is a worthy experiment.  However, in his zeal, I believe he has made a deal with the devil.  I think he sincerely believes that he is using them to advance his agenda, rather than being used to advance their agenda.  I believe his confidence is misplaced, however.

Milwaukee's school choice voucher pilot program was another such bold experiment that was supposed to help low-income students get into better schools.  Studies have shown that, on average, the kids who used vouchers to attend private schools did no better than the kids who stayed in public schools.  Despite the lack of demonstrable results, Republican politicians are now pushing to expand the voucher program, both geographically and across income levels.

The conservative school-privatization proponents who support school vouchers and the Madison Prep proposal do not care about closing the achievement gap.  Creating a special charter school to focus on at-risk youth is only their opening gambit. The end game is taxpayer-subsidized white flight and a segregated education system where private schools, enriched by public money, are allowed to pick and choose their students, leaving our most vulnerable children behind in under-resourced public school ghettos.

Re-segregating our schools in order to address the achievement gap is, in my opinion, like introducing an invasive species in order to control an agricultural pest.  It may be wildly successful, or it may cause even bigger problems down the road.

Bye-Bye, Biddy

UW Chancellor Biddy Martin, who first invited controversy (and pushback from faculty) with her plan to change the governance of UW-Madison's grad school, and then went all in on the "Badger Partnership" scheme to spin off the Madison campus, has decided to take her ball and go to Amherst College.

Don't let the front doors of Bascom Hall hit you in the ass on your way out, Biddy.

The Problem with Mark Neumann's Education Plan

Remember choosing teams in gym class?  Two students were chosen as team captains, and each took turns selecting teammates.  As one of the slow, chubby kids, I was always among the last few chosen (unless I was team captain).  However, I had an even chance of ending up on the winning team. 

Imagine a system in which one team captain was allowed to select his or her entire team (and therefore, the other team, by default).  How evenly matched would the teams be?  Would the outcome even be in doubt?

Gubenatorial candidate Mark Neumann is an advocate of school choice. Lately, he has been touting the idea of expanding Milwaukee's private school choice program.  Under his plan, income and enrollment caps would be lifted, allowing all of Wisconsin's children to have access to voucher money.  Private schools that accept public funds would have to be held accountable for the same measures of academic achievement as public schools.  However, the private schools would not be required to accept all of the children who apply for admission.  Essentially, the private schools could pick and choose their students, leaving the at-risk population to the public schools.

Yes, there are a lot of low-income minority students currently getting a high-quality education in Milwaukee private schools, thanks to the school choice vouchers.  However, those are the students whose parents are motivated enough to jump through the hoops to get their children a better education, so they are not the most at-risk.  Also, it is only low-income children who currently qualify for vouchers.  How many of those cash-strapped private schools will still be eager to accept inner-city minority kids once the school choice program is expanded to everyone? Can you say taxpayer-funded white flight?  I knew you could.


Neumann also wants to do away with state teacher certification, allowing local school boards to establish their own standards.  That means the creationists on the West Bend School Board can start hiring graduates of any unaccredited bible seminary that satisfies their world view.

Neumann promises: "Within my first 60 days in office as governor  I will form a Blue Ribbon Panel that will be tasked with the job of transforming public education in Wisconsin with the goal of making Wisconsin children the Best Educated Children in the World.   I will personally chair the panel."

First of all, I never realized that Mark Neumann was such a fan of PBR.  I guess he's establishing his blue collar cred.  Secondly, I never realized that PBR was starting to sponsor educational events, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, now that they've cornered the market on bicycle messenger rallies in the Pacific Northwest.