Bill To Toughen School Performance Reporting Stalls In State Senate

The future of a bill that would give Wisconsin’s new school report cards more teeth remains uncertain, after a vote on the plan was abruptly canceled.

The State Senate education committee was scheduled to vote on the bill Wednesday, but Republican state Sen. Luther Olsen told the Associated Press that as it stands now, his plan does not have enough support to pass. Olsen’s proposal would replace the current system of school report cards with new letter grades. Public schools that receive an “F” for three years in a row would be closed. Charter schools would have their charters revoked. Voucher schools could stay open but could not take new voucher students.

Gov. Scott Walker, who has talked in broad terms about the need for an accountability law, said despite this setback, he would try to broker a deal and get something passed before the legislative session ends.

“As I’ve mentioned many times before,” Walker said, “I think it makes sense that for any school in this state that gets public dollars – whether it’s at a traditional public school, a charter school or a voucher school in the private school setting – that parents, the community, but most importantly families should know how those schools rank and how they measure up compared to other schools out there.”

This plan has been in the works for a couple years now. The voucher school lobby fought the version Olsen unveiled last year, saying it gave the state Department of Public Instruction too much power. The statewide teachers union, WEAC, is unhappy with changes Olsen unveiled over the weekend, saying they create a punitive system for public schools while giving taxpayer-funded vouchers schools more favorable treatment.