The approach Republican lawmakers are taking on a school accountability bill is fundamentally different from what Democrats have advocated for years.
When it comes to monitoring private and religious schools that accept taxpayer funding, Democrats have looked at inputs and Republicans at outputs. By "inputs," Democrats mean regulating schools up front by defining how they have to operate before they can take taxpayer funding.
In a telling exchange at a public hearing last week, Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) told Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) that the bill should include requiring background checks for teachers, regular meetings of governing bodies, teacher licensure requirements, and access to public records that's similar to what you'd find in public schools: “There's so much more that we could do immediately to try to ensure that all of our schools are up to standards.”
Olsen conceded that he and Lehman had a different definition of accountability: “Just because you have an input does not mean that your students are going to be successful. And so what I believe in this day and age that we need to hold schools accountable for the outcomes of how well students do.”
Olsen's bill would do that by grading schools in reading, math, college readiness and other measures. Public, charter and private schools that perform poorly could be forced to close if they don't improve, but it would take at least six years. While Democrats think the plan needs to do more, some of Olsen's Republican colleagues worry it gives the state too much power. The voucher and religious school lobbies have also lined up against it.
