Senate Republicans say their version of a school accountability bill will create multiple boards to oversee Wisconsin’s public, charter and voucher schools.
One of the boards in the Department of Public Instruction would oversee struggling public schools. The other in the Department of Administration, which is controlled by Gov. Scott Walker, would oversee struggling charter and voucher schools.
Assembly Republicans favored a single board to cover all schools, but Sen. Paul Farrow, R-Pewaukee, said that approach won’t work.
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“We have three different sectors: We have the charter programs, we have the voucher programs and we have the public school programs,” said Farrow. “And as much as everyone wants to say it’s an apples to apples holding things equally accountable, it can’t be done. There are three separate pieces.”
The Senate bill would not punish schools that perform poorly. The Assembly’s version would turn persistently struggling public schools into charter schools.
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