“We actually will be needing to spend money whether we do the referendum or don’t do it. With this we can bring every one of our buildings up to standard for the next 50 years and that’s very worthwhile. It allows our district to continue operations and reduces our main budget significantly,” he said. “We have a limited window of opportunity to keep taxes the same and not have them go up. We are talking about whether to do it, but we haven’t made any decisions.”

As for the pool, Acomb said improvements are necessary or there won’t be one at the high school.

“If you are going to have a balanced program and present your high school as an attractive place to go, this a component of it,” he said.

He said the Beloit School District competes with other districts because of open enrollment as well as virtual schools, home schools and parochial schools.

“In order to economically viable we’ve got to be a very attractive alternative and I think the pool is part of that,” he said.

For the rest of the article, go to Beloit School District weighs referendum run

The program creates a statewide database on student grades and courses taken to better evaluate student progress and performance.

Also, Walker and Evers are proposing that every school that accepts public funding — charter schools, virtual schools and voucher schools — would be subject to the same rules and testing methods, which isn’t the case today.

This alone is one reason to back this effort because it would put all schools on an equal accounting basis for the first time.

For the rest of the article, go to Editorial: There’s a lot to like in proposal for school assessment

The new accountability program would include every school that accepts publicly funded students, which means that private schools taking part in the state-funded voucher program would, for the first time, be subject to the same rules as public schools for making a wealth of data available to the public. Charter schools and virtual schools would also participate.

The drive to create a new reporting system is part of a broader array of initiatives on which Walker and Evers are cooperating and finding agreement, including development of a new system of standardized tests, a data bank with information on every student in the state, and potentially far-reaching changes in how teachers are evaluated, paid, and, in some cases, fired.

For the rest of the article, go to Walker, education leaders seek new school evaluation system

About 12 years ago, students began engaging in a different type of education: virtual schooling. They were completing courses online, in a virtual, or online, community. A few years ago, more and more virtual schools

started popping up around the U.S., and today, a significant number of school districts are working to develop chartered virtual schools – including Barron.

This rapid growth can be linked to several factors, such as increased speed and accessibility of wireless networks and internet services, increased integration of technology into daily life, changes in and renewed examination of the traditional educational model, and more.

A new era

In Barron, distance courses and some online courses have been available to high school students for a number of years. Fall 2011 marks a new era, however, with the establishment of the charter school Advanced Learning Academy of Wisconsin (ALAW). ALAW offers a full smorgasbord of online options to students from grades K-12, including everything from core materials to Gifted & Talented courses, special-interest courses, foreign languages, and more. It is a public school chartered through the Barron Area School District and, therefore, does not charge tuition.

For the rest of the article, go to Charter virtual school to make debut here this fall

“We welcome that competition within our own organization. And we think that competition helps drive and improve school performance within all the different sectors–the public schools, the charter schools, the voucher schools, and the virtual schools.”

But voucher critics warn this plan would only further cut funding for Milwaukee’s public schools even though they teach more kids with special needs or discipline problems. Teacher Bob Peterson says that’s neither right nor fair since they have to be more transparent and accountable than their voucher school counterparts.

“We need to support our long tradition of public schools in Wisconsin,” says Peterson. “We need to dismantle this pending dual school system and ensure that all schools that receive public funds have accountability, transparency and serve all children.”

For the rest of the article, go to Legislative committee considers school choice expansion plan

BRODHEAD — Three local state legislators, representing both sides of the political aisle, agreed Wisconsin needs to change the way it funds schools Wednesday during a legislative forum hosted by the Brodhead School board.

But they didn’t all agree on those specific changes.

Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, and Representatives Janice Ringhand, D-Evansville, and Evan Wynn, R-Whitewater, offered their ideas on how schools could be better funded.

“Schools are not fair, because of the way we pay for them,” Erpenbach said, adding that each local school system should be offering students the same opportunity to access basic academics and extra curricular activities.

Erpenbach said he was against removing enrollment caps from virtual schools and the expansion of school vouchers.

“What happens is (schools) can cherry pick kids,” which takes away from the public school system, he said.

Wynn highlighted the varying needs of schools and students across Wisconsin and the benefit vouchers and charter schools contribute to helping meet those diverse needs.

For the rest of the article, go to School funding needs to change, leaders say