Milwaukee still the worst while Elkhorn shows how to keep kids in school |
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Years after the pandemic, chronic student absenteeism rates remain distressingly high across much of Wisconsin in both large urban districts like Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and Beloit and smaller places like Bayfield, Washburn, Crandon and Butternut, according to new figures for the school year 2022-23 released by the Department of Public Instruction.
Districts like Elkhorn that kept students in class during the pandemic, meanwhile, are proving they made the right call — and continuing to help kids flourish by making sure they show up. The chronic absenteeism rate during the 2022-23 school year for Wisconsin as a whole was 20%. |
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So when will places like Madison and Milwaukee apologize? |
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The lasting damage to children from shutting down schools for month after uselessly virtual month during the pandemic is now so obvious that even the New York Times admits it.
That daily diary of gentry liberalism earlier this month led its readers out of the bunker with a few thousand words summing up reality, including the latest from oracles at Stanford and Harvard: “Extended school closures did not significantly stop the spread of Covid, while the academic harms for children have been large and long-lasting.”
To which any reasonable person would add: Let’s not do that again. |
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Donovan critical of test scores, absenteeism, underutilized buildings, unspent funds and tax hike |
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State Rep. Bob Donovan is seeking a state audit of the Milwaukee Public Schools and says seniors are already “getting killed” with property taxes that will increase even more if voters approve an MPS-backed April 2 referendum. |
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The status quo is on the ballot come April 2. Milwaukee simply cannot afford more mismanagement from MPS. |
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| Weekly survey: Should public school districts apologize for the educational damage done through unnecessary lockdowns? |
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“Wisconsin is the Badger State because of the early 19th century miners who burrowed into hillsides at night to sleep after a long day of work. That industriousness and the belief that hard work leads to prosperity and a better life have long been Wisconsin hallmarks.” — Mike Nichols |
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