Milwaukee Public Schools – Page 15 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

And What Should We Do About Third-Graders’ Reading Proficiency?

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:January 25, 2011
Post category:Milwaukee Public Schools

Gov. Scott Walker told school leaders from Wisconsin in a speech last week that he wants all children to read at grade level when they finish third grade. Conquering the basics of reading by that point is widely held by educators to be a key to long-term success for students. Walker used the phrases used by some educators, saying that, through third grade, children learn to read, but from fourth grade on, they read to learn. So a kid who isn’t reading well in later grades will be a kid who isn’t learning well. “I just think that’s imperative,” Walker said, to make proficient reading a benchmark for every child before fourth grade starts.

I agree with that. You agree with that. We all agree with that. So what do we do about it?

Walker didn’t spell out what kind of action he would put behind the idea.

Does he favor ending the practice called social promotion?

Doyle Puts Health Care and Education at the Top of His Accomplishments

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:December 1, 2010
Post category:Health Care Milwaukee Public Schools Speakers at Marquette

Appearing relaxed and comfortable as the end of his eight years in office approaches, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday that he put his work on health care in Wisconsin at the top of his list of accomplishments.

“We have made Wisconsin really the health care leader in the United States,” Doyle said during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” conversation at Marquette University Law School. “We really have become the model for much of the nation on how to provide health care.”

During Doyle’s tenure, the Badger Care program for low to middle income working people has expanded and, Doyle said, Wisconsin has had the lowest percentage of uninsured residents of any state in the country except Massachusetts, which has a mandatory health insurance law.

LA Students Drive Home the Message of Success in Education at Law School Conference

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 12, 2010
Post category:Milwaukee Public Schools Speakers at Marquette

The speech by Raj Vinnakota and the panel discussion from this conference can be viewed by clicking here.

Raj Vinnakota and Rafe Esquith have some real differences in how they approach educating children who come from backgrounds that are connected with low success rates in education. Each has taken decidedly different paths to becoming a nationally prominent figure in pushing for greater success for such children. Vinnakota is involved in national reform efforts. Esquith is a teacher whose message focuses on the great things that can happen between teachers and students.

But the two certainly share one major belief: It can be done. Children growing up amid poverty or in homes where the circumstances are not conducive to success in school can become big successes. Teachers and schools can lead them there. And it can happen a lot more frequently than it has been happening across the nation.

If there was a key take-away from “High Success with High-Need Kids,” a conference Tuesday at Marquette Law School’s Eckstein Hall, it was that Vinnakota and Esquith, as well as four leaders in Milwaukee education, differed on styles of education, attitudes toward testing or teacher unions, and a variety other issues. But they each had a charge to the 230 people who attended: