2-12-14 school accouontability

Even though it appears to be dead in the Senate, the Wisconsin state Assembly is moving forward with a bill to impose sanctions on poor-performing schools.  The Assembly's Education Committee scheduled a hearing on the measure Wednesday.  The bill would assign a grade to all publicly funded schools and failing public schools would be forced to close. Failing private schools that accept students who receive taxpayer funded vouchers would not be allowed to take any more voucher students.  But Senate Republican Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said last week the Senate has no interest in voting on a bill that imposes sanctions on schools.  Instead, Fitzgerald says the Senate will pursue a more limited approach to ensure data is collected and reported from voucher schools then revisit the issue next year.