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The state of the 8th grade

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by Courtney Johnson

Thursday, February 1, 2007

A group of Blackhawk Middle School eighth graders got the opportunity Wednesday to speak one-on-one with Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton about subjects touched on during Gov. Jim Doyle's State of the State address Tuesday.

This year's eighth graders will be the first to take advantage of the new Wisconsin Covenant Program — which will give Wisconsin students the opportunity to have college tuition paid for if they agree to maintain a "B" average in school and practice good behavior.

"If you do those things, our end of the covenant … is to make sure you have enough money to meet the cost of tuition at the school where you were admitted," Lawton said.

Lawton told the eighth graders that even though she was able to get a good job without a college education it is not necessarily an option in today's world.

"You can't do it in 12 years," Lawton said. "You can't plan on getting a good family-supporting job without some sort of post-high school education and training."

The program is intended to encourage high achievement among Wisconsin children, while increasing enrollment at state universities and technical colleges. The program is open to any Wisconsin eighth grader who can demonstrate his or her financial need.

"Part of the problem for a lot of kids, including certainly for at-risk kids, is low expectation," said L. Allen Phelps, professor of educational administration at the University of Wisconsin and director of the Center on Education and Work. "I think they need to be able to see young adults who are successful in the workplace who come from low-income families."

The Wisconsin Covenant program was a main focus of the Democratic governor's State of the State address Tuesday. Three of the first children to sign on to the new program were also present at the speech.

"I want you to know that you were, visually, the centerpiece of his State of the State speech," Lawton said to the Blackhawk eighth graders. "That's because, as we talk about the kinds of investments that we are going to make to make sure that Wisconsin continues to be a strong state, those investments are in you, our future workforce."

But legislators on the other side of the aisle are not sure the governor should be making this promise to future college applicants, especially considering Wisconsin's projected $1.6 billion budget shortfall.

"We're willing to take a look at the program, but to be honest, we are telling everyone we have limited funds," said Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford. "We have a budget shortfall, and I'm not sure we can make those kinds of budget promises."

Suder added that if the state is going to promise such things as free tuition, it should maybe consider raising the standards for the students involved in the program — particularly, requiring students to maintain greater than a "B" average.

Doyle has also mentioned raising the state requirements for math and science in order to better prepare students for college.

"With the changing level of technology and the way the world is moving, it doesn't matter if you plan on being a professional basketball star or an author of a famous book or a teacher in a classroom here," Lawton said. "You have to be science- and math-literate."

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Anonymous (February 1, 2007 @ 9:47am):

But I thought we were raising the minimum wage so that you could support a family "without some sort of post-high school education and training"

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