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The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Wisconsin resubmits school improvement plan for K-12 public schools

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has four months to approve, reject plan
Wisconsin+resubmits+school+improvement+plan+for+K-12+public+schools
Emily Hamer

The state of Wisconsin submitted a revised school improvement plan on Monday to the Trump Administration.

State Superintendent Tony Evers said in a statement he wrote the plan after consulting with teachers, parents, school districts and Gov. Scott Walker’s office.

Wisconsin’s plan called for the state to increase graduation rates, improve teacher effectiveness and lower the achievement gap between minority and white students.

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“It will increase accountability in our schools and maps out a real plan to increase graduation rates and improve proficiency in literacy and math,” Evers said in the statement.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced No Child Left Behind, each state is required to submit an accountability plan in order to continue receiving federal funding for their K-12 public schools.

Under the ESSA, states receive more flexibility in deciding how they want to reach certain goals, address failing schools and provide necessary support. The law also requires states submit data on graduation rates and student achievement.

Walker, however, did not sign the draft ESSA plan because it did “little to challenge the status quo for the benefit of Wisconsin’s students,” he said in a September letter to Evers.

In the letter, Walker urged Evers to submit a proposal that included “bold reforms” similar to what other states had proposed.

“We urge you to take this opportunity to make Wisconsin a reform leader yet again and resubmit a new proposal that allows our schools to innovate and students to succeed,” Walker said.

Evers, who is also running for governor in 2018, said in a statement that Walker is putting his re-election campaign before the students of Wisconsin.

“What’s particularly sad is that now he put his reelection campaign before Wisconsin’s kids and if there’s one thing we should be able to agree on, it’s putting our kids first,” Evers said.

The final plan submitted Monday was similar to the initial draft, but included changes as to how the lowest-performing schools will be identified and addressed, according to U.S. News.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has four months to approve or reject the plan.

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