74.9, you know, if the scale had been out of 80 those that hate public education and the fact that public educators CURRENTLY EARN middle-class incomes would be questioning the test.
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If 74.9 was a strict % and meant JSD is average they would be celebrating the idea of cutting teacher pay and claiming, "see, public education stinks. They care about unions, not kids."
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It appears, reality is somewhere in the middle. 74.9 is not a strict % that screams AVERAGE and it isn't based of a rating of 80...excellent.
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JSD is exceeding the expectations set forth by WI DPI. Does that mean no improvement is necessary and everything is "GREAT" within the JSD? No. Does that mean the "greedy" teacher unions aren't doing their jobs and don't care about their student? No.
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Now, reality tells me that JSD administration was made aware of the criteria a couple years ago and made some adjustments. Perhaps the new, "Pre-Expulsion" is a result of DPI scoring. Perhaps.
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Do I have criticisms of the district? Absolutely. Do I love and appreciate all that educators do for my kids and the kids that share this community? Absolutely. Do I believe that the ignorant hatred and biased jealousy towards publica educators is pathetic and wrong? Yes. Am I surprised by the comments regarding this article? Not at all. Does that disappoint me? Yes.
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Will this change anything? No. Biased beliefs based on entertainment news are too strong for any factual information to impact. That is why palm trees in madison during the protests didn't phase anyone, left or right politically.

nicksmom -- what makes those schools "well-known" for "superior education"? Just because the communities are wealthy?

Isn't funny how the typicaly Walker/Romney/Ryan supporters immediately started bashing and running away with no facts. And the typical Obama supporters on here looked up the facts before spewing! Interesting observation I thought; and typical.

@Sigma40: It's not the job of schools to ready children for life. That would be called parenting.

The new system is equally flawed as the last. Districts well known for superior education are ranking way below where they truly are. I.e. Greendale, Arrowhead...

People who are bashing already about this grade-Read this and understand what the grade means before you write.

This is from WSJ:
Monona Grove Superintendent Craig Gerlach said he's concerned the public will equate the color-coded categories with traditional letter grades, which some other states use to rate schools.

"That (rating) number may not be a percentage, but it will be viewed as a percentage," Gerlach said. "I look at 67 and think it's awfully low. But if you look at the category it means it meets expectations."

Knowing some newly grads and the younger generation i think this is giving them the benefit of the doubt. A lot of kids today are pretty stupid with common sense type things. Schools focus more on readying them for college... not life.

I am not angry in the slightest and I appreciate your ever so constructive way of communicating your concerns over my feelings and personal knowledge. I am all for retirees holding jobs in addition to their retirement pension. I am against Milton scoring well in mathematics...very well actually...then hiring the retired school principal who brought the program to the district and then contracting her to implement the program as a contract paid employee. I know the program cost many of thousands of dollars to begin with and while I agree with someone running the program who was a champion of bringing to the district, I am against the contract pay as we all know contract pay can be significantly more generous than a standard educators salary. Plus - if Milton scored so well according to accountibility standards then why pay the extra costs for the recovery program and for a contracted director of the program as opposed to standard math mentoring time done during school hours with students and teachers aides. It doesn't add up for me personally - that is all. Especially when Milton schools are facing many other huge issues like overcrowding on an exponential scale and major transportation issues.

Wow abass80, I sense some anger. I don't get your stance on the retired person though. Are you saying that retired people can't get jobs? I plan on getting a 'new' job when I retire, is there something wrong with that? Or if I get a new job, I shouldn't get paid because I'm collecting a pension? There's a lot of retired auto workers out there working at new jobs collecting a pension and salary. How dare they!!!!

I am unimpressed considering the DPI is extremely biased but for those who think this score really means anything, Milton did worse. Much worse by all of the DPI grading standards. I wonder what Rob Roy and gangs excuse will be considering they used to refer to themselves as the best district in the area. Maybe he did not forsee an issue. Maybe they were more concerned about purchasing the Math Recovery program and then contracting a recently retired school principal (receiving a pension AND contract pay) to teach the program this school year except when you look at the district "grade" in mathematics proficiency, the need for a math program costing thousands then hiring a contract paid and pension paid retiree to teach the program seems askew. If the district is so awesome at math proficiency then why spend money on the recovery program. In Milton, apparently 1+1=we don't care because we (the school board) will do it anyway.

Sigma-You prove my point exactly. You can't compare a student grading system to a DPI review.

dodgeco - How can you compare a ball sport to education? You dont even need to know how to talk, read, or write to hit a ball with a stick.

Agree, Maynard.

I was going through the site (found it on another news site) before it was linked on this story.

No one is bashing anyone, but we should be striving for improvement.

Most everyone has a family member in the school system, we should be always striving for improvements.

.......

Update: 1 in 8 state public schools not meeting expectations, state says

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/e...

DPI's news release, in part: MADISON — The majority of the state’s schools meet or exceed expectations according to preliminary report cards made public today ...
"School report cards provide an accountability score on a scale of zero to 100. Score ranges place schools in one of five rating categories, from significantly exceeds expectations to fails to meet expectations. In this pilot year, 85.8 percent of rated schools meet or exceed expectations. Priority area scores are weighted in a formula that also takes into account student engagement indicators. Those indicators are test participation, absenteeism, and dropout rates."

Appreciate the info although I do not think I am ignorant why_think. Seems Mr. Schultz could have done the readers a favor by including the rating system in the article. We associate numbers and ratings with what we were raised with. People in the profession need to not assume that we automatically know the rating scale. So yes there is room for improvement but glad for grandchildren sake that the schools exceed expectations in that area.

Statewide report cards are now on the DPI website: http://dpi.state.wi.us/reportcards/distr...

thanks timbo66

All of you bashers- the score simply means that Janesville's School's score better than 74.5 other schools in the state. I'd say that is really good in a community that has undetgone such a dramatic financial upheaval in the last few years. Way to go staff.

Not sure just how this grading system works, but I would be interested in seeing what the Rock/Dane/Walworth/Green County schools grades were before making a final judgement, although I don't find "Superior" in any of these grades..

The ignorantly blind dislike for public schools/public educators is disgusting. That is the REAL problem with our public education system and are entire culture. This culture of HATE needs to stop.
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timbo66, thank you for educating the ignorant on the REALITY of 74.5.

"fair to superior job"

That is quite a range.

According to the interpretation guide 74.5% exceeds expectations.
I'm just sayin'...

You people need to shake the A-F rating in this circumstance. Its not apples to apples, It would be like saying a baseball player that hits the ball 1 out of 3 times is an F player....in reality they are a hall-of-famer.

Significantly Exceeds Expectations = 83.0 100.0
Exceeds Expectations = 73.0 82.9
Meets Expectations = 63.0 72.9
Meets Few Expectations = 53.0 62.9
Fails to Meet Expectations = 0.0 52.9

Here, http://dpi.wi.gov/oea/acct/accountabilit... sorry that it took so long to find the scoring method (about 15 seconds). Way to go Janesville.

Accountability.....C, not good, room for improvement.

"Do not like take your kid to a privatized school."
If sentence structure such as this is representative of what is coming out of our public school system and is translating to a grade of 74.5, then we are in real trouble.......

I would deem that as a failure. I would expect the education system to be superior. Based on the grading system A-F, if a student gets a grade "A" by a grade "C" school that would mean the "A" is a false sense of reality and only really a "C"... and a Student getting a "C" would be an "F".

carlitosway: I truly hope the education is improving. I did not complain. I have grandchildren in the Janesville and Milton school systems. Just asked for clarification on the grading system because it is puzzling to me. Maybe someone can enlighten me on how the current grade structure works. Do not be so quick to jump to conclusions about my intent.

Do you even know the grading system before you start judging you are complainers are real tools. Do not like take your kid to a privatized school.

I suppose the teachers will get a big bonus from the state now??? NOT

A fair job to superior job? With a grade of 74.5? A fair job or average job with be a C grade. Back when I went to school, a 74.5 would have been a D with anything under a 70 an F. Even if they lowered to standards to a 60 being a passing grade, a 74.5 certainly would not rate between fair to superior. Something is seriously wrong here. Question is if it is with the students, with the teachers, with the parents, with the grading system, or with the reporting by the school district or by the press. Or may be a combination of all of the above. imo

Only if they want to !

A solid C.......With a grade such as that, at least the kids should be coming out of the system able to read and write........maybe?