DPI Tries to Out-Do MPS Board; May Succeed (in Court)

McIlheran points to a jaw-dropping news report written by an incompetent adult.

On Tuesday of this week, in a Waukesha courtroom, the state governmental agency responsible for our public schools and a labor union came before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and pleaded with the judges to keep parents out of public schools.

According to the Department of Public Instruction and the state teachers' union, parents are the problem. And these bureaucracies know just how to fix it. They want to keep parents, and indeed anyone without a teaching license, out of Wisconsin public schools. Of course WEAC, the state teachers' union, likes that idea. Licenses mean dues. Dues mean power.

DPI likes it because ........well, could it be just because WEAC does?

Maybe the author is merely an 'incompetent, unlicensed adult,' but she is certainly perceptive, eh?

DPI alleges that parents are too involved in their own children's education.

That's right.

They argue parents are too involved.

I've always thought parental involvement in a child's education was agood thing. What do I know? I don't have a teacher's license.

Neither did Socrates. Maybe it was a DPI fore-runner who ordered up the hemlock cocktail for him...

I heard lawyers for DPI and WEAC call parents incompetent. I heard them say that unlicensed adults should not perform any teaching function whatsoever in public schools. The attorney for DPI, a deputy attorney general, actually said parents were not even capable of recognizing a teachable moment.

Now that's an argument the Department of Justice can be proud of. Unlicensed adults is code for what I am. A parent.

I think I heard JBVanHollen faint.

DPI and WEAC['s]....attorneys admitted in court that academic achievement at WIVA is not relevant. They want to put a stop to all this 'non-licensed' activity in public schools.

The temptation to mention teacher-student, ahhhh....."unlicensed" activities....oh, never mind.

Superintendent Burmaster called an expert panel on virtual schools in 2005. They agreed on rules and standard practices to insure quality.

She has never acted on the recommendations of her panel or even made them public. Maybe she didn't like what the experts had to say because the panel embraced the concept of public education via online technology, using teachers from remote locations.

Never forget that Burmaster's position is entirely due to WEAC political activity. It ain't competence that got her elected.

So happens the K-8 school our chilluns attended is practically overrun with "involved incompetent adults"--parents--at all hours of the day. "Involved incompetents" teach a variety of subjects, coach extra-curriculars (some semi-academic) and also impart knowledge of music.

The graduates of that little school have been accepted to Marquette High, Brookfield Academy, Catholic Memorial--you know, selective, real-live high schools. After that, they've gone to Purdue, UW-Madison, U of Chicago, U of Dallas, Marquette U., Ripon, and other selective colleges.

Not only do I KNOW "incompetent, unlicensed adults"--I R 1, 2!!

You GO, Rose!!!!