Monday, April 29, 2013
Despite changes in benchmarks for Wisconsin statewide reading and math tests, Oak Creek students continued to score higher than the state average.
Use Patch's interactive database to see the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations scores in Oak Creek and other area districts for the last three years. Students in the Oak Creek-Franklin School District saw lower scores in statewide math and reading tests this year, but those changes are almost entirely due to tough new standards that kicked in this year. In Oak Creek, 38.7 percent of the students who took the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations (WKCE) in November 2012 scored at proficient or advanced in reading. That's compared to 87.2 percent who hit that mark in 2011. The 2012-13 results were released last week. In math, 49.8 percent of the Oak Creek students were proficient or better this year, compared to 79.4 …
Saturday, April 27, 2013
An analysis shows the UW system sitting on nearly half a billion dollars in extra tuition. Officials say they need it for future projects.
The University of Wisconsin system is under fire from both parties in the state Legislature after a Legislative Fiscal Bureau report showed it had $650 million in reserve — including $414 million in tuition reserves — despite annual tuition increases of more than 5 percent. Gov. Scott Walker is now considering a change to the $181 million planned for the UW system in the biennial budget, and whispers of a tuition freeze imposed by the Legislature are percolating. But UW officials say the surplus — about 25 percent of the operating budget — is in line with recommended practices, according to Madison.com, and less than Minnesota and Illinois keep. And the College Board says Wisconsin’s public-school tuition is still lower than Midwestern …
Search this interactive database to see how much Wisconsin school administrators make, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Salaries for Wisconsin school administrators are compiled and posted by the state Department of Public Instruction each year. See where your school administrators rank. The numbers are from salary information released on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's website. The data is from the 2011-12 school year. School districts across the state saw a larger than usual cut in staffing in the 2011-12 school year than in years past, according to a press release from the DPI, with 2,312 positions being eliminated and 60 percent of those spots being teacher jobs. "The 2011-13 state budget made historically high cuts to education funding," the press release said. "General school aids were cut by $749 million and the per pupil revenue …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Percentage of students deemed proficient or advanced in math and reading declines dramatically as Wisconsin sets a higher bar for achievement on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts exam.
School districts throughout the region saw a significant drop in the number of students who scored proficient or advanced on statewide reading and math tests, according to results released Tuesday. However, state education officials say the decline is attributed to higher standards for those tests and that Wisconsin students actually are continuing to show gains in the math and reading portions. More than 430,000 public school students took the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations in November 2012. Overall results showed 48.1 percent of students were proficient or advanced in mathematics, and 36.2 percent were proficient or advanced in reading, according to the state Department of Public Instruction. By comparison, in 2011, 81.9 …
Saturday, April 20, 2013
See Oak Creek's most recent graduation and drop-out rates, and how they compare to the rest of the state and surrounding districts.
Graduation rates in Oak Creek are above the state average, with nearly all 12th grade students enrolled in 2011-12 receiving a diploma, according to data from the state Department of Public Instruction. Statewide in 2011-12, 88.6 percent of enrolled high school seniors received diplomas, and 5.5 percent of students dropped out of school. That year in Oak Creek, 97.1 percent of students received diplomas, according to DPI data, with 0.5 percent dropping out. By comparison, Franklin's graduation rate is 97.2; in Whitnall, the graduation rate was 96.8 percent; and South Milwaukee had a graduation rate of 87.7. Search above to see information about graduation rates in Oak Creek and other districts throughout the state. The search function is …
Friday, April 19, 2013
A faculty-student basketball game preceded the introduction of the Oak Creek High School prom court Friday.
Peter Mitchell and Katie Finn were named Oak Creek High School prom king and queen following a basketball game between students and faculty. Patch was there and captured some of the scenes inside the gymnasium.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
School officials admitted bullying was part of an incident in a Wisconsin district that went viral on social media in late March, though police said nothing was wrong initially. Why the discrepancies?
It took school officials in a Wisconsin district two weeks to conclude that an incident involving four boys was actually bullying, despite initial determinations by police that the kids were merely involved in horseplay. The father of the bullied boy posted a photograph on Facebook protesting the incident, and the Kaukauna Area School District's handling of it, and the picture went viral, with more than 450,000 shares. The March 26 post shows matthew Bent with his son holding a sign advocating for anti-bullying support. The post, in part, reads: "Yesterday, my son was bodyslammed 3 times by a bully, the same bully that has been making my son's school year a nightmare. ... (I contacted an officer and) he told me that because my son …
See how the number of students per staff member in the Oak Creek-Franklin School District stack up against nearby districts and the state.
One thing that always comes up when districts talk about laying off staff, is the student-staff ratio. In general, according to the non-profit group Class Size Matters, a lower ratio is considered good, providing for smaller class sizes and giving students more opportunity for attention from teachers. There were 870,470 students enrolled in Wisconsin public and charter schools in the 2011-12 school year. Those schools employed 3,497 administrators, 31,532 aides and support staff, and 65,446 licensed staff members. (All employment numbers are full-time equivalents, meaning two half-time staff members would count as one.) Average staff-student ratios are as follows: 249 students per administrator, 28 students per aide/support staff, and 13 …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Citing security concerns, the city may pull polling places out of Deerfield Elementary and East and West middle schools.
The city of Oak Creek is considering moving polling places out of schools in light of security concerns. Three out of the six Oak Creek voting sites are in schools—Deerfield Elementary, East Middle School and West Middle School. Residents also cast ballots at the school administration building. When voter turnout is high, like during gubernatorial and presidential elections, more than 3,000 voters pass through those buildings. In a post-Sandy Hook world, schools might not be the best place for such a large number of people to stream in and out, City Clerk Catherine Roeske said. "The number is alarming when considering the possibilities of potential issues," Roeske said. But any final decisions about whether and where polling places would …
Construction is set to begin on a new academic addition and a performing arts center at Franklin High School.
$$andSense
9:36 pm on Saturday, May 11, 2013
Revere I do not get your point. Your local gummit should have a reserve account like you should have personally for your home. Do you attend your local gummit budget meetings that are held in the fall? Do you not keep a reserve for your home repairs or what is your issue? Now I will give you a free piece of advice. Do you have 6 months or more of income in reserve in case you lose your job? This … more ›