“It’s so important for students to feel their role as the office of a citizen!” Isidore Starr The quote above illustrates beautifully what we are throwing away when we mandate the regurgitation of rote knowledge about government. However, come to Wisconsin and share in the ignorance that is unintelligent legislation without deliberation. Because starting next year,… Read more »

Under an elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, Wisconsin public schools are now subject to: Act 10-Banning the human right of collective bargaining. An almost unlimited increase in the use of voucher money to fund private education. For profit Charter School expansion. Accelerated Accountability to fuel the “failing Public schools” narrative. Using student test scores to evaluate… Read more »

Below you will find the specific, exact, word for word language from Wisconsin state legislator Jeremy Thiesfeldt’s opt out amendment.  Please read the excerpted passages below and feel free to read the legislation in its entirety. Once you’ve completed your reading, please conduct a thorough analysis of the language and then use the comment box to… Read more »

Announcement! Wisconsin picks a new state test. Yes, read it again if you need to, but it was announced yesterday that the state of Wisconsin has picked a new standardized test to be used this Spring to take the place of the defunded Badger exam. In other words, people with political connections helped a certain… Read more »

Today in Wisconsin, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos was questioned about his intentions to pursue an attack on open records.  Yesterday the Wisconsin State Journal published law makers’ “term papers” (I want to chair this committee because…). Is there a connection?  I’ll let you be the judge. Let me present Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt’s “term paper” that was… Read more »

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed in 1965 as one of the pillars of the War on Poverty and was a major progressive victory.  It recognized that inequitable funding of our public schools created disastrous learning conditions for children and families in poverty.  Therefore this simple piece of legislation attempted to equalize school… Read more »

Can it get any worse in Wisconsin?  I guess the answer to that question is it can always get worse.  I mean at this point we’re only restricting local taxpayers’ freedom to self govern their community schools.  Politicians are only restricting citizens’ freedom to new knowledge?  Corporations are only restricting academics’ freedom to have research agendas… Read more »

In case you’ve been living under a rock you might not know that my great state of Wisconsin—under the fascist like leadership of pseudo-conservatives—is subverting democracy and using the budget process to ram through oligarchic sponsored legislation.  However, the slash and burn approach to anything remotely connected to public education is particularly maddening. In the… Read more »

Don’t bother coming to Wisconsin if you want to learn. Is it time to start using the “F” Word in Wisconsin? https://bustedpencils.com/2015/06/is-it-time-to-start-using-the-f-word-in-wisconsin/ “I am teaching my children…” Darcey Addo You opted out? What are you teaching your kids? http://www.darceyforschoolboard.com/#!You-opted-out-What-are-you-teaching-your-kids/c1tem/1 Fear, resentment and suspicion. Killing tenure is academia’s point of no return http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/6/killing-tenure-is-academias-point-of-no-return.html   Want BustED… Read more »

No not that one. This one—FASCISM. (sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism. At this point in time we don’t have a dictator. So scratch that. However, we are witnessing the “suppression of opposition… Read more »