School has emphasized career readiness along with college prep
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
The four-year graduation rate at Burlington High School improved six percentage points last year, giving the school one of the best rates in the Southern Lakes Conference and putting it well above the state average.
Figures released by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Tuesday show that 95 percent of BHS students graduated in four years with a traditional high school diploma during the 2011-12 school year. That compares to 89 percent for the 2010-11 school year and 89.6 for 2009-10.
Burlington Area School District Superintendent Peter Smet said Tuesday that he had not yet seen the rates. He said he planned to discuss the news with BHS Principal Eric Burling and Assistant Superintendent Connie Zinnen before commenting.
In recent years, BHS has put an emphasis on better preparing all students for graduation, not just those who have college aspirations. In addition to the traditional college-prep coursework, the school offers specialized programs such as the construction career academy.
Programs such as the CCA may play a role in keeping non-college-bound students focused toward graduation and future careers.
State Superintendent Tony Evers in part attributed the statewide graduation rate gains to just that type of an approach, which helps all students put their education into context.
Statewide, the four-year graduation rate is up half a percentage point to 87.5. State officials touted the numbers as showing a sustained trend of improvement. The statewide rate was 87 percent for 2010-11 and 85.7 for 2009-10.
Wisconsin is tied for second nationally in graduation rate, according to the U.S. Department of Education, using the figures from 2010-11.
According to the DPI, the state uses the uniform federal adjusted cohort rate to calculate graduation rates. That method also allows the state to calculate five- and six-year graduation rates, which recognizes that not all students are able to complete their graduation requirements in the traditional four years.
Burlington’s five-year rate is 92.7 (an improvement of 3.7 points over the four-year rate) and its six-year rate is 94.2 (an improvement of 4.6 points).
BHS’s most recent four-year graduation rate ranks second to Waterford among the eight Southern Lakes Conference schools.
The rankings for the SLC schools are, in order: Waterford 95.4 percent; Burlington 95; Union Grove 94.7; Lake Geneva Badger 94; Delavan-Darien 92.5; Elkhorn 91.3; Westosha Central 91; and Wilmot 89.7.
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Glad to see Act 10 working! Looks like the looney out of control teachers union was wrong! The sky isn’t falling after all!
The F.B.I has a list of terrorest groups. One such group is the Islamic radical fundamentalists. Another group is the Far Right Extremists. Sounds Republican to me.
Or it could be that BASD is doing everything in their power to make kids graduate. Whether it be giving 17 credit diploma’s or just plain kissing their butts to get them to do their work, I am sure that there is more than the not so wonderful Act 10 to account for this!
This is the result of an educational community that is dedicated to educating our children. The improve is not because of Scott walker but in spite of him. To assign responsibility for school improvement to those who wish only to destroy public education is the height of ignorance. Our fine educational community deserves credit for this achievement, not the sarcastic assaults of the anti-education right.
Take a chill pill commie. I’m sure almost all parents want their children to do well no matter how they vote or go about teaching them.
Commie? That’s hilarious! Still with the cold war mentality more than two decades after it’s over. Well I guess it takes sedated folks a little extra time to catch up.
I would prefer if these remarks “take a pill commie” type of remarks would not pass the “waiting for review” monitoring from the paper. It is not productive to the discussion.
I agree with sedated – everyone wants their children to do well and the wild extremists that want to only teach one way and only allow one side to be heard are quite scary. The big brother mentality is alive and well – they want your money, your thoughts, your voice, and your children.
The point I was making was that calling folks commie does not advance the discussion, but instead starts a series of back and forth name calling. Nothing is learned from those kinds of negative responses. Just give your clearly stated opinions, hopefully backed by actual facts, and leave the name calling to preschoolers.
This was not your intention, Mary, or you would take umbrage to things like :not because of Scott walker but in spite of him, height of ignorance, anti-education right, corporate shill; which to give you radicals credit is less than the usual invective you spew.
The hallmark of the left is their disdain for open debate, their tactics of personally ridiculing the opposition so they cannot argue to others in a logical manner, and their hypocrisy.
The intolerance of any diversity of thought was the point behind your comments. I welcome any of your invective or other thoughts because I believe in a free society and have no trouble arguing against such a weak, failed, and evil ideology that takes away our natural freedoms.
You’re upset and go on the personal attack to cut off debate just because youre insecure that the unpopular names that you run away from communist, socialist, leftist, subversive might catch up with the new(stolen from the past) “progressive” label. Its all the same, you want one way – one opinion, and it cannot hold up to logical thought or discussion – so you seek to ban it.
Sedated, I also support your comment that we all for the most part want what is best for our children – its a natural human instinct. I applaud you for your generous comments to all.
You can assess the credit to whomever you wish. At the end of the day however, it is VERY CLEAR that the WEAC and liberal rhetoric about schools imploding because of ACT 10 clearly is WRONG. It didn’t happen, and success stories like this are happening all around the state.
D Mankel, Obviously you haven’t been paying attention to the news around the state. School districts are struggling with the prospects of additional cuts, which will not be able to be offset by cutting the pay of educators like it was last year:
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/area-school-districts-unhappy-with-walker-budget/article_9b0c5b08-7a55-11e2-aa5b-0019bb2963f4.html
One radar blip up in one year at one high school is hardly representative of the educational miscarriage that ACT 10 will induce over the long haul. This is going to be a long slow train wreck unless we boot the corporate shill in our governor’s mansion next year and stop this attack on working people and Wisconsin’s legacy of educational excellence nationally.
D, I hope you have more examples of these “success stories”. What is really happening? Fewer electives, esp. in advanced electives. The massive retirements of experienced teachers that feel they must get out now because they are afraid of what will happen next. You obviously aren’t following what has been said by school superintendents about what is happening in their schools (what do they know about it, right?). NOBODY with any background said that the schools would fall apart immediately, nor will it be in one massive event. Instead, they will just wither away with fewer people with fewer qualifications going into education. And like it or not, the teacher in the classroom DOES matter, and if you don’t pay them and appreciate them here, they will go somewhere that does, or leave the field entirely.
Act 10 had nothing to do with our Districts success. Dave Moyer,our former superintendent, rearranged the students course offerings to promote and insure student reinforcement. This reqiuired the student to have math and science classes every year. The final outcome of this reinforcment was to insure that every graduate would be successful in college. Our District teachers are incredible. Approximetely 203 of the 242 teachers have Master,s Degrees. That represents a minimum of 7 years of College. Less than 1% of this community has completed that much school. We should be proud. Our Governor cut funds for education and blamed the Unions for the high cost of education. The Democratic Party receives most of their funding from the Unions. The Rpublican Party receives most of its fundiing from the fat cats,who want to privatize education. Act 10 is just a smoke screen to cover the Governors mess-up
Again, it takes FOUR to FIVE years to change a graduation rate. So, this is NOT part of Act 10.
To say that this is because of ACT 10 is simply ludicrous unless we think our Governor saying he is “dropping a bomb” on our public school teachers is ok. Of course if you think a school board member threatening our teachers with a 2×4 or likening them to cows is appropriate then yeah “It’s working”. Yeah.. “It’s working” when that bomb sends us from 11th in the nation on job creation to 44th in the same amount of time Doyle took us from 28th to 11th.
Those “tools” took our leading the state recognized schools and graded it a “C” further tying the hands of the administrations ability to provide an EDUCATION to our students.
I’m not going to celebrate students graduating with a 17 point diploma because the administration is left with no other resources for our children.
Our students are left with ONE PE teacher and counselor for multiple schools. There aren’t teacher aids helping in those 30+ students to a classroom.
What I celebrate is the professionalism and where-with-all of our teachers to make those “tools” work at all costs to themselves for our children. Despite being demeaned and demoralized, despite a BOMB dropped on their personal finances, forcing many out of their homes, left with substandard health care options that do not pay the bills.
Yeah.. It’s working! How many local businesses have been devastated by the teachers leaving the community after losing their jobs, those left picking up the pieces have removed $1 million + of revenue from the community.
When Scott Walker unleashed his “divide and conquer” strategy on Wisconsin some people were foolish enough to buy into it.
Yeah “It’s working”.
When the news media, such as this one, refuse to investigate anything, and print half the story and only one side of political spectrum, yeah.. It’s working.
For example, not one mention by the reporter present of Robin Vos at the school board meeting saying children with Autism should not be mainstreamed, they should have a school of their own, such a clear example of the agenda to segregate our schools for profit.
How about when Vos said that the budget forces the school district to raise taxes. No concern there for a hypocrite right?
“Divide and conquer” is alive and well in Wisconsin. It’s the only thing working.
If you are a parent that cares about our children’s future then you will see things for what they are… a bomb dropped on our children’s ability to receive a quality, equal education without regard to religion or greed.
This budget violates the state constitution, where is the anger from the right wing so called “patriots”? Only when it is your rights? These ARE your rights at stake.
Here is a fact. Not an opinion. A fact is based on real events or actual things. It is a fact that the plan to increase the graduation rate started BEFORE Act 10 was in place. Well before, it was started at least five years ago and you would have seen this if you had read the paper or attended school board meetings at that time. And it takes four years or more years to get results as what happens every year all during high school impacts the result. Educators have to start with the 8th graders and the plans for their courses and advisements before they even enter high school. Then, with all the plans in place educators follow that cohort group through every grade until graduation. So, your opinion that ACT 10 worked magical results is based on a false premise. Now, we have to watch to see if these good results, started five years ago, will be damaged by Act 10. And my opinion is that it is amazing that with all the cuts, negative remarks against teachers, and general low regard for the educational system that we did see these results. Thank you educators for trying despite the mean-spirited rhetoric.
Vlade, you make me laugh. You write as though conservatives have the moral high ground in debate. This would be incorrect–as witnessed by the fact that the comment that you are defending started off with “take a chill pill, commie”. THAT isn’t “disdain for public debate”?
Interesting that the so-called liberals who are pro-education seem to be the better writers here. Perhaps that is an indication of which group actually learned well in school and why some are now bitter about education? Hmmm?
Act 10 was not put in place to increase the graduation rate at BHS. The one has nothing to do with the other. Someone needs to find out about cause and effect and how research is actually done to connect the two. That is like saying we have a flood this year and had a drought last year, so the drought caused the flood, because one thing happened before the other. Wonder what meteorologists think about that. Oh wait, I will ask a politician. They know everything about everything. Act 10 actually undermined the whole education system with the sole intend of taking money out of the educational system, under the pretense it was needed to balance the budget. Are schools still open and teachers still teaching? Of course! No one said the whole system would stop on a dime. But it is eroding. And it goes far beyond Act 10. Standardized testing and Common Core are affecting the educational process and so many people people are unaware of this other “war” in/on education. It is still political with privatization of education in the works. In the end it still comes down to what is best for the kids and their future. We are all connected to those students. They are our future. You can twist the statistics to say whatever you want them to say, but if you are in a school everyday (figuratively because some of us do live and breathe education) I think you have a whole lot better perspective about education than those who are sitting outside, who aren’t even really looking in.
If you actually read Act 10, it says nothing about improving education. It’s all about cutting costs and destroying unions. That’s the heart of their whole argument…not that they can make education better, just cheaper.