Kontos Column: Keeping the focus on the kids

By Dan Kontos

Recently the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released its 2022-2023 report cards on K-12 schools across the state. You can read the results for yourself, but laid across all of the data, subsets, weighted scores, and the ever pervasive and poisonous segregation by race, the final results show the Stevens Point Area Public School District as “meets expectations.”

Scoring a 63.7 out of 100, the formula used to derive this number is shrouded in a series of calculations, sometimes averaged over two or three years, to come up with the final grade. Meets expectations is a middle of the scale placement, akin to a “C,” if you will.

I’m not a huge fan of standardized testing, and the like. However, it is a real thing, and a widely used measure, so let’s have a look.

Of the 13 schools used in part to calculate this result, five were graded as exceeding expectations, six as meeting expectations, and two as meeting few expectations. No individual schools were labeled as significantly exceeding expectations or failing to meet expectations.

The tendency is often to look back and conduct a sort of postmortem on why an overall mundane score was achieved. Why aren’t we leading the state with outstanding and record-breaking scores?

The answer is multifaceted, and despite the patina of objectivity and complex obscurity that covers the results, these report cards are only a sample of what is happening in local education, impacted by professional estimates (as well as political preferences) to subjectively tilt the final outcomes. Bottom line, take it for what it is.

Now coincidentally, the District is contemplating another referendum, possibly for the next spring election. With a $10-14 million bottom line being discussed, we will certainly have to dig into the merits of this on its own at the appropriate time. Just keep this in mind for a second.

Back to the report card, my takeaway is that the District is performing adequately, but we have a tremendous amount of potential that is untapped. The path to excellence is narrow, but not insurmountable. However, we need to focus on achievement, and I think we have lost a lot of that.  Here is an example.

On the very report card, the District provided this statement to be included on the summary:

“The SPAPSD is dedicated to our mission of preparing each student to be successful. We are committed to improving student engagement, growth, mental health, and wellness in an inclusive environment focused on the development of the whole child. We continue to prioritize our vision to be the leading innovative school district, empowering lifelong learners to strengthen our communities.”

A wonderful, near boilerplate example of loosing focus. The first sentence should stay, with more of an emphasis on the aforementioned excellence. The second sentence is (in my humble opinion) politically virtuous sounding poppycock, while the last sentence has virtually no practical substance to it.

I want our District to focus their (read: our) limited resources on learning. English, math, science, real history, civics, fitness, and even a little enrichment in the arts. Stop trying to make perfect little creations, and leave the “whole child” goal to the parents. Execute the mission by focusing on learning, please.

Release our wonderful educators to do what they have been called to do. That is teach. This can be done while ensuring that political, social, and personal deviations are kept out of the classroom. Empower them to focus on education.

With the ever-increasing drum beat of an impending referendum for more money, tax payers want to be assured that we are investing in excellence. A mediocre score on a DPI report card is not a stain on the District, but instead serves as a beacon that shows the narrow path ahead to that very excellence. Please, follow it.

So, with that, let’s meet in the opinion section to talk about all of it, boldly, honestly, and with a healthy respect for each other, and with a focus on what is right and important to the community. Until then, remember that God loves you, and so do I.