School Choice in Wisconsin will allow students to dump failing schools.

On the surface this looks like a good idea but ironically it's your title that gives me pause. "...Allow students to dump failing schools." The problem is, there will be kids left behind and they'll have no choice other than to be stuck in failing schools not getting the education they deserve and NEED desperately to make it in today's economy. I'm assuming transportation won't be provided for those who wish to transfer to another school or district; that alone will make it impossible for many children to take advantage of this new plan. Then, obviously there won't be enough room in the best schools for all the children whose parents would like them to attend. What I fear is that these schools that are "failing miserably" will be left with only children for whom there is nobody to fight for better schools. Annie

It sounds good. I hope it works out for them. I am just wondering what they will do when the good schools get to crowded? That is terrible a 5 percent reading comprehension. 3/4 of the students are late to class. Over half the kids don't graduate. I have never been to Wisconsin but I would not figure kids to be that bad there. Ir sounds more like South Central LA than it does Wisconsin.

I think this is something that should be available across the board. Even some good schools are not right for every student. If schools had to compete for students they would be shaping up faster, I think.

This is a long time coming and I think it's great that the schools are finally waking up and working with the students and their diversities. I have to say that in my area the school has been wonderful in working with my daughter and I on her education which does not fit the standard. It's been a battle but they have come through for her. She gets sick a lot...a real lot. I've had her tested and tested and tested. I KNOW and the school KNOWS that she is not faking when she is late or misses. Omg..she has missed so much. State law has it that she HAS to attend just so many hours in order to pass. Last year, she missed more than the alloted time and even though her grades were well above average, she lost them. Her attitude is good. She shrugged and said, "well, I guess, I'll just have to work harder." My attitude...not so good. This kid worked and worked hard despite her sickness. We have documentation that she not only has a chronic post nasal drip but a curved nasal passage which may make the situation worse. Well after a little court argument in which the case was dropped, we got the news that because of her excellent grades, despite State laws, they have a program for students like herself. She got offered a special schedule and she only need attend one class per day and one class one night a week and she will have enough credits to graduate. She has already taken it upon herself to apply at various colleges and they have told me she has a natural talent in photography. she is also gifted in cosmotology and other fields. She is getting A's and B's in all subjects. She is a motivated and good kid and very creative. It would have been such a waste to see her be treated like a drop-out. That "flexibilty" saved her. They gave her back her credits which she lost last year due to her sickness. Can you imagine? She had all A's and B's and they were going to keep them from her. My thought was that if she acheived A's and B's with all the class time she missed...well that says a lot. What a crime. I was so afraid she'd get discouraged but she has an amazing attitude. All kids are different and they learn different. I'm all for the pro-choice!!

That's great! There is no reason, with all the money we spend, that a child should not get a top notch education. This will make schools more competitive and maybe the bad ones will try harder and start getting rid of teachers that aren't up to par. That's a terrible ratio of reading comprehension!! How do they expect a person to function if they can't read? But then again, a school like that probably doesn't care.

I'm not really sure how having a wider selection of schools that don't work is really going to help. Home based schooling has always produced better results in terms of education, but often fails in the socialization process. In honesty the entire process needs to be changed. As it stands every child is just a number in a 12 year line. I can't even begin to tell you how much of nothing most of the people I went to high school with did most of the time they were in class. And that at a good school where most people went to college. The system is grossly inefficient. I could have learned almost everything I did in college and grade school in 12 years instead of 16.

That's very good news indeed for many!! Why should someone have to go to, or send their children to a school that lacks a good success rate!!

This is a wonderful victory for the families of Wisconsin! If more states would do this, we might actually have better educated adults that can actually succeed in today's workforce. We have been fighting with underperforming public schools in our area for years. Numerous families in our area are actually beginning to homeschool because of the problems with public schools and the lack of education that they are giving the students. I hope that the bill gets signed and goes into effect!

We should all have those kinds of choices. We'd have much better schools if parents could choose.