Education Watch: Gov. Evers: Wisconsin’s schools #8 nationwide? Reality: nope!

Jun 17, 2022 | Wisconsin Voices Blog

Quinton Klabon

Like any nervous student, Gov. Evers has fudged a bad report card. But the truth is that Wisconsin has punched below its weight for a long time. As scores drop compared to other states, it looks like we had an educational head start but are about to get lapped.   – Quinton Klabon, IRG Senior Research Director

 

  • What’s the truth? Gov. Evers is wrong 4 times. First, the nonsense ranking uses February 2019 data. Gov. Evers is actually celebrating Gov. Walker-era numbers. Second, the ranking uses 8th grade scores, not 4th grade, where Wisconsin ranks 24th. Third, comparing Wisconsin to states more affected by poverty, segregation, and variation in languages makes no sense. If all states were equally diverse, Wisconsin would rank 41st, 30th, 21st, and 14th in the 4 tested areas. Fourth, Wisconsin’s ranking will tank in October once new scores are released. As Mississippi and Tennessee celebrated full reading recovery, Milwaukee and Racine posted historic lows.