Vicki McKenna Tuesday HR 1 2-18-14 VM: The big news today is the introduction of a piece of legislation that will

create a process to unwind Common Core. Leah Vukmir had a chance to talk this morning, she was on my Milwaukee program and I asked her the details of this particular piece of legislation and I will share that interview with you, and then, of course, if youve got questions or anything like that Ive gone through this pretty, I dont know, four or five times today, and I keep looking for the pitfalls, um, there are some but theyre manageable pitfalls. Well let you listen to Senator Leah Vukmir talk about the legislation, the model academic standards legislation is what it is, and then on the program were going to get into a little bit more of the nanny state, I always love to get into the nanny state topics there is no level of behavior the liberals will not obsessively desire to regulate. Will talk about Nancy Pilosi, um, she decided to take the opportunity on Washingtons birthday, which has been renamed Presidents Day because were lazy, and talk about how the founding fathers would love Obamacare, they would love this! This is their vision of freedom, being told you have none. Dont you understand? And then, um, the liberals have come up with nothing more than stock clan rally footage to try to prove the tea party is racist. Lets talk to some black tea party member, shall we? Oh thats a good idea. How come there are black tea party members? So well talk to one of those folks who presumably is actually just a clansman, ah, who happens to be also African American. Thats coming up on the show as well. Were gonna start with Leah Vukmir, she and I had a chance earlier to talk about the legislation which should have been introduced by now, it should now have a number, Im gonna see if I can get a number of the bill for you. Ah, but the goal of this legislation was to unwind Common Core in Wisconsin schools. Heres Leah Vukmir: VM: State Senator Leah Vukmir has been working, as hard as she can to unwind Wisconsin from Common Core. You initially intended to introduce a repeal bill, Leah, um we have something different, why not the, you know, the full appeal language you originally had announced you were intending to introduce? 3:09 LV: Well you just stated the reason why, we had to work within the structure of our state constitution which currently gives the State Superintendent, you know, full and wide latitude to do exactly what he did develop these, take these Common Core standards on the very first day that any state could adopt them. And so were working within that we had, um, to find a way to create our own Wisconsin standards working within the constitutional structure that we have and I am grateful for the efforts of Senator Farrow, Representative Thiesfeldt, Nass, and Knudson I think we have come up with just the right solution to move Wisconsin in a direction of creating our own state standards and we will, we have circulated the bill for co-sponsors and will be introducing it later this afternoon. VM: Let me ask some, just some questions to get it out there. Does this replace Common Core with Wisconsin standards? LV: It creates a system, a mechanism for Wisconsin to create its own set of standards. So, its as I just said, we couldnt just repeal Common Core. We are putting in place a mechanism, and I Page 1 of 6

can go through some of the details, whos on this board, how the process will work, but we think weve put together a model for creating standards, and not only creating standards, but setting up a review process. You think about it, Vicki, the set of model academic standards that we had in Wisconsin previously were adopted in the 90s and late 90s and, um, I was one of the people that was involved in that process . Of course, I didnt like the outcome and dissented to them, but we havent reviewed our standards since that time. VM: So this is a model, this creates a model to LV: Correct VM: to create Wisconsin standards, it creates the model, to create the Wisconsin test, and then you would have to adopt these. You would have to go forward and adopt these as a legislature? LV: Um, thats right. There would be legislative oversight and then ultimately these will be models for the local school districts um, to um, to use as a a template for their districts and we believe that these, this is going to put us in a process of creating a stronger set of standards, and thats the one thing we heard over and over again as we traveled the state. You know, we had, co-chairman Farrow and Thiesfelt had the select Common Core hearings around the state and we heard people saying, first of all, why did we adopt Wisconsin standards without public input, without legislative oversight? Why, Wisconsin, known for its independent spirit, why are we going towards standards developed nationally? Why cant we have Wisconsin based standards that are more rigorous than Common Core? And so those were the things we were thinking about when we put this bill together and so as I said it creates the process for creating new standards and an evaluation of those standards and the biggest part is that it allows for public input and legislative oversight which, those were the two things that were sorely lacking when Common Core standards were adopted in Wisconsin. 6:56 VM: o.k. and then theres a test created as well, and this would be the Wisconsin state test am I correct? LV: Thats right. The test will be aligned to the new standards. VM: The Wisconsin standards. LV: Correct. So were gonna start with, um, the two sets of standards English language arts and, um, math and those are the first two sets, and then we will go, move further down and within a year they will have to develop new math and English standards and then within three years this board that we have put in place will have to develop science and social studies standards. But again, before approval of those standards, it has to go through hearing process, oversight will occur in the legislature in two points, the Joint Committee for the Review of Legislative Rules and the overall legislature, and there will be three hearings throughout this entire process at different junctures in the process. VM: There is a hearing coming up on Thursday, well tell you guys about that in a second. So, the board develops a set of model Wisconsin standards , the board then submits those standards Page 2 of 6

to the legislature. Tony Evers is involved in this because remember you cant take away the DPIs constitutional oversight, so Tony Evers is involved in this, however, in the end, as I understand, Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules, um, has the ability to oversee DPI. LV: Correct. Because what the model academic standards board will do is they will have subcommittees based on the specialty areas. They will submit those and they will have a public hearing after theyve created theirs. They will, um, or as they are creating theirs they will submit their recommendations to the DPI. DPI will then, um, maybe accept them, maybe change them, maybe just tweak them, but ultimately sends them back to, or sends them to JCRAR where JCRAR the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules can object to what DPI did to them. If they object to what DPI has done, then what goes to the full legislature are the original recommendations of the board. If JCRAR approves of the recommendations that DPI has then they will become state standards. But, my guess is, currently the way things are, that if the Department of Public Instruction changes those standards dramatically from what the recommendations were made by the model academic standards board it would be very hard for me to see that making its way through the JCRAR process because there will also be a hearing at that point, too, and the public will have a chance to weigh in. 9:36 VM: All right. Whos on the board? Who helps develop these standards? LV: O.k., its, Ill get into the nitty gritty here. So there will be six, the model academic standards board will consist of six people who are chosen by the Governor, five by the Department of Public Instruction. They will be individuals like public school teachers, private school teachers, superintendents, high school principal, school board member, school choice parent, elementary school principal I can get you the information of all the individuals. There will also be four legislative leader appointments, so each of the legislative leaders will have an appointment. So its a 15 member board, and that particular board will be responsible for getting the individuals who will be on the subcommittees. These are the people, the subcommittees are where all the heavy lifting will be done, these are the individuals who actually writes the standards so these have to be experts. And that group will also have some non-voting members so that we can bring in some people nationally can come in and have oversight over the writing of the standards people who may not be able to be there for the entire process of developing the standards but will have the influence over the creation of those standards because of their expertise. VM: O.k. so people like James Milgram, for instance from Standford, or people like Sandy Stotsky who is an English language arts content expert. LV: We had to find a way to make sure that individuals like that have input, but recognizing that they dont live to create Wisconsin standards, so we had to find a way that we would be able to weave them into the process without, you know, making them have to move to Wisconsin while theyre being created, if you understand what I mean. 11:35 VM: Absolutely. Absolutely. So this functionally puts Wisconsin back in control of Wisconsin standards, it puts Wisconsin back in control of Wisconsin testing, and let me just as Page 3 of 6

this if a parent, lets say this all gets adopted, we get our Wisconsin standards, we get our Wisconsin test, and a parent five years from now see an objectionable piece of curriculum material, is that parent able to then go to a superintendent or go to a school board member and receive satisfaction at the local level? LV: Well yes, and ultimately you know, that was the other thing we kept hearing is, where is the local control in all of this, and we wanted to make sure that we had that element of local controls. So ultimately these will be the set of model standards just as before but local districts, um, if they choose to go in a different direction, theyre gonna have to hear from all those parents that we heard from that were all over the state. I mean, this doesnt mean that were just going to create Wisconsin standards and people can just sit back and relax, you know, you always have to be vigilant and we have to make sure that parents stay engaged in the process and we heard that over and over again as we traveled the state . Thats why it was so important that we had hearings as part of the process of the creation of the standards, and its why parents have to continue to be involved at the local level with their principals, with their superintendents, their school board members electing school board members who understand these issues, and ultimately it puts the power back at the local level which is where you and I both agree was sorely missing in the last process. VM: Well absolutely and Common Core, it totally takes control away from the local level and puts control in Washington, D.C. All right, so, the three years for the science and social studies standards we have three more years on the clock, right, to adopt science and social studies standards? Hence the three year timeline? LV: Yes. VM: so the federal government is telling us that we have three more years before its going to force the Common Core in social studies and science standards down our throats, so we will develop our own standards in those three years LV: Correct. VM: Were basically stuck with math and English though, for a year. 13:30 LV: Thats right. I mean, if I could have done it differently, I would have. If I had, you know, gone forward with a full repeal it would have gone nowhere and it would have been met with a challenge and so I had to work within the existing system and, you know, we spent many hours thinking about the different ways in which to do this and Senator Farrow, Senator Thiesfeldt, Nass, Knutson, many other people have weighed in on this. We have talked to a variety of stakeholders and took into account what we heard at the hearings from so many people and we feel that we have a process that will make its way through the system. Senator Olsen is giving us a hearing on Thursday, he has been involved in the discussions on this, he is supportive of what we are doing and we look forward to getting this through. The Governor wants this to get through, um, we have been in conversation with the Governors office along the way as well, so Im very optimistic that we took this opportunity and, thankfully, because parents and teachers

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and individuals all across the state came out and raised up their voices that we were able to use that momentum to get something done legislatively. We have to see it through to the end VM: And constitutionally. LV: Correct. Your listeners have to contact their legislators they dont have to call those whose names I just mentioned because we all support it [laughter], but they can call any other of their legislators to make sure that they signed on to this bill and support it as it makes its way through the final process here while were still in session. VM: Let me ask you just another technical question. People have spent money, districts have spent money, to adopt the materials for Common Core the curricular materials. Now they would, because were gonna have a different test, ah, you would imagine that, that schools would want to adopt materials that were more aligned with the Wisconsin test. So they want to know, you know, Ive got someone in the Catholic schools here - weve already adopted Common Core is this going to be an extra added expense to local school districts or local schools? LV: Well if they decide that theyre going to ultimately go towards taking, when the new test comes out, yes, I mean unless they want to take the chance. It is one of the problems. But this is a decision that every local school board is going to have to make and parents are going to have to be involved in that process as well. 16:15 VM: So the idea, though, is that most people would adopt materials that would be aligned to the test, um, but is there a penalty if somebody fare poorly on the Wisconsin test because theyve adopted a different set of standards? LV: Um, at this point, no, but as you know we are also working on accountability in the legislature as well so, and that piece has not been finalized. VM: O.k., and, let me ask just one last question and then Im gonna cut you loose. Had you introduced just cold repeal language, would it have passed? LV: No. VM: O.k. LV: I mean I was willing to do it I was ready to do it, but given the constitutional issues and the blowback I received from people who were concerned about the constitutional issues, I decided that it was best to work within the system that we have and it took us a lot of time to come up with something, and we believe that this is, puts us in a direction of creating our own Wisconsin based standards and I think thats ultimately where most of the people that we talked to around the state the direction they want us to go in. VM: o.k. public hearing on Thursday

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LV: I dont know the exact time yet, but I can get it to you as soon as I have it so you can let people know. VM: Senator Leah Vukmir, I appreciate the time today. Thank you very much, thanks for the work, I know you threaded a needle. LV: Well thank you and all of your listeners for continually reaching out to us and letting us know what their concerns were. So that helped a lot, thats how the process is supposed to work. VM: Yeah, it is, and I know youre not done yet. I mean this has not even been introduced as a piece of legislation yet, so it is all hands on deck until we finally get satisfaction and that Wisconsin will decide what Wisconsin kids learn in school. Thanks, Leah. LV: Thank you, Vicki, bubbye. VM: I appreciate it. 18:04

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