This Just In ...

Superintendent Patz, you want an answer...go get it!

Posted by Kevin Fischer on Oct. 4, 2012

Franklin School Superintendent Steve Patz thinks his school district is getting the shaft. Patz claims the methodology used by the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to gauge high school graduation rates is misleading.

When tabulating Franklin’s rate, DPI includes the high schoolers spending time at the Milwaukee County House of Corrections, located right here in God’s country, Franklin.

Patz doesn’t think that’s fair, arguing those inmates are not from Franklin. The district educates those inmates who then scatter. In the process, they lower Franklin’s excellent graduation rate. Upon further review, the Franklin stats don’t look as exemplary as they should to anyone who investigates the numbers.

Franklin gets $450,000 to take on educating the House of Correction students. I’m sure the district spent all of a heartbeat accepting the cash. So it must play by the DPI rules.

Why would Patz cry foul? Obviously he wants the best face possible on the district he runs. But he also can use the loftiest student performance numbers possible to sell those three multi-million dollar facility referenda between now and Election Day.

Even so, Patz raises a legitimate issue and has asked the DPI to separate the inmate figures from the total Franklin graduation data. My guess is DPI won’t do it.

So here’s a friendly suggestion to the superintendent. Have your staff crunch the numbers. Shouldn’t be too difficult or time-consuming. Determine what the graduation rate is both sets of students, inmates and non-inmates.

Then send me the results. I’d be glad to post them here for all to see. Or issue a news release. Or hold a open house or information fair. 

If the graduation rate is 99% as you believe, then let’s find out. You don’t need to complain about DPI whose money you snarf up so happily.