Reaction to Unified 'report card'

Reaction to the Public Policy Forum's 10th comparative analysis of public schooling in Racine was offered by a panel of district experts Wednesday night.
Here's some of what they had to say:

"None of us likes where the test scores are, but we see some advancement, particularly in elementary grades. Our point of emphasis now is secondary (education improvements)."

--Tony Baumgardt, president, Board of Education

"One can't help but be distressed. But we're beginning to see some things happening, some reasons for hope."

-- Jack Parker, interim superintendent

"The data are a wakeup call to arms. We have to rethink how we deliver services, a monumental task. We need a 'secondary transformation;' fundamentally delivering instruction differently. (online, different schedules, etc.) If done right, Racine will be the best urban district in the country by 2010-2012."

-- Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, chief academic officer

"The state funding system is broken."

-- Peter Knotek, president, Racine Education Association

"Minority failures are at the heart of the matter ... This requires a total reconception of how we think of minority students. How would you feel carrying around the label 'at risk'? We must reconceptualize all of our kids as kids with promise. This will require a total community effort."

-- Jack Parker