Burmaster addresses 7th Annual Charter School Conference

National Charter Schools Week is April 30 to May 4

State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster spoke April 17 to the Seventh Annual Wisconsin Charter School Conference held in Waukesha. She noted that the state added 17 new charter schools in the past year, bringing the total to 188 charter schools serving 27,000 students. In her speech she said:

We are here today because we are committed to a quality education for all Wisconsin students. The reality of the charter school movement in our state is that we’re making great progress because we work together.

Students need to be technologically proficient, globally aware, financially and economically literate, and exposed to world languages. The globalization of the economy demands that more Americans become fluent in at least one language besides English. Cognitively, the best time to begin to learn another language is when you are young.

I am pleased to tell you that some of our new charter schools will offer Chinese language instruction to their students. Several existing charter schools offer intensive language training in Spanish as well.

During her speech, Burmaster recognized two individuals who have been instrumental in providing leadership to the charter school movement in Wisconsin. "Tom Scullen and Senn Brown have worked to make Wisconsin a better place. They tirelessly have promoted educational innovations and choices for parents and children in our state," she said.

Brown is retiring after many years of public service first as a lobbyist with the Wisconsin Association of School Boards and recently as the Executive Secretary of the Wisconsin Charter School Association. Scullen was recognized for his service as President of the Wisconsin Charter Schools Association and his work as the district administrator of the Appleton School District.

In addition to the successful statewide charter schools conference, Gov. Jim Doyle has officially proclaimed April 30 to May 4 as Charter Schools Week in Wisconsin. The observance coincides with National Charter School Week. In his proclamation, Doyle said that "the charter schools initiative is intended to boost student achievement, stimulate educational innovations, expand educational choices of parents, students and educators, and to foster continuous improvements in all public schools."

Additional information: http://www.dpi.wisconsin.gov/sms/csindex.html or http://www.wicharterschools.org

For more information about SEAchange, contact: John Johnson at (608) 266-1098.

Last updated on 4/30/2007