http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/survey-finds-school-districts-have-taken-hits-walker-touts-reforms-56305pl-133586313.htmlAccording to the release from the DPI and the administrators association:
Nine of 10 students in the responding school districts attend a district that had a net loss of staff "in one of four staffing areas" - teachers, administrators, aides and support staff.
Four in 10 students attend districts with increased class sizes in the elementary grades.
Though the state's school districts have experienced staff cuts in most areas over the previous two school years, the cuts are much deeper this year - almost exactly three times as deep as the 2010-'11 school year.
Two out of three responding districts reported that they expect to have as deep or even deeper cuts next school year.
Walker's office issued a detailed critique of the survey.
"Governor Walker's reforms are working, schools are staying the same or getting better . . . while the state will hold the line on property taxes over the next two years," said Walker's chief spokesman, Cullen Werwie, in the statement.
The statement also pointed out the flip side of many of the numbers laid out in the document describing the survey. Where the survey document pointed out that four in 10 students attend districts with increased class sizes, Werwie's statement says, "Even according to the WASDA's own data, 60% of districts have class sizes that are staying the same or getting smaller."