Schools

By Chris Rickert, Wisconsin State Journal – The success of Dane County’s private voucher and independent charter schools on the state report cards released this week varied greatly, with scores oftentimes reflecting differences in student body demographics. Among the 10 schools rated, scores ranged from a high of 84.7 at Eastside Evangelical Lutheran Elementary in Madison, to a low of 56.3 at Westside Christian School in Middleton. The scores correspond to a rating of “significantly exceeds expectations” for Eastside and “meets few expectations” for Westside Christian. Read more of this story.

This was year four of Madison’s collaborative week of service, and do we ever have the stories to back up the momentum and value of this experience! Over 300 volunteers from 24 Madison churches contributed 898 volunteer hours of work at 12 public schools and other sites around Madison. Most folks volunteer at one site: the site their church is working at, the site that works best for their schedule, or the one closest to their neighborhood. And with so many volunteer sites and different shifts, it’s hard to get the full view of this event. So, we gathered leaders…

Several hundred attendees and late stragglers at the Madison Farmers Market heard the pleas and prayers of the Don’t Mess With Our Kids Prayer Rally at the Wisconsin state capitol, Saturday afternoon, April 13, 2004. Simultaneous rallies were taking place at state capitols across the country, as part of a nationwide campaign to help parents defend their children against pressures that are tearing apart families and society. Jeane Wagner, local rally organizer and emcee, said, “We kicked God out of our nation. We need to bring Him back, that’s what this is about. It’s about standing up. Forgive us for…