Just a few weeks ago on March 28th, Gov. Evers vetoed a bill that would have required state education officials to restore the original student testing benchmarks and undo the new testing standards implemented by State Superintendent Jill Underly, despite criticizing the move in the past.

The new standards that were introduced by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) lowered the threshold for what is considered proficient on the Wisconsin Forward Exam. This move is dangerous because it inflates student's test scores and gives the appearance that they are performing much better than they actually are, causing less people and parents to pay attention to the quality of our education, especially in Milwaukee Public Schools.

The bill Republicans authored would have required education officials to honor the performance levels set by the National Assessment of Educational Process (NAEP). Under the NAEP report, Wisconsin students are declining in proficiency. Yet, under the DPI's inflated numbers, it shows the highest levels of proficiency ever recorded in the history of the Forward Exam. Manufacturing fake results like this is dangerous to the futures of our kids and is insulting to parents. If Gov. Evers really wants this to be the "Year of the Kid" as he said in his budget address, he will do what is right and restore the testing benchmarks to the original standards.

Click here to read a report regarding Wisconsin test scores