September 11, 2015

Volume 1 Issue 14

State Representative Janel Brandtjen:

 ACT Scores in Wisconsin Shows Reforms are Working!

The national numbers are in and according to the College Board, Wisconsin ranks 2nd in ACT scores.  The scores once again diminish the gloom and doom rhetoric we consistently hear from the various educational mouthpieces.  The DATA shows that parents, teachers and school boards across the state are working together to provide a quality education for our children. The reforms are working and parents have real life choices in various areas.  Open enrollment, charter schools, choice schools and virtual learning programs have provided market based and family orientated options across the state.  Wisconsin's graduation rate is also the 2nd highest in the nation at 88%. Great news for Wisconsin.  

Don't Be Misled by Unemployment Statistics:

There are three kinds of working age adults in the United States. The first group are adults who are working, and the second group is comprised of adults who are looking for work. The third group are people who are neither working or looking for work. Either they have become discouraged and are no longer looking for a job or they found a comfortable spot on welfare. Perhaps there is a small fourth group of people, those who are too wealthy to worry about it but I don't seem to know any of those people.

About.com has a nice explanation of why simple unemployment figures don't tell the whole story.  The standard employment rate doesn't include people in the third group so the actual unemployment is not accurately reflected in the statistic. For example the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis unemployment rate for July of 2015 is 4.8%. How can this number be accurate? We are told that the number of unemployed in the City of Milwaukee is at unbelievably high levels. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the number of people not working (Nationally) is over 93 million. Breitbart has a nice story with links to the US Department of Labor (Click Here).  I will be looking into this discrepancy in the upcoming weeks.     

God Bless Wisconsin! 

***********************

       Please take a moment to remember our fallen heroes.

It's important to teach your children and grandchildren the history of 9-11.