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Daily Bread, Education, Laws/Regulations, Legislation, Literacy, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.12.24: Finance Committee Edits the Wisconsin DPI List of Science-Based Reading Curriculums

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 Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 66. Sunrise is 7:09 and sunset 6:59 for 11h 49m 45s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission meets at 6 PM and the Public Works Committee also meets at 6 PM. 

On this day in 2009, financier Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street’s history.

On 3.7.24, FREE WHITEWATER posted on the Wisconsin DPI List of Science-Based Reading Curriculums. That post cited the reporting of Danielle DuClos and Rory Linnane (DPI diverges from Early Literacy Council in its reading curriculum recommendations).  

The Joint Finance Committee had the option to edit the DPI list of science-based reading programs with their own science-based list. They’ve now done so. Baylor Spears reports Republican-led budget committee rejects DPI literacy curriculum recommendations:

Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) rejected the state Department of Public Instruction’s early literacy curriculum recommendation and, instead, chose to approve a smaller list of instructional guidelines recommended by the Early Literacy Curriculum Council.

The curriculum recommendations are part of the state’s work to improve the way reading is taught by shifting early literacy education to a “science of reading” approach, which emphasizes phonics and learning to sound out letters and phrases, and away from a “balanced literacy” approach, which focuses on pictures, word cues and memorization.

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For the 2024-25 school year, the council’s final list included: Core Knowledge Language Arts K-3, Our EL Education Language Arts, Wit and Wisdom with Pk-3 Reading Curriculum and Bookworms Reading and Writing K-3. 

DPI, however, had submitted a longer list of 11 recommended early literacy curricula to the Joint Finance Committee last month for consideration. The agency’s list threw out the “Bookworms” curriculum, saying it did not include instruction in some of the components included in the Act 20 definition of science-based early reading instruction, and included the other three council recommendations along with eight other options.

The committee approved the council’s final curriculum list in a 10-4 vote on Monday.

SpaceX Dragon with Crew-7 returns to Earth after 6 months in space: 

Daily Bread, Education, Laws/Regulations, Literacy, School District, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.9.24: From Here & Now, a Discussion of Wisconsin’s New Law on Reading Instruction

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 Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 40. Sunrise is 6:14 and sunset 5:55 for 11h 41m 07s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the United States v. The Amistad case that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally.

PBS Wisconsin’s Here & Now aired last night a segment on Wisconsin’s new law on reading instruction. That segment is embedded below: 

See also The Wisconsin DPI List of Science-Based Reading Curriculums: ‘Wisconsin, and other states, have moved to a public science of reading curriculum as a matter of law. In this way, the course (for now) on the general approach toward literacy in early grades has been set, even if the debate has not been settled between different academic perspectives (the science of reading or balanced literacy). Adopting a science of reading approach is state policy rather than a local decision.’

The Oldest Junk Boat Left in Hong Kong:

Daily Bread, Education, Laws/Regulations, Legislation, Literacy, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.7.24: The Wisconsin DPI List of Science-Based Reading Curriculums

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 Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 6:17 and sunset 5:53 for 11h 35m 17s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 11.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1799, Napoleon captures Jaffa in Palestine and his troops proceed to kill more than 2,000 Albanian captives.

Danielle DuClos and Rory Linnane report DPI diverges from Early Literacy Council in its reading curriculum recommendations:

Wisconsin’s Early Literacy Curriculum Council and the Department of Public Instruction have released their highly anticipated lists of recommended reading curriculums, as required by the state’s aggressive new literacy law Act 20.

Act 20, signed into law last summer, requires curriculum to be backed by the “science of reading”: a decades-old body of research that explains how the brain learns to read. It includes an emphasis on phonics, which teaches students the sounds letters make and how those sounds combine in predictable patterns to form words.

The bees that can learn:

Animals, Crapweasels, Daily Bread, Laws/Regulations, WI DNR, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 2.29.24: Wolf-Baiter Under Investigation

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 Good morning.

This Leap Day in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 43. Sunrise is 6:29 and sunset 5:44 for 11h 15m 00s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 78.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1796, the Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain comes into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.

People have a right to defend themselves against dangerous animals, including endangered species, but defending against dangerous endangered animals does not include bating them with Kellogg’s snacks. Henry Redman reports Former DNR warden under investigation for wolf killing posted online about baiting in his yard:

A former Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) warden who served on the agency’s committee to create a new wolf management plan for the state is under investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for killing a wolf in his yard in December. He has claimed self-defense, but he posted on Facebook in November that he was baiting the animals with doughnuts and rice crispy cereal. 

The warden, Patrick Quaintance, also sits on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress where he holds positions on the body’s fur harvest and bear committees. The conservation congress serves as an important pathway between residents in Wisconsin and environmental policy makers. In the past, conservation groups have complained that the body is controlled by pro-hunting interests. 

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The investigation into Quaintance was first reported by Wisconsin Public Radio and the Ashland Daily Press. The Examiner has confirmed the investigation with the DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife. 

A month before killing the wolf, in November, Quaintance posted a photo of a wolf from a trail camera on his property to his Facebook page. In the comments, he is asked what he’s baiting them with. 

He first responds with an emoji of a doughnut before adding that he used “rice crispy.” Another commenter responds with “snap crackle POP.” 

Because wolves are currently listed by the federal government as endangered in Wisconsin and the upper Midwest, a wolf can only be killed in self-defense. The hunting and trapping of wolves, including the use of bait, are currently illegal in Wisconsin.  

Quaintance did not respond to a request for comment. 

Quaintance’s career places a special burden on him: a warden, or former warden who respects the legacy of his service, cannot uphold the law by breaking it. As a smaller matter, it should be obvious that wolf-hunting with rice crispies is simply a weakling’s method. No bragging rights here, old boy. 

Smoke spews from Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano:

Elections, Law, Laws/Regulations, Trump, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 2.23.24: Wisconsin Ethics Commission Alleges Illegal Scheme by Trump Fundraising Committee and Rep. Janel Brandtjen

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 Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 44. Sunrise is 6:39 and sunset 5:37 for 10h 57m 53s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 99.3% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1987, Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.   WisPolitics.com…

City, Common Council, Council Leadership, Daily Bread, Law, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government

Daily Bread for 8.25.23: Scenes from a Council Meeting (Representations)

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Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 85. Sunrise is 6:12 AM and sunset 7:40 PM for 13h 27m 57s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 61.5% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1944, the Allies liberate Paris. During its session on 8.15.23,…

Animals, Bad Ideas, Carnivores, City, Coyotepocalypse, Laws/Regulations

Friday Coyoteblogging: In Whitewater, People Won’t Feed Coyotes — Coyotes Will Feed on People

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Embed from Getty Images I’ve warned Whitewater more than once about the probability of a coyote invasion. See Coyotes Begin War Against Humanity, Cat Defends Arizona Home Against Coyote, Coyotes abundant, troublesome in Rock County — GazetteXtra, Cat Defeats Three Coyotes in Combat, and Cat v. Coyote. (Ludicrously, Whitewater last year passed a ban against…

CDA, City, Conflicts of Interest, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Law, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Regulatory Capture

Texas (But Not Only Texas): Regulatory Capture

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Regulatory capture is a simple concept: it applies when regulatory agencies become dominated by the industries or interests they are by law required to regulate. These agencies begin to act to benefit particular incumbent firms or people in the industry they are supposed to be overseeing. The concept is also sometimes called agency capture or…

Coronavirus, Education, Laws/Regulations, Public Health, School District

Whitewater School Board Meeting, 9.23.20: 5 Points

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The particular path of the pandemic – involving in Whitewater countless thousands of daily interactions between people – is understandably difficult to predict. Nine days after deciding unanimously to resume face-to-face instruction beginning 9.28.20, Whitewater’s school board decided to begin face-to-face instruction on 9.28.20 only for elementary school students, with a hybrid model of instruction…

City, Conflicts of Interest, Coronavirus, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government

Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 9.15.20: 4 Points

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Updated 9.16.20 with meeting video. Last night, among other items, Whitewater Common Council’s met and considered municipal actions in response to the pandemic, heard presentations from Downtown Whitewater, Inc. and Discover Whitewater, and appointed a resident to fill a council vacancy in AD 5. A few remarks —  1. Pandemic Responses. Whitewater’s council last week declined, on…

Coronavirus, Education, Laws/Regulations, Public Health, School District

Whitewater School Board Meeting, 9.14.20: 5 Points

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Updated 9.16.20 with meeting video. At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board voted unanimously to offer a choice of either face-to-face or virtual instruction beginning September 28th and continuing through the semester (absent any alterations in the event of significant COVID-19 infections). Parents received, last night, an email requesting…