Among his other cuts, Walker would like to reduce the UW system’s budget by 250 million dollars.  If this plan is followed, UW-Madison will bear half the burden of the cut.  To manage this, Walker believes he will have to grant the University more independence from the other UW schools. Madison would be allowed more freedom in hiring, expanding and other such decisions. If the bill goes into effect, UW-Madison will become a “public authority.” In other words, it will operate more like a private school earning a profit rather than a part of the state government. This could lead to an increase in tuition prices as UW-Madison compensates for the lost government funding.  As 23 percent of the UW system’s roughly 182,000 students are enrolled at Madison, this would mean changes for a large number of people. While UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin has expressed support for more Madison independence in order to shoulder the cuts, some are worried about the effect the change could have on other UW campuses.

Due to this, the UW system’s Board of Regents met on Thursday, April 7 to consider options for the future of the UW system.  The Board of Regents is the governing board of the UW system. Its 18 members make decisions regarding university chancellors, the budgets of individual universities and admission standards. Many of the 26 schools currently included in the UW system have looked to achieve some more freedom, and Walker’s proposal may provide the opportunity for them to do so. An alternative option, coined the Wisconsin Idea Plan, would keep Madison within the system and give all the universities more flexibility and independence. The new agreement would provide the resources needed to attain world-class faculty and allow individual campuses to develop their own pricing models. Despite sharing a goal of making their universities successful and competitive, the Board is experiencing difficulties in coming to a consensus. Many universities are set on gaining more autonomy, but disagreements continue over what is best for UW-Madison and the system as a whole.  It remains unclear when the issue will be completely resolved and when the possible alterations will begin to take affect. As uncertainty continues, those affected by the potential changes to the system have little choice but to hold out for a final decision.

Originally imported from Taiwan, the silver and bighead carp were first brought to Arkansas in 1972 to help fish farms control water quality by consuming algae. Since escaping, likely from flooded ponds, they have been chomping their way up the Mississippi River. The fish existed in small amounts in the wild for about two decades, but then numbers increased drastically in the early 1990s. The Carp has since spread up the Mississippi as far as Iowa and down it to Louisiana.

In addition, it has spread northwest along the Missouri River into South Dakota and northeast through the Illinois River. In the Mississippi river, the bighead and silver carp have become dominant species. They devour plankton in such large amounts that native species struggle to compete and survive. The bighead carp eats up to 40% of its body weight a day according to http://www.stopasiancarp.com, a website started by Michigan Attorney General Michael Cox. The largest have grown to as much as 100lbs in weight.

Asian carp also endanger the safety of boaters. The silver carp are known for jumping six feet into the air when alarmed by boat engines in the water, causing them to crash into boats and their occupants. On the Mississippi river, one woman was knocked unconscious. Others have reported broken jaws and temporary loss of boat control. They are also a serious hazard to the lives of water skiers because of their tendency to jump out of the water with an impact that has been compared to being struck with a bowling ball.

Now these alien invaders are only seven miles away from reaching the largest freshwater system in the world, the Great Lakes and the rivers that flow into them from Canada. In November of 2009, evidence was found that they were present in a canal connected to Lake Michigan, and now the fear is that they will endanger the ecosystem of the entire Great Lakes, starving the native salmon, trout and perch by consuming their food sources and threatening the region’s $7 billion fishing industry. Native fish in the Mississippi have already become notably skinnier as their food source diminishes.

Illinois, which controls the canal, refuses to close it off. Illinois officials say that the threat is exaggerated, that the evidence is inconclusive and that closure would damage the barge and shipping industries. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal is the only water transport link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin and closure would cost the barge industry about 400 jobs. Michigan Attorney General Michael Cox, along with four other states and the neighboring Canadian province of Ontario, have responded with a lawsuit against Illinois.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn argues that the carp can be stopped using poison or an electrified barrier. However both of these steps have been taken and both have failed. Poisoning the canal killed thousands of native fish but only one Asian carp. If an underwater electronic barrier was put in to prevent the carp from entering the canal, had it been effective, the carp would not be seven miles away from Lake Michigan.

To the disappointment of the Great Lake states, the Obama administration has sided with Illinois. Elena Kagan, his Solicitor General, last week told the Supreme Court that the federal government did not believe the “dramatic step” of closing the canal locks was necessary. On the campaign trail last year, Obama claimed he was the Great Lakes president and said he would have a zero tolerance policy for invasive species.

While experts can speculate, only time will tell how the growing population of Asian Carp will truly affect the Great Lakes’ ecosystem.

During a press conference in March, President Obama commented on the faults of the traditional education system.

“Despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short and other nations outpace us,” Obama said.

Studies show that the highest amount of above proficient students in the Unites States is 51% of students in Massachusetts, while the country of Singapore has a level of over 70%.

Obama stated that to be able to succeed in the 21st century, educators would need to adapt to a new academic calendar.

“We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land at the end of each day,” Obama said.

The President also referenced the shortcomings of the US educational calendar as compared to the competition.

“That calendar may have once made sense, but today, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage. Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea. That is no way to prepare them for a 21st century economy,” Obama said.

Although Obama believes that a longer school year could increase the nation’s educational standing, both teachers and administrators believe that the system has its faults.

“I think it needs to have community support,” English teacher Kate Schultz said.

The program would likely pose problems to parents with children in multiple schools, and with work schedules that change during the summer, and would not accommodate their children being in school throughout the summer.

The year-long program may have numerous problems with students and parents, but would also have a large impact on the school budget.

“More school days would likely increase staffing costs,” Principal Jeff Zaspel said.

The increased costs of maintenance, utilities, and lunches could also  pose a problem during the current economic downturn.

“With funding as tight as it currently is, I would be surprised to see the school year lengthened,” Zaspel said.

The higher cost of the year-long program may prove to be a burden in today’s low-budget schools.

Discounting the current economic situation, a year-round school system could greatly improve the educational climate of the whole nation.

“I think year-round school would be a great investment in our youth, and I do believe we could accomplish more, and perhaps offer more innovative programs more customized to student needs,” District Superintendent James Fitzpatrick said.

Unlike the current system, the proposed year-long system features a series of short breaks, which could allow children to remember more of their studies.

“It would take a lot less time to get in to the school groove,” Schultz said.

Fitzpatrick also believes that a longer school year could be achieved in a way that would not affect students negatively.

“I think it would be good to have more time with students in a school year, and I think you could do it in a way where there would still be adequate breaks throughout the year,” Fitzpatrick said.

If the program is used properly, a prolonged school year could prove beneficial to students, teachers, and parents. Even though the amount of days in the plan still isn’t decided, both Obama and administrators agree that the school year needs to be prolonged in order for students to be educated properly and to help the ailing United States educational system.

“The project first started in 1999 when Jefferson, Watertown and Milton requested that bypasses be created,” Project Manager Mark Vesperman said.

The Jefferson area wanted a bypass because there were too many vehicles going through town, primarily big trucks.

“The new bypass will take out one half of the cars out of town and put them on the bypass,” Vesperman said.

This major construction project is definitely a costly one, with an estimated cost of $82 million for the Jefferson bypass and the cost of the full project being predicted around $445 million.

Projects like these are initially funded with 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent state funds. However, because there is not enough federal funds to cover all of their transportation projects, some projects can be funded with as much as 100 percent state funds.  Because of this, one might wonder where these state funds come from.

“The state and federal dollars for the projects comes from the gas tax – or users of the highways and streets.  If costs go up higher than anticipated then some projects could be delayed depending on gas tax revenues and federal funding allocation to our state,” Vesperman said.

The 48 miles of construction is a collaboration of 8 segments: Janesville to Milton, Highway 59 relocation at Milton, Milton to Fort Atkinson, Fort Atkinson bypass, Jefferson bypass, Jefferson to Johnson Creek, Johnson Creek to Watertown, and Watertown to Highway 60 East.

About half of the expansions are going to be alongside the existing corridor.  The other half, which is mainly the bypasses, are being constructed at new locations.

“There are over 300 people working on construction for the total project,” Vesperman said.

The Jefferson bypass will contain a 7.5-mile freeway.  Highway 26 traffic will be led by four lanes with a grass median; this will lead Highway 26 traffic around the west side of Jefferson, rather than going through Jefferson to get to your destination.  There will be four lanes because of the increase in traffic and accidents.

“There will be less congestions, which means less crashes,” Vesperman said.

With four lanes, it will look like the interstate.

The Department of Transportation [DOT] chose to go around the west side of Jefferson because there were the least number of environmental impacts and more benefits.  Environmental meaning no wetlands, parks, historical areas, or areas owned by Native Americans.  It is also closer to schools, which is beneficial for students.

“We had to buy and relocate 2 businesses and 5 houses.  We will pay for moving expenses and try to find a comparable home for them to live in,” Vesperman said.

“There will be three interchanges when building the bypass.  One will be at US 18  and the other on the north side of Jefferson.  Bridges will be built at County Highways J, N, W, Popp Road, and Jahn Road so people can travel over or under WIS 26,” Vesperman said.

The Real Estate Acquisition was scheduled to begin in July of 2006 and is planned to continue until February of 2009.

The Final Design and Construction Plans preparation was planned to start in January of 2007 through August of 2009.  Construction started during the fall of 2008 where bridges started being built over the Crawfish River and the Rock River.

The roadway and interchange construction work will be constructed over a three year period; from 2009 and hopefully finish at the end of 2010.

In previous years, teachers and administrations around the state encountered problems with the exam.

“We’re not able to monitor progress as well as we’d like,” Fort Atkinson High School Principal Dr. Jeff Zaspel said. “It measures academic achievement, which means it measures where somebody is at the given day and time of the test, and doesn’t give any corrective feedback,” Zaspel said.

With the lack of corrective feedback for the students, teachers are having  trouble with selecting the best way to teach their students according to their specific needs, according to the data received from the WKCE .

The WKCE measures a student’s proficiency in a set of criteria, which may not fit a student’s academic needs. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction needed to create a new course of action based on the adjustments needed for the assessment, so it could correspond to students’ specific academic needs.

According the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin will transform its statewide testing program to a new system that combines state, district, and classroom assessments and is more responsive to students, teachers, and parents needs.

“At minimum, students will be taking the WKCE this fall and again during the 2010-11 school year. Results from these tests will be used for federal accountability purposes,” State Superintendent Tony Evers said during a press conference in August.

The creation of a new assessment exam to replace the WKCE will rest mainly on the shoulders of the Next Generation Assessment Task Force, a committee of 42 individuals from a wide background of education and business.

The Task Force reviewed Wisconsin’s assessment history, explored the values and limitations of the current exam, and heard presentations on assessments systems from other states around the country.

Even though many different test ideas where presented to the committee, a new test has not been chosen to replace the WKCE in the next few years.

Even though the WKCE will be continuing for the next few years, the students of the future will be able to take an assessment that may prove more accurately assess students’ needs and abilities.

With the release of this new assessment, the changes that may ensue could alter the educational landscape of Wisconsin Schools of this generation.