DPI response to Dairyland Sentinel reporting fails to make the grade

Student Name: Chris Bucher (DPI Communications)

Assignment: Argumentative Defense of Public Spending and Secrecy

Grade: F

“The spending referenced from a workshop held two years ago relates to standard-setting for the Forward Exam and has been taken out of context. [Note: Removing context, You claim the reporting lacks context, but you provide a general description rather than specific data to correct it.] This was a four-day workshop that brought together nearly 100 Wisconsin educators and national assessment experts to review the statewide assessment. The DPI contracts with Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) to administer the Forward Exam for nearly 400,000 students across public and private schools statewide. [Note: Appeal to Complexity, You are using large numbers to make the $368,885 figure seem small, but the number of students is irrelevant to the cost of a resort retreat for staff.] As part of that contract, the DRC organizes and facilitates this workshop and conducts secure test-item reviews at secure, offsite locations. Federal and state funds designated for assessment administration are used to support this work.

“The figure cited in a recent, politically motivated blog post [Note: Ad Hominem, Attacking the source as ‘politically motivated’ instead of refuting the accuracy of the $368,885 figure.] is misleading. It reflects the total cost of administering the workshop, including DRC staff salaries, secure laptops, meeting space, hotel and travel costs, lodging and reimbursement for panelists, other vendor expenses necessary to complete the work, and more. [Note: Red Herring, By listing staff salaries and laptops, you are attempting to distract from the $368,885 total, yet you provide no breakdown of those costs to prove the ‘junket’ portion was minor.] These costs are not all directed to Chula Vista. [Note: Straw Man Fallacy, The report claimed the event was at the resort; you are refuting a claim that all of the money went to the resort’s bank account, which was not the original reporting.]

“Nondisclosure requirements, including protections around live Forward Exam test questions, are defined by our vendor partners to protect their intellectual property and the test questions themselves. [Note: Non-Sequitur, The need for secure test items does not explain why minutes or recordings of the standard-setting deliberations, which impact public policy, do not exist.] Holding these meetings in Wisconsin supports the local tourism economy and reduces overall travel costs. [Note: Appeal to Emotion, Framing a luxury resort stay as ‘support for the local tourism economy’ is a classic attempt to rebrand a fiscal liability as a public virtue.] This approach is consistent with practices used by at least 24 other states who also contract with the DRC. [Note: Bandwagon Fallacy, Ad Populum, Just because other states engage in this practice does not make it a prudent use of Wisconsin taxpayer funds.]

“In lieu of an interview, find the below statement on the JFC withholding our agency operations funding, and the impact it will have on schools, students and educators: [Note: Avoidance, Refusing an interview while complaining about being ‘singled out’ is a rhetorical contradiction.]

“‘We are deeply disappointed in the delay from the JFC. We have been in contact with members and staff leading up to Tuesday indicating they were set to approve our request. The department was singled out for a set aside of 10 percent of its operating budget and without that money, will need to consider layoffs which will impact our ability to investigate educator wrongdoing, license teachers, pay choice schools, and operate the agency.’” [Note: Appeal to Fear, Ad Metum, and Slippery Slope, You are leaping from a budget allocation pause directly to ‘layoffs’ and the inability to ‘investigate educator wrongdoing.’ This is a heavy-handed attempt to distract from the changing of the standards, the secrecy and the waterpark workshop spending by threatening student safety.]