9486 in the collection
Wrong answer
By Todd Alan Price
The panelists and audience members who participated in yesterday's Fighting Bob Fest break-out session on the proposed takeover of Milwaukee's public schools echoed the suspicions and misgivings that many other Milwaukee leaders have expressed over Governor Jim Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's plans to take control of the schools away from the elected school board and hand it over to Barrett. Milwaukee Public School Board President Michael Bonds, Milwaukee Teachers Education Association spokesperson Kris Collett, Madison Teachers Inc. executive director John Matthews, and American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin Vice President Charlie Dee came down squarely against the proposal on Saturday, with Dee going so far as to say he will never again support a Barrett candidacy.
Milwaukee Congresswoman and Bob Fest speaker Gwen Moore said earlier in the week, "We are baffled and confused by the proposal."
The battle for public education in Milwaukee has been waged often in spite of a hostile mainstream media. While the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal and WTMJ radio have focused largely on the supposed failure of the Milwaukee public school system, advocates for public education have been left to explain why mayoral takeover is hardly a worthy response to what ails the city of Milwaukee or what will 'fix' the schools.
Moore reminds us that any so-called takeover of the schools in Milwaukee would be no small undertaking. MPS has its own budget, larger even than that of the city itself. Second, she noted that the school system has its own taxing authority. Third, the mayoral takeover itself was no guarantee for precipitating the flow of federal dollars from the coveted "Race to the Top" funds held in abeyance by the federal government.
Indeed, when Moore personally asked U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan if takeovers of this kind are conditions for receiving stimulus funding he had informed her they were not.
Still, mayoral takeover is favored by Duncan and his federal department of education. Barrett had even raised this issue when he first ran for office, setting off alarm bells from constituents who were not favorable to the idea, and it was then quickly dropped. But at least for now, the idea is back.
Board President Bonds blew the whistle on the whole deal when he revealed in a letter to the board of directors that the idea of the takeover had been proposed to him in a meeting with the mayor, and the mayor had suggested that Bonds move from his position in the advisory board to being a participant in the mayor’s proposed appointed board of advisors.
"This school board is the most pro-student in years," Bonds said. He noted that reading and math scores have gone up, that improvements have been actively sought to increase, for example, the preparation of students for college, and that an office of accountability had been recently established to help facilitate the flow of information between the school administration and the board of directors so the board has access to data it needs to make sound decisions.
Bonds days the school district is overstretched, and that his main goals are to make the school district smaller, standardize and enhance the curriculum, and maximize the use of resources.
School Board member Larry Miller says he is working with the parents of Milwaukee to improve parental involvement. Miller says the district is succeeding in reducing suspensions through greater and more direct involvement with the students in the schools.
Moore and Bonds wonder, how, if it takes everyone working together to help MPS, the students and teachers achieve, does it make sense to dismantle an elected body, placing the decision making power for the entire school district in the hands of one elected official?
To be certain, MPS faces daunting challenges. Eighty-five percent of the student body is on free and reduced lunch, in effect coming from impoverished homes. Yet as another school board member, former president Peter Blewett, notes, Milwaukee still retains some of the state's very best schools. Despite the daunting odds, an outstanding school like Rufus King High School could still achieve at the highest level, despite having well over 50 percent of its student populating in poverty. Blewett also pointed out that while the goal is to see that every child graduates, MPS was only slightly below the state average of 70 percent graduation. All in all, MPS is improving and next few years are critical.
Is that what Doyle and Barrett are afraid of?
— Todd Alan Price
Fighting Bob
2009-09-13
http://www.fightingbob.com/article.cfm?articleID=1055
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