"Putting the Public Back in Public Education"

[mojowork_n]

All things considered -- in hindsight -- I think I’m glad I voted for the Green Party candidate in last February’s primary election for State School Superintendent. The eventual winner, Tony Evers, was the candidate favored by most people, but the primary election among 5 hopeful’s was only going to reduce the field of 5 to 2.

I had briefly met the Green Party guy, Professor Todd Price, on a street corner on the East Side and looked up his credentials. With a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Curriculum and Instruction, he had been a union organizer with SEIU and worked on student, labor and higher education issues.

According to the Green Party website, Professor Price “…ran on dismantling "No Child Left Behind", fixing the school funding formula, building safe schools through anti-discrimination measures and tolerance for students and teachers of different religions, ethnicities and sexual orientations. He also spoke about the "Truth in Recruiting" movement that seeks to make sure that students hear both sides of the story when talking to military recruiters so they can fairly weigh the risks of military service along with the benefits.”

His slogan was, “Putting the Public Back in Public Education,” and he got my vote in the only election in which he was on the ballot.

What a surprise, then, to pick up the local rag last Friday, to read:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/53190097.html

and

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/53265337.html

From the first article:

“Mayoral control of the school system – a tactic that experts say has improved the academic and fiscal performance of some other urban districts – has been hinted at in Milwaukee since late spring, but wasn't formally endorsed until Doyle did so Thursday in an interview with a member of the Journal Sentinel's editorial board…

{this proposal was also}…supported by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers. {It has} set off immediate criticism from Milwaukee School Board President Michael Bonds.

Bonds abruptly resigned on Thursday from the MPS Improvement and Innovation Advisory Council, a seven-member panel assembled by Barrett in May to address the financial stability and academic performance of the district. At that time, Barrett said the formation of the committee was not a step toward mayoral control of the system, and that the appointment of Bonds was proof that he wanted the School Board to stay involved.

In a strongly worded letter to the mayor Thursday, Bonds said he couldn't continue to be a part of a public committee to improve MPS when negotiations clearly were occurring in private over a new governance structure that would eliminate an elected board.”

It’s still very early on – the specific recommendations of both sides aren’t even out, yet, and no one’s suggested what specific steps need to be taken for the extra-legal dissolution of the current school board governance structure – but I made the mistake of posting the following in another thread:

...That whole front-page announcement of the proposed putsch to replace the school board, and swap out elected representatives with mayoral flunkies, for instance.

What's that all about? The way I read the J-S news story, they saved the best part for the end ("burying the lede," I think that's called) when they talked about how much Federal government cash could be available.

I can see where a governor and mayor facing serious budget issues might be tempted by that, but it didn't necessarily seem like a recipe for boosting student achievement. Chicago did something similar and Mayor Daley appointed someone with no experience, or background at all, in education, to be in charge. Results have been indifferent, or mixed, at best. Under that system, what would happen if you had a total sell-out -- a Scott Walker, or an Art Donovan -- elected to the mayor's office?

It seems clear that the editorial staff of the Journal-Sentinel -- bowing to the wishes of the WMC, and greater Milwaukee Committee -- believe it to be a great idea, but all they seem to be interested in is teaching kids just enough math to make change at MacDonald's. All that teaching-to-the-test, "No Child" b.s., again.

Or maybe I'm mistaken, but it was a big red flag for me when Michael Bonds, the School Board Head, refused to go along.

…That’s it. It was thoughtless and kind of careless to put those comments in the other Mayor Barrett thread, hence the re-post.

I’d be interested to know if anyone has more detailed information on what this is all about. When the Journal-Sentinel writers use rubber-stamp prose like, ”…a tactic that experts say has improved the academic and fiscal performance of some other urban districts…” I tend to suspect that their support has more to do with “fiscal performance” than “academic” achievement, whatever yardstick is being used to measure that.