Yellow Bus

Any elected body thrives on a clash of ideas and diversity of opinion so long as the parties are willing to learn from one another. If an elected body has no diversity, no one will challenge those ideas; the decisions made are more likely to be weaker. Six years ago, the clashes on the board appeared to be destructive. At its last regular meeting, Director Hardin storm out of a board meeting, shouting at other directors as the full board passed a resolution allowing for the handcuffing of students. When Peter Blewett was elected school board president a couple weeks…

State Representative Don Pridemore took the right podium and State School Superintendent Tony Evers took the left both figuratively and physically at a state school superintendent debate sponsored by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) this past Wednesday in Madison. No one expected Pridemore to win. After all, this is the legislator who called for the arrest of any governmental official that tried to implement Obamacare and who recommended that school districts consider placing armed volunteers in our schools to protect the children. So a lot of school board officials watching the debate had all the anticipation of a…

Last Saturday, a thousand prospective teachers registered at Vincent High School seeking the 700 possible teacher positions available in Milwaukee Public Schools next school year. This follows several years of layoffs prompted by budget cuts and a loss of students to charter and choice schools along with losses to suburbs through open enrollment. The new openings are the result of senior teachers retiring to lock in retirement benefits as the teacher contract ends. Getting new elementary teachers will not be a problem. For every elementary opening in Illinois, its colleges and universities train 10 possible elementary teachers. A flood of…

Gov. Walker’s proposed education budget would expand  school vouchers to nine other communities. His budget would slightly increase funding to school districts, but, because he would not lift the revenue caps, districts would be required to lower property taxes resulting in zero increases for school district spending per child. Other provisions are not particularly public school friendly. One expects that pro-public education supporters would pan much of Governor Walker’s education budget. But key moderate Republicans are balking at the plan as well, notably Senators Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) and Luther Olsen (R-Ripon). So what is Walker thinking? Does he actually think…

Author Andy Smarick was telling a Washington, D.C., gathering that “the traditional urban public school system is broken, and it cannot be fixed. It must be replaced.” Meanwhile, across town, teacher union president Randi Weingarten gave another message to a different crowd: “It’s time to fix, not close, our schools.” So wrote Emma Brown of The Washington Post. In my previous posting I outlined how some charter school advocates like Smarick are pushing the idea that charter schools should replace traditional urban school districts. Aren’t there any well functioning urban school districts? Thankfully there are, and either Smarick doesn’t know about…

I wasn’t sure Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wanted to be at a gathering of the National School Board Association on January 28th in Washington, D.C. He talked so fast one would have thought he had to catch an outbound train within the next five minutes. NSBA members were asked to put their pitchforks away before Duncan spoke. But during the question period, Duncan got an earful on charter schools. School board members across the country see the charter school movement as undercutting public education. Duncan and the present administration are seen as being too closely aligned with the charter…

In 2011, members of the Florida state legislature considered cutting the pay of school board members to $100 per meeting. Florida school board salaries are set by the state according to their county-wide school district population. The average Florida school board member is paid around $30,000 per year, higher than the salaries for members of the state legislature. The measure to cut school board salaries ultimately failed, but Florida legislators were able to raise their own salaries closer to the state school board member’s average salary. Florida is one of only ten states where the legislature is considered full time…

The ink was barely dry on a state judge’s decision to strike down much of Wisconsin’s new collective bargaining law. This was on the heels of a federal court decision that also struck down some of the same provisions. Peter Davis, chief legal counsel for the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC), took the microphone at the Wisconsin School Law Seminar in October and looked out at the perplexed school board members and administrators. What did the decisions by Federal Judge Conley and State Judge Colas mean for collective bargaining? Were school officials to follow the original intent of Act 10…

In December, the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute released a survey of Milwaukeeans’ opinion on Milwaukee Public Schools. The results give us a window into what people are thinking, but the survey clearly shows contradictions and that the public may know a lot less about our schools is necessary to make informed decisions. Part of the problem is that many citizens have little connection to the educational system. When asked “How many children under 18 years old live in this household,” 57.7 percent responded “none.” That number doesn’t include parents who may have very young children who are not attending any school. So…

The Sandy Hook Elementary shootings are the worst school shooting in recent memory. We must mourn the lost, love and protect those that survived, and do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I don’t claim to be an expert on guns, violence or mental health, although that hasn’t stopped so many other bloggers, journalists and political pundits from commenting on these subjects. What I do know is schools and education, and I can tell you more guns in our schools is certainly not the answer. The Michigan legislature passed a provision to allowed concealed weapons to…