White Power Wigderson

By Jeff Simpson

Charlie Sykes, when he was playing the part of far right Republican and helping get his friends, Scott Walker and David Clarke elected, started a website(Using JSonline resources) called - Right Wisconsin. 

Capper appropriately re-named them White Wisconsin.

Then when Charlie Sykes decided to change his stripes and play the part of thoughtful moderate, he gifted the website to James Wigderson.

Wiggy has run it with the same amount of racism, but has eliminated the search option and comments.  He is being paid to tell you what to think, not have a discussion.  Jimmy has never had much interest in a debate (or in minorities voting but that's another blog).  At least he knows his weaknesses.

Wigderson recently, tried to spin a tale of getting his son off to his senior year of high school. Which apparently is quite a feat.

First off, he takes his obligatory right wing shot at public education and then spins a yarn of overcoming all odds to come out of his school educated. 

Yes, it was possible for me to get a good education there, in part because I sought it out against the odds. I spent my lunch hour my senior year hanging out in the Social Studies study lounge and my other free time in the math department office. I rewrote my school schedule to eliminate gym class starting my sophomore year so I could take extra academic classes and managed to find a guidance counselor to sign the new schedule.
Somebody had to look out for my education.

Or more likely, the staff had to find a way to keep tabs on the weird white loner, who no one liked for the safety of all. 

Next he takes another shot at his old high school - Milwaukee Vincent.  Which has a DPI report card failing rate that looks like one of Zeus Rodriguez's charter schools. 

The school has only gotten worse since my days there. The school “fails to meet expectations” according to the state of Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction and it’s not even close. Yet nothing will be done about Vincent and 999 kids will be trapped in a failing school this year. Some students will succeed but the odds are horribly against them. But at least it’s a union school, right?

Now that Wiggy has set it up, it is time for the full blown racist punchline.

So imagine my surprise when, thanks to the Facebook page for an upcoming high school reunion, I learned the school is getting a new $5.7 million stadium. The stadium will have artificial grass and a new track for WIAA events. The report I saw didn’t mention metal detectors, but it would be a good idea.
The new stadium is part of an $11 million improvement in athletic facilities for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), presumably so the little convicts can have the best facilities before being sent to the penitentiary.

Overlooking the fact that the new stadium for his old high school has been reported on extensively in the news, the kicker is this line. 

The new stadium is part of an $11 million improvement in athletic facilities for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), presumably so the little convicts can have the best facilities before being sent to the penitentiary.

Yes all athletes in the Milwaukee Public Schools are convicts...well at least all black athletes anyway.   

Wiggy when posting this garbage, linked to this story about a black basketball player at Milwaukee Washington who committed armed robbery but was still allowed to play in the tournament. 

I would explain to Wiggy that Basketball at Milwaukee Washington and Football/Track at Milwaukee Vincent are completely different.  I would also explain that one case, with one athlete of thousands, is hardly representative of all student athletes regardless of color.    However, I do not think he would get it, or even come close to getting it. 

It is important to meet people where they are at so I would approach Wiggy with the understanding, that just because you commit one illegal act that does not define you for the rest of your life. 

Even when it shows a serious pattern of racism. 

It Could Buy Me A Boat...

By Jeff Simpson

Multi Billionaire Betsy DeVos married heir to the Amway fortune, and unfortunately current Secretary of Education was reportedly in Milwaukee this week.

Of course not to visit our Milwaukee Public Schools, as she has only stepped foot in 12 of them in the country since being confirmed(which is 12 more than prior to being confirmed), as a GOP public official (only making $207,800/yr) being paid by taxpayer dollars, we are not entitled to know her schedule or speak to her.

Apparently, the Tea Party feels no access to public officials falls under the category of "strict Constitutionalism".

Another thing that Ms. DeVos was NOT doing in Milwaukee, was figuring out how to work with the fact that over 50% of the students in the MPS qualify for free and reduced lunches.

Her Yacht only has a crew of 12, and while she is adamant that she wants to build "God's Kingdom" in our public schools, she takes the feeding of 5000 with a single loaf of bread literally.    I also doubt she feels the need to share her caviar or Filet Mignons with any of the hungry public school children.

It was nice of Ms. DeVos, who fully supports The Donald's horrendous budget, to step away from her home and take a leisurely sail down the Great Lakes(before Trump,  Foxconn and Waukesha have a chance to ruin them).

 

Well, As Ms. DeVos says about the public schools that she is in charge of:

“At what point do we accept the fact that throwing money at the problem isn’t the solution?” Ms. DeVos asked.

Maybe Ms. Devos is correct and more money will not solve the achievement gap, or raise our test scores, or bring equalization to our schools or even happiness....

But it could buy me a boat!

PS;  to help clear up confusion, the yacht that Ms. Devos sailed to Milwaukee was the Seagate, not the Legacy or the Kitsune which they also own.

Abele Sandbags Public School Takeover Because Elections

In Milwaukee County, there is a classic battle going on for the seat of Milwaukee County Executive. On one side is the well-moneyed rich, spoiled brat who thinks he can just buy his reelection. On the other side is a wildly popular state senator who is actually progressive and has one helluva grassroots campaign going on.

The incumbent is Chris Abele, son of billionaire John Abele, who feels that because his daddy is rich, he's better than the rest of us. Abele's five years in office has led to the dismantling of civil service protections, repeated efforts to bust the unions (both public and private), the removal of checks and balances in county government by concentrating power in his hands and the takeover of Milwaukee Public Schools.

Abele was rather proud of his working with the Republicans in the state legislature to make sure that he would become the education privatization czar in Milwaukee. For years, Abele and fellow millionaire, Sheldon Lubar, openly said that they were targeting the Milwaukee Public School Board in an effort to privatize the school system. Now that the Republicans gave him what he wanted, he couldn't stop bragging about how great he would make things.

What Abele didn't count on was how unpopular his takeover plans would be. In the face of increasing criticism, Abele is trying to downplay his takeover agenda. Sadly for him, Abele and his allies keep committing gaffes that reveal that he has no intention of scaling back his plans.

His hand-picked Commissioner for Decommissioning Public Schools, Demond Means, scheduled his first "listening" session at a private charter school. After an immediate and large amount of blow back, Abele and his commissioner rescheduled the session for a Milwaukee Public Park. (In what I am sure is pure coincidence that about the same time, Abele's head of corporation counsel said it was OK to have political events at county parks.)

The real giveaway came from Abele's friend, Republican State Senator Alberta Darling, who coauthored the bill giving Abele the power to privatize the Milwaukee school system. In the video below, she came out and said that Abele is waiting until after the April election before fulfilling his role in the takeover of the Milwaukee Public Schools:



On the other side of this takeover his Abele's opponent, State Senator Chris Larson, who, as seen in the video at top) is not only standing with the Milwaukee teachers and parents, but is willing to lead the way to taking it to Abele, delivering petitions with over 800 signatures opposing Abele's takeover.

As the gentle reader can see, this race is much, much more than just an election about good government versus a corrupt plutocracy. It is also about the future of our children.

Cross posted from Crooks and Liars

The Mike Tate Watch

By Jeff Simpson 

Watching the Milwaukee County Executive race between current exec Chris Abele and State Senator Chris Larson will be interesting.  

Chris Abele, hired former Wisconsin Democratic Party head Mike Tate to help run his re-election campaign.  

Mike Tate who caused controversy in the last Gubernatorial election, by dismissing Kathleen Vinehout's initial plan to run for Governor by focusing on small donations, and not going after the big donors that many political insiders feel are necessary to winning elections.  

"The reality is that while we will never have as much money as Scott Walker it is not realistic to believe you can defeat him without running a serious, professional campaign that raises enough money to get the Democratic message out,” Tate said in a statement. “The stakes are too high for our families that are struggling under Scott Walkers policies for anyone to attempt a bid for Governor that will not and cannot raise the money needed to run a grassroots campaign that can communicate with voters at their door, via television, direct mail and the Internet. Modern times require modern campaigns."

Unfortunately for the people of Wisconsin, an unfortunate auto accident helped change our history.  

Now Mike Tate has hitched his wagons to what seems would be a candidate right up his alley.  A corporate right of center "Democrat" who has unlimited funds.  

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele brags that he will pay for his own re-election campaign.
Just look for the Brink's armored truck to pull up any second.

Records show that Abele has already bought $336,495 worth of airtimeon six Milwaukee-area TV stations since Oct. 26. His ads also are all over social media, especially Facebook. And his campaign has sent out at least three slick mailers to voters in the county.

Abele's campaign released two more TV spots on Tuesday, the first on thenew Milwaukee Bucks arena and the other on local bus service, and sent out a new flier as well. Even more direct mail will be on its way soon

 Throw in a five-member campaign staff, polling and consultants — former Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tateamong them — and Abele looks like he could spend as much as $1 million by the end of the year.

The guy who feels that the best way to "fix" our public schools, is to privatize them making no one accountable to the community, is willing to spend one million dollars to bury his opponent a year before the election.

Here is some quick advice to Mr. Abele, give the million dollars to the Milwaukee Public Schools and appoint Dr. Means as a volunteer to your campaign.  Everyone wins.
 
It will be interesting to see how clean Mike Tate runs a clean race or smears and misleads in his advertisements the way big money tends to do in elections.

  Remember, Chris Larson has always endorsed Mike Tate for chair when he ran, so it will be interesting to see what kind of loyalty Mike Tate shows his old friend.    

For me personally, I see it as a race between someone who likes to work with(and donate too) the extremist Republicans to gain more power(the undemocratic takeover of the Milwaukee County Board and local schools), versus a politician who perpetually gave in to the extremist Republicans(Larson led the way in giving our public education money to the Milwaukee Bucks Billioanire owners).  

Since the last two County Execs have stolen us blind anyway, I would take a long look at Joe Klein from the Pirate Party.  

Abele's Campaign Strategy Relies On Buy-Partisanship

Chris Abele has a lifelong pattern of using his daddy's checkbook to buy influence, gain the illusion of being a leader and cope with his daddy issues.

This behavior continued in his five years as Milwaukee County Emperor.  He used his daddy's money to buy off Republicans in the state legislature to pass bills he wanted whenever he didn't get his way.  Such bills include the power usurping bill, the creation of the non-elected taxing authority puppet Mental Health Board and the attempt to eliminate living wage laws across the state.

Likewise, he used his vast wealth as leverage with the Democrats, getting them to go along or, at the very least, keep quiet about his maleficent actions against Milwaukee and against other Democrats.

When Chris Larson announced his candidacy against Abele, I pointed out that Abele was very vulnerable because he had alienated large groups of people in the community.

Abele is already working hard to overcome his unpopularity by - you guessed it - buying people off.

For example, Abele angered a lot of people at MATC (Milwaukee Area Technical College) when he bypassed appointing a Milwaukeean to their board in favor for a conservative manufacturer from Mequon.  Abele has now cut a huge check to the MATC Promise program in an effort to help people forget how he screwed them over.

Abele is well known for his attacks on Labor, not just the public sector unions but also the private sector ones.  To overcome this, Abele has decided to try to buy off the trades unions by cutting them a quarter million dollar check for their training program.  Abele's goal is obviously to split the unions that have expressed support for Larson.  Apparently Abele has forgotten the strength of solidarity.

One of Abele's most egregious acts was his deal with the Republicans to take over Milwaukee Public Schools.  Despite his protestations to the contrary, Abele has been a longtime advocate for privatizing schools.  He even stood with Sheldon Lubar when they announced that MPS was their next target.

Now Abele is trying to calm the teachers union and the angry parents by exceeding his authority even further by proposing a "high-quality early childhood program."  In English, he wants to take over the preschools as well.  What better way to brainwash the kiddies early on?

There is little doubt that more of these stories will surface in the coming months as Abele becomes more desperate to buy his reelection.  After all, if he loses this election, it would make it much more difficult for him to run for governor in 2018.

MPS Takeover: A Big Red Flag

Click on image to embiggen

The talk of the week has been the proposed privatization of Milwaukee Public Schools.  State Senator Alberta Darling and State Representative Dale Kooyenga are pushing for taking away public control of MPS schools and handing them over to Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele so that he could proceed in privatizing them.  Abele is absolutely giddy about the prospect.

But why Abele?

Sources have said that Darling and Kooyenga had originally approached Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to do it.  They probably figured that Barrett would be the best choice because he is the mayor and because he had already proposed taking over the school system himself.  The backlash from parents, voters and teachers was so great that Barrett quickly dropped the idea.

Barrett, remembering the sting of the strong rebuke, wisely passed up on the Republicans' offer to be their stooge.

So then they went to Abele, even though his jurisdiction is Milwaukee County and not the city.  Abele was a better fit for them because he's more like a Republican.  Abele also embraces the pro-poverty agenda of plantation economics.  And heck, Abele even made campaign donations to Kooyenga.  On top of this, Abele is good friends with - and heavily influenced by - Michael Grebe, the head of the Bradley Foundation, which has been pushing for school privatization for decades.

As noted above, when the Republicans came to Abele, being the dimwitted and pompous ass that he is, he gladly took up the offer.

SIDE NOTE:  Abele's apologists are saying that it was either Abele or Walker leading this and Abele felt he was the better choice.  This is, of course, utter bullshit.  Abele is just as incompetent and maleficent as Walker.  Politically, it would have been better to make Walker own this, especially as Walker is spending all his time and our money running for president.

Claire Zautke

But with Abele being the proposed education privatization czar, there is a big red flag and a potential scandal.

That red flag is Claire Zautke.

Zautke is a member of the Milwaukee school board.  Her track record is less than stellar.  She has voted in favor of charter schools.

Besides being a Milwaukee School Director, Zautke is also Abele's Principal Executive Assistant at Milwaukee County.  Per her Linked In profile, she does Abele's scheduling, liaising, organizing, internal communications and employee relations.  She is also in charge of Abele's internship program.

Obviously, she works very closely with Abele.

Think about it for a minute.  A school board member, who is less than friendly to the public schools and has voted for charter schools, working for and closely with the guy that has been tagged to privatize the schools.

What could possibly go wrong?

I'm sure that they have both maintained a strictly professional attitude at work, focusing only on county business.  I'm  sure that there were no communication between them about information of the school system, its budget, its staffing levels or anything like that.  Even though Abele has never displayed that kind of professionalism or ethics before, there is no reason not to believe there is a first time for something like this.

By the way, don't expect the Democrats to do anything about any of this.  They are too afraid that if they criticize Abele for his role in selling out our children and their futures, he might stop writing them the occasional check - not that all of his money has helped them win any races for the past several years.

Abele, Republicans Propose A Jim Crow Education Plan For Milwaukee

Just when you thought the Republicans couldn't go any lower or do anything more despicable than what they already have done, they take it as a challenge and outdo themselves.

State Senator Alberta Darling and State Representative Dale Kooyenga have come out with a proposal they quaintly and misleadingly call "Opportunity Schools Partnership Program."  Despite its cheery little name, it is nothing more than a proposal to hasten the privatization of the Milwaukee Public School System.

The gist of the plan is that they declare a number of Milwaukee Public Schools as "failing" and target them for take over by a private school.

But there is a particularly nasty twist to their plan.

These privatized schools would be run by Milwaukee County Executive Emperor Chris "Boss" Abele:

Solution: The Opportunity Schools and Partnership Program (OSPP) will create a new governance>structure in MPS to free students from nonperforming schools.

• OSPP shall be run by a Commissioner for an at will term appointed by the Milwaukee County Executive
• The Commissioner shall operate independently from the MPS Board
• The Commissioner shall receive parallel authority to the Board, but shall be free of all state and local regulations except for safety, health, special education, and non-discrimination laws 

Now, the gentle reader is probably asking themselves why would they choose the Milwaukee County Executive Emperor to run the City of Milwaukee's schools?

Well, Abele believes in plantation economics, just like his Republican friends.  Abele is also good friends with - and heavily influenced by - Michael Grebe, the head of the Bradley Foundation, which has been pushing for privatization of public schools for years and years.  Oh, and Abele has donated money to Kooyenga.

This Jim Crow education plan is flawed on many levels, which have been outlined by the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association.

Chief among the flaws is the misrepresentation that the schools caused Milwaukee's economic and social woes.  The truth is the opposite of their assertion.  The economic and social segregation imposed by Abele and his Republican friends are what is driving the poor test scores.

Abele and friends also ignore the vast evidence that privatized schools are no better - and often much worse - performers than public schools.

But hey, who needs facts when there is profits to be had?

Another problem with their scheme is this line:

All employees at a school incorporated may apply for a position in the new school. However, such an application waives current and future privileges to be represented by any union as all employment within OSPP is at will.

That is in violation of federal labor laws regarding the private sector.

Then again, Abele and his Republicans also have never shown any respect for the law, nor do they have any love lost for the unions.

For a front line view of this battle for Milwaukee's future, I strongly urge the gentle reader to go to Wisconsin Soapbox, who has more on this wrong-minded debacle.

Then, if you're as righteously outraged as I am, please go here and sign up (at the bottom of the page) to show your support for our public schools, for our teachers and for our children.

Labor Unrest At MPS

On Tuesday, the Finance Committee of the Milwaukee Public School Board was to meet.

The Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association were present to speak for the need for raises for the Education Assistance, who barely make a living wage and haven't had a raise in years.

However, Committee Chair Jeff Spence led the committee out of the room before the MTEA members were allowed to speak for a "closed door session" that was scheduled for the end of the meeting.  They did not come out of the closed door session until after the MTEA members left, unheard by the committee.

On Thursday, the school board met but would not allow public comment, so MTEA and supporters from the community took a direct action by doing a mic check.

What is telling is that School Board President Michael Bonds was more concerned about having these citizens removed from the room than hearing what they had to say.

Afterwards, Bonds called the citizens "rude and disruptive."

I'm sorry, but what is rude and disruptive is school officials refusing to listen to their employees and even worse, to the general public.  They were elected to represent the public who voted for them.  They were not elected to dictate to the people who voted for them.

This is the result of Act 10, which is nothing more than an effort to silence an entire section of the population and allowing petty tyrants to just go ahead and do what they want without rhyme or reason other than just because they can.

However, history shows again and again that the people won't remain silenced and will have their voices heard one way or another.  The sooner that elected officials like the Milwaukee Public School Board learns this, the better things will be for everyone.

And if they choose to still not listen, they can be replaced by people who will.

Voucher School Failure!

By Jeff Simpson 


There has been a propaganda bus tour, to tell us how great private/voucher schools are and we know that the Governor will also tell us how great they are at his version of the State of the State.   Everyone knows, you can count on AFP-WI and Scott Walker to not tell us the truth, it is time to look more closely at voucher/charter schools.   

1.  We will start right in Milwaukee, WI, where we see that the Milwaukee Public School system outperforms the area voucher schools.   

 A new report from the Public Policy Forum in Milwaukee found that the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, which enrolls about 25,000 students in private schools through the state's voucher program, has similar demographics and poverty levels as Milwaukee Public Schools, but students there perform slightly worse on standardized tests in math and reading.

2.   Diane Ravitch points out exactly what Milwaukee needs and it is NOT vouchers:

Gov. Scott Walker's answer to the Milwaukee problem is to call for more vouchers and charters and for virtual charters. But if the students in those schools are not outperforming the ones in the public schools after 20 years, why should those sectors grow? And we know from multiple studies that students in virtual schools do worse than those in brick-and-mortar schools.
More of the same is no answer. Doubling down on failure is a bad bet.
Yes, Milwaukee needs a bold vision. It needs a reset.
It needs one public education sector, not three competing sectors. The time for dual- and triple-systems should have ended in 1954, with the Brown vs. Board of Education decision.
Milwaukee needs one public school system that receives public dollars, public support, community engagement and parental involvement.
Vouchers and charters had their chance. They failed.
Now it is time to build a great public school system that meets the needs of the children of Milwaukee.
The children of Milwaukee need universal pre-kindergarten so that they arrive in school ready to learn. Children with high needs require small classes and extra attention. Public schools should provide a superb program in the arts for all children in every grade. They should have a rich curriculum - history, literature, foreign languages, the sciences, mathematics and civics - for all children. Every student should have daily physical education. The schools should have the nurses, guidance counselors, social workers and librarians they need. Children should have after-school programs where they can learn new skills, strengthen their bodies, and get extra tutoring.
It is impossible to achieve these goals in a city with three competing school systems. It is entirely possible to achieve when there is one school system that becomes the focus of the energies of parents, civic leaders and the business community.
Many children, one Milwaukee.

3.   The School Administrators Alliance(aka union), hardly a liberal group, has come out with their own research report about voucher schools, and had the following findings:

 In the memo, the SAA makes four major points about private school voucher expansion and why it is the wrong choice for Wisconsin:

1) The ultimate objective of voucher advocates is a statewide system of private school vouchers for all Wisconsin school children.

2) Vouchers do not improve student achievement.

3) Vouchers eliminate public accountability.

4) Vouchers take resources away from public school students.

4.  Jake, like he so often does, showed us how Private schools copy failure NOT success. 

   Wisconsin's strong educational base was once again illustrated with the release of a report last week showing the Wisconsin high school class of 2010 had the 2nd-highest graduation rate in the U.S. at 91.1%. This improved on the 2009 figure of 90.7% when Wisconsin was Number 1 in the nation for best graduation, and Wisconsin's graduation rate improved from 83.3% in 2001 to that 90.7% in a span of 8 years - the 11th largest increase in the nation.

  And it wasn't like Wisconsin was just pushing kids through the system, as Wisconsin high schoolers have consistently scored well above the national averages on the ACT test,  despite the state potentially watering down the scores by encouraging more Wisconsin students to take the test in recent years.

 5.  The Northwestern likes Senator Ellis idea that local referendum passes before vouchers be expanded to a community! 

One can only hope his act of outspoken courage helps fuse the spine of fellow senators and pushes this partisan plum off the Republican agenda during biennium budget discussions. The school choice movement is little more than an employment agency for former Republican lawmakers who continue to push for taxpayers to foot the bill for private education. There is no evidence the voucher experiment in Milwaukee has produced results better than public schools.

Nor are voucher advocates prepared to suggest private schools operate under the same myriad of federal and state regulations Wisconsin’s public schools are required by law to follow. Private and religious school choice advocates would be wise to stop courting public dollars for they may ultimately find they get the dollars — and long strings attached. Parochial schools have long and proud traditions that will continue to flourish without the deep pockets and pages of requirements of public dollars.

Research over and over shows us that voucher schools do NOT perform as well as public schools, we also know that without public oversight, administrators in private schools, show us that they can not always be trusted!

6.   A Reuters reprt on charter schools, shows us that - many such institutions disregard their own promises of inclusion and equal opportunity by creating barriers to needier students while targeting for enrollment those most likely to pad test scores or otherwise enhance their own promises of "success".

As Reuters reports, many charter schools across the US, despite their assurances to the contrary,

aggressively screen student applicants, assessing their academic records, parental support, disciplinary history, motivation, special needs and even their citizenship, sometimes in violation of state and federal law.

And the barriers documented include:

• Applications that are made available just a few hours a year.
• Lengthy application forms, often printed only in English, that require student and parent essays, report cards, test scores, disciplinary records, teacher recommendations and medical records.
• Demands that students present Social Security cards and birth certificates for their applications to be considered, even though such documents cannot be required under federal law.
• Mandatory family interviews.
• Assessment exams.
• Academic prerequisites.
• Requirements that applicants document any disabilities or special needs. The U.S. Department of Education considers this practice illegal on the college level but has not addressed the issue for K-12 schools.

 full report here!

7.  We also know that while the test scores at voucher schools do not outperform public schools, we also know we can not trust the private schools to even give us the correct results!

A for-profit school that was hyped by Republican lawmakers as a solution to Tennessee’s education problems recently admitted deleting bad grades to “more accurately recognize students’ current progress.”
A December email obtained by WTVF showed that Tennessee Virtual Academy’s vice principal instructed middle school teachers to delete “failing grades” from October and September.
“After … looking at so many failing grades, we need to make some changes before the holidays,” the email says, adding that each teacher needed to “take out the October and September progress [reports]; delete it so that all that is showing is November progress.”
“If you have given an assignment and most of your students failed that assignment, then you need to take that grade out.”

 

Don Pridemore III

We know that Don Pridemore has decided to run for State superintendent of Department of Public Instruction(DPI). 

To announce this good news, Don Pridemore recently went on an I am running for yet another office tour.   One thing you can say about Pridemore, at least he knows how to draw a crowd...

To be fair though, he and his staff, historically butcher press releases so badly that maybe no one knew he was coming!  Makes one wonder if his campaign manager, Bill Savage, graduated elementary school.   

It is probably good that no one showed up, because if they did, they would have reported on Pridemore's ignorance.

Here is Don Pridemore explaining why he is running(emphasis mine):

I’ve thought about it for a while now,” Pridemore said Wednesday. “I’m not real happy with some of the MPS (Milwaukee Public Schools), and not only MPS but the state public schools.”

He was especially not happy that Evers approached Gov. Scott Walker in November to ask for an additional $615 million in next year’s budget to fund Milwaukee Public Schools, money that Pridemore said is a waste since previous spending increases, in his opinion, did nothing to improve education.

Here is life outside the bubble:

 State and local funding for general Wisconsin public school operations would drop 5.5% in 2011-'12 while Milwaukee's private-school voucher program could be poised for a massive expansion under Gov. Scott Walker's budget proposal, one that slashes $834 million in state K-12 education spending over the next two years*.

Finally  we know, that if Don was feeling bad that no one cared that he was announcing his run for the State's top education job,  Pridemore can always take solace and remember when times were good! 

Stay tuned, I am sure that Don Pridemore will be giving us plenty of material to be writing about through the April 2nd election!

Solidarity Action Alert

Even as everyone is fighting the war to take our state back from the corrupt and unethical Republicans and their masters, we cannot lose sight of the smaller battles, such as the fact that MPS is looking to attack their part timers.  Thus, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council has issued a call to action:

PLEASE JOIN SEIU Local 150 and the MTEA who will be picketing outside of the MPS Central Administration Building, 5525 W. Vliet, on Tuesday, May 15th.  They will be protesting the elimination of health insurance and dental benefits to their members who work less than 30 hours a week.  In the wake of Scott Walkers budget cuts, MPS is proposing a new handbook that basically dismantles the union contracts and workers rights and benefits.  The rally is scheduled for 5:45 pm, but we are asking for folks to be there at 5:30.  There will also be a public hearing at 6:30 for folks to express their outrage about these cuts.   

PLEASE COME AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT.

See you there!

Poor Leadership Causes More Problems With MPS

JSOnline is reporting that MPS has sent out lay off notices to 482 teachers as well as hundreds of educational assistants. MPS officials are saying that the lay offs stem from the teachers union not accepting a less expensive health plan.

But there are two problems with their claim.

One is that the change had not been properly introduced:

Union spokeswoman Kristen Collett said the administration never presented that option during negotiations for a new contract.

"The district has been engaged in public bargaining, but it never came up at the table," Collett said when reached by telephone Friday evening.

The last contract between MPS and the teachers expired June 30, 2009, Collett said.

The other problem is that the claim that this other health plan would be less expensive is rather dubious. From Jay Bullock, liberal blogger and teacher extraordinaire:

And here's the kicker: Changing the health plan from PPO to HMO isn't going to save much money at all: The district offered an estimate a while ago, noted by the editorial board here: "An estimated $47 million in health care savings could spare 400 teaching jobs." Their math is right on how much teachers cost, but the "estimated" savings is nowhere near accurate. The way MPS arrived at the number was to take the average cost of an employee on the HMO and subtract that from the average cost of an employee on the PPO, multiplied by the number of employees on the PPO. Problem is, the average cost of an employee on the HMO will shoot right up if all of us are on that plan. Why? Because the costs are based on actual utilization, and employees who choose the PPO do so generally because they have higher-cost or more challenging needs. Those health issues will not magically go away under the HMO, and MPS will still find itself paying for that care. In addition, the HMO requires no annual deductible or co-insurance or cop-pays.

Jay goes on to explain where the real problems are coming from.

But now, due to the state, the feds, and the MPS leadership, there will be hundreds of less teachers to try keep a struggling school system from completely failing. Nowhere have I seen any explanation on how fewer teachers are going to help raise the reading and math abilities of struggling students.

I completely sympathize with Jay and his fellow teachers, as well as the students who will ultimately pay the price for MPS leadership's failure. After all, Milwaukee County government has the same issue with its leadership.

Rose's Thorny Idea

I was doing a little reading on the candidates for the state superintendent of public instruction when I saw something that eliminated Rose Fernandez from any serious consideration. In an article that ran a few days ago in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the different candidates, and their ideas, were highlighted.

On paragraph really alarmed me (emphasis mine):

While [Mobley] said he would like to see MPS broken into smaller school districts, he criticized Fernandez's proposal of replacing Milwaukee's elected School Board with a "turnaround team" appointed by the state superintendent, Milwaukee mayor and Milwaukee county executive. He said involvement by three different elected officials would politicize any reform efforts.

I have to wonder whether she is going for shock value, or if she just doesn't know what's been in happening in Milwaukee for the past several years.

City of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker have spend the last several years in a stand off regarding what to do with the $91.5 million dollars of federal money that has been languishing around. Even in these severely troubling economic troubling times, they haven't come any closer to any kind of compromise.

Heck, they can't even agree on who is responsible for shoveling the snow out of the bus shelters.

How does she expect that Walker and Barrett would be able to agree to anything about the public school system? Barrett, on the rare occasion anyone even sees him, is obviously very reluctant to take over the school system. Walker would only want to sell it off to someone and/or blame other people for his failure to even act on fixing it.

And that doesn't even take into the consideration of whether it would be legal for the County Executive to have that kind of influence over a municipality's school system.

But to be fair, I thought I'd go look at her website and found her YouTube video explaining her proposal. Instead of making more sense, she only gets scarier, stating that she believes she would turn around the whole system in only three years, and then dump it back on the City of Milwaukee.

If she doesn't have realistic expectations for MPS, then she wouldn't be able to have realistic expectations for the rest of the state either. If he doesn't want to give serious answers to a serious problem, she doesn't deserve our serious consideration.

Another Reason To Vote Mathias For School Board

Mike Mathias would take his job seriously, unlike his predecessor, Charlene Hardin:

Since she was told Jan. 8 that her nomination papers did not have enough valid signatures to get on this spring's election ballot, Milwaukee School Board member Charlene Hardin has been scarce around the MPS central office. How scarce? We're keeping score. She missed two meetings she was supposed to be at Tuesday night, the finance committee and a full board meeting that ended with agreement to extend Superintendent William Andrekopoulos' contract.

So, the current tally since Jan. 8:

Number of meetings of the board or committees Hardin is a member of: 5

Number of meetings she was at: 0

Hardin Bounced Out Of Race

From JSOnline:

The Milwaukee Election Commission today knocked controversial School Board member Charlene Hardin off the ballot for the spring elections.

Hardin didn't submit enough valid signatures on her nominating petitions to win a spot on the Feb. 17 primary ballot, said Neil Albrecht, the commission's deputy director.

Barring a successful challenge or a write-in campaign, that ruling could end Hardin's re-election quest.

As mentioned earlier, fellow blogger and a man I am proud to call my friend, Mike Mathias has thrown his hat in the ring to be Hardin's successor.

I am sure that this will add a whole new set of dynamics to this race, especially depending on how Hardin decides to react to the news. But I am confident that Mike will be able to deal with any bumps in the campaign trail as effectively as he would deal with the problems that MPS is facing now.

Charlene Hardin's Successor

Last week, I introduced you to two fine people who are bloggers, friends of Cog Dis, and strong candidates running for their respective school board.

We learn definitively today that Mike Mathias, one part of the Pundit Nation, is running against Charlene Hardin, at the Milwaukee Public School Board.

Hardin has had a very bad 2008, and now her 2009 doesn't look any better.

Michael is a friend of Cog Dis as well. In my interactions with Michael, I find him to be level-headed and looks at all angles of a problem and takes a considered approach, instead of a party line or a "me-first" take on any issue.

For a more detailed look at who Michael is and what his values are, there is a piece by Michael in this morning's paper addressing the issue of whether the school board should be elected or not. From said article:

Don't get me wrong: Every good idea for fixing MPS ought to be on the table, including lifting the residency rule for MPS teachers, adopting a uniform curriculum and increasing state aid for special education students.

But an appointed board would just exchange one political process for another - and could have the effect of leaving voters with little recourse if they don't like actions taken by the new body.

I respect Barrett and agree that MPS is in need of reform. But we shouldn't let a few bad apples on the board serve as an excuse for abandoning direct elections. Let voters sort it out.

I think that the City of Milwaukee in general, and MPS specifically, would gain a lot of respect back if they had someone like Michael on board. As the nation elected to have a change for the better, so should Milwaukee, and vote for Michael.