The Myth of School Chaos

By Jeff Simpson

In 2011, President Obama's Administration wrote what is known as a "Dear Colleague" letter.  This letter was by no means a guideline but was a well thought out and researched memo to help America's public schools address the opportunity gap and work on ending systemic racism. 

The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice (Departments) are issuing this guidance to assist public elementary and secondary schools in meeting their obligations under Federal law to administer student discipline without discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The Departments recognize the commitment and effort of educators across the United States to provide their students with an excellent education. The Departments believe that guidance on how to identify, avoid, and remedy discriminatory discipline will assist schools in providing all students with equal educational opportunities.1
The Departments strongly support schools in their efforts to create and maintain safe and orderly educational environments that allow our nation’s students to learn and thrive. Many schools have adopted comprehensive, appropriate, and effective programs demonstrated to: (1) reduce disruption and misconduct; (2) support and reinforce positive behavior and character development; and (3) help students succeed. Successful programs may incorporate a wide range of strategies to reduce misbehavior and maintain a safe learning environment, including conflict resolution, restorative practices, counseling, and structured systems of positive interventions. The Departments recognize that schools may use disciplinary measures as part of a program to promote safe and orderly educational environments.

This was a letter that was jointly drafted by the US Department of Education and the US Department of Justice.  It was a well documented, and well thought out response for a very real problem in America....a huge racial disparity and opportunity gap in our schools. 

There is a problem with the letter though, it came from President Obama(we are in an era where the number one priority of the Donald and the hard core far right, is erasing anything that President Obama might have done to create a legacy).  Secondly, this guideline, is meant to help address racial disparities, another taboo issue for what passes as conservatives these days.  In their mind, there is no problem and people of color get in more trouble and have lower grades because they get the grades and punishment they deserve.

See it is important to trust the teachers and the schools when punishing kids of colors, but if they have any other complaints or questions about their working conditions - they need to "shut up and teach" and " stop indoctrinating " our children.

Now that we have established what our friends on the right are so upset about, and the pure hypocrisy of it, lets dig a little deeper into their complaints.

Recently, a group of people on the far right drafted a letter and sent it to Secretary of Education Betsy "Amway" DeVos.   The main signator on this letter, was Rick Esenberg, the face of the Bradley Foundation's Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty(WILL). 

There were others who signed, but it really is just a formality.   The group think of worker drones for the monied interests of the far right, is as indistinguishable as a harem of seals on the shore. 

Let's take a quick peek at the letter:

The baseless demands of the Dear Colleague letter are having real world consequences throughout the nation. Milwaukee is a case in point. The Resolution Agreement requires MPS to “assess whether [it] is implementing its student discipline policies, practices and procedures in a non-discriminatory manner” by collecting “data regarding referrals for student discipline and the imposition of disciplinary sanctions at all District schools” and evaluating, among other things, “whether black students are receiving more removals, referrals or discipline than students of other races,” “whether black students are receiving more expulsions than students of other races,” “whether certain teachers and administrators refer disproportionately high numbers of students of a particular race for discipline,” and “whether black students are disproportionately referred for offenses in which subjective judgment is exercised.”  MPS must provide these evaluations to OCR along with “a description of actions it proposes to take in response to these evaluations.”21 If the data “suggests . . . disproportion,” in other words, MPS must “explore possible causes for the disproportion and consider steps that can be taken to eliminate the disproportion to the maximum extent possible.”22 

Esenberg, is arguing here that it puts a burden on the school systems to try and figure out why, and eliminate the disproportionality in discipline for the students of color. 

Esenberg and friends understand why the kids of color have more discipline problems and lower GPA's, etc... They are not white.   They are telling Ms. DeVos, that the problem is solved, there is no fixing it and it is time to focus on the white kids. 

Of course the red polo/khaki crowd eats this stuff up.  To perpetuate the myth that our public schools are failing, that the inner city (larger population of minorities) are out of control and they are interfering with the white kids who want to learn. 

It does not take a field full of tiki torches to see it!

Just check out some of the bit players in the right wing echo chamber:

Dave Blaska for instance:

The greater irony is that it was President Barack Obama’s administration that forced districts to set what amounts to racial quotas in school discipline. Thankfully, a Wisconsin-based conservative action group is moving to restore order in the classroom so that children of all colors can succeed.

The National Review weighed in:

As a policy matter, there is overwhelming evidence that Obama-era policies culminating in this “Dear Colleague” letter pushed schools to avoid disciplining students who needed to be disciplined. It made avoiding politically incorrect numbers more important than maintaining school safety.

Actually that is ridiculous, there is zero evidence that the "guidelines" (not regulations), pushed anyone into anything and in no place in America have they "avoided disciplining students who need disciplining"(that distinction is aimed for the Walker Admin who thanks to the far right activist judges, have made sure there is no disciplining of people who need it - but that is another post).

The Moonie publication Washington Times even weighed in via Marco Rubio:

Mr. Rubio said the guidance should be revised “to ensure that schools appropriately report violence and dangerous actions to local law enforcement,” while others have encouraged Mrs. DeVos to repeal it outright.   In the tragic aftermath of the murders in Florida, which were preventable, we simply cannot take the chance that other school districts, in response to a Dear Colleague letter issued in 2014 by the Obama administration, will continue to enforce or will implement the disastrous race-based, discipline-free program put in place in December of 2013 by Broward County,” William Perry Pendley, president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, said Friday in a letter to Mrs. DeVos.  

Now that we see how shallow the echo chamber is in Wisconsin, let us take a quick look at actual reality.

1.  The Dear Colleague letter was a guideline, not a regulation.   There as no - do this or else attached. 

2.    Yes there is an imperative to look at discipline in our schools along with the opportunity gap.  It does not make logical sense, that children of color are the ones causing disruptions or are incredibly more of a discipline problem, than the white kids.  Anymore than it makes logical sense that there are more unarmed black men who get shot by police than any other race.  Yet the results speak for themselves. 

Should we accept institutional racism?  Or should we just not be surprised that a subsection of people who have waged a war on science would also have no interest in logic?

3.  The only people in Wisconsin who have been advocating for a "consequence-free environment" are the people knee deep in Walkergate and the John Doe investigation, and while that turned into a consequence free work place for our Governor and it only cost $1,000,000,000 in legal fees for Mr. Walker.   

4.   Unfortunately, the students in Wisconsin face consequences every single day.   When Scott Walker and his crew in Fitzwalkerstan, cut almost $2 Billion dollars from public education, the children have faced daily consequences.   The consequences from a massive teacher exodus of veteran teachers, who took not only years and years of institutional knowledge with them but also the ability to mentor younger teachers on the finer points of the job that they do not get in college.   

Our children have faced the consequences of a poorly funded public education system that hurts children in terms of higher class sizes, less Educational Assistants, less professional development, fewer of our best and brightest college students majoring in education, crumbling buildings and longer bus rides, among other things.   

Our children also have had to suffer the consequences of less needed services in the community, their parents being forced to work more than one job and spending less time with the kids, the increased cost of and lack of healthcare causing more stress and worse sickness and disease amongst families.   

5. I am not blind, I understand when our friends on the right talk about children needing "discipline" they mean punish the kids of color.   However, for most of us, "discipline" means -

: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character

Training, not punitive punishment, is how you make long term change.   It is why the recidivism rate in our prisons is almost 70%.    The days of the old wild west are gone for a reason.

6.  Finally, and this is the biggest, is that ACT10 absolutely plays a big part on the chaos in the schools now.  As Dave Zweifel says, it absolutely IS the issue.   

The far right Walkerites, first order of business when they were elected was to make sure that their biggest opposition, the public workers unions, and more specifically the teacher's unions.  So they had to be punished. 

Act10 was secretly forced upon us as a way to make sure that the teachers had no say in their workplace.   If they made less money, they would have less money to send to the Democrats running for election, which would in turn help the Republicans stay in office. 

However, the biggest problem is that Republicans have no idea what unions actually do.  Whole they for sure do help their members to have a fair wage, they also advocate for better working conditions, safer classrooms, well being and safety of members, the rights of students, especially individual students and those who need more advocacy, because they spend every day with the kids. 

When Scott Walker forced a pay cut on the teachers, he also silenced their voice in every aspect of the school system. 

Now it is more than ironic that they are trying to tell everyone that we should listen to the teachers, they know what is best in the classrooms. 

#7 - Extra Credit - There will be talk that restorative justice was the reason a teenager was killed in a school in New York, based on a "report" by some right wing extremist group T74.   There is no more casual relationship between this death and Restorative Justice as there is between this death and algebra. 

I am not here to say that our public school system is perfect with no room for improvement.   That is not realistic, nor is it a prevailing thought anywhere. 

However, our public school system is the best thing we have, is the one equalizer in our society and has proven it not only works, but it works well. 

It just needs to be fully funded and tweeked. 

The best first step for that would be to realize that the WILL's, Blaska's, National Review's, Betsy DeVos's of the world have no interest in anything but their own bank account and ruining public education. 

They are on the wrong side of America and the wrong side of history. 

Vote PUBLIC EDUCATION in November! 

My New Years Resolutions!

By Jeff Simpson

1.  I will resolve to continue to fight for public education.  There is now, more then ever, a concerted effort to profit off of public education.  With sham "non-profit" organizations like Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty(for some) and extremist propaganda blogs like Right Wisconsin , mediatrackers, Maciver, and the inexplicably employed Christian Schneider continue to not only have a forum but are also treated as legit news sources by our statewide media.   We will continue to bring you the unadulterated facts and point out the spin and the lies. 

2.  We will also continue pointing out the hypocrisy, blandness, sucking up and ignoring of the facts of the Wisconsin media.   While many of them are good people, and occasionally stumble upon a real story, they have also buckled under the pressure of our friends mentioned above, and have been scared to do much real reporting on the state takeover of the Republican party.

3.    I also resolve to focus my energies on getting rid of the worst offenders and dead weight in Wisconsin politics.  Special focus on the biggest offenders - Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Robin Vos, Dale Kooyenga, Leah Vukmir, Scott Krug, among many others.   

4.  While I also resolve to focus almost exclusively on Wisconsin politics and happenings, I also resolve to never call the imbecile in the White House the President.  He will always be referred to as "the Donald". 

5.  I also resolve to stay out of the first Congressional Race.  I like and dislike things about both candidates so I will let the people of the 1st CD decide who they want to represent them.  I will however not stay away from writing about how bad Paul Ryan(R-Wall St.) is, even though it is low hanging fruit, there is so much bad to report on.

6.  I resolve to continue to hold the Democratic party, Democratic candidates and others in public service accountable, who are supposed to be and have to be better than the members of the WISGOP.

7. I resolve to continue the political conversation with everyone of all stripes and opinions respectfully.  I resolve to give all candidates the respect they deserve and let everyone who has the guts and gumption to put their name on the ballot.    I also resolve to look at candidates financial reports the same way I look at standardized tests scores of schools - with disdain.

8.   Finally, I resolve to continue using less of everything, shopping local when possible, drinking only WI craft beers, eating better, turning out lights, and doing everything I can to lower my carbon footprint! 

What are yours? 

Will WILL Stop Filing Frivolous Lawsuits Now?

By Jeff Simpson

A few months ago, righty blogger Dave Blaska, was enlisted as the patsy, by Wisconsin Law and Liberty and Scott Walker's campaign chairman Michael Grebe(whose son was the crony appointed to the UW-Madison Board of Regents).  

They filed a frivolous lawsuit against the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) for negotiating a one year contract extension with their teachers while ACT 10 was stayed.  In an era where our Governor's only strength is dividing the state, having labor peace is a successfully negotiated contract does not sit very well with Scott.

So failed Presidential candidate Scott Walker did what he does best, sicced his minions on them.   NOT that our friends on the right ever coordinate, but everyone on the far right, showed the same giddiness at the exact same time, thinking that the Shark would really punish the MMSD for giving teachers a 0.75% wage increase after having salaries frozen for years(for those scoring at home, Esenberg as head of his "nonprofit" makes $210,000/yr and is suing teachers for negotiating an approx $382 raise).    

The Madison School Board and Metropolitan School District (“MMSD”) are forcing their teachers to abide by – and taxpayers to pay for – an illegal labor contract with terms violating Act 10 based upon unlawful collective bargaining with Madison Teachers, Inc. (“MTI”).  Today, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (“WILL”), on behalf of David Blaska, a Madison taxpayer, filed a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court against the Madison School Board, MMSD, and MTI requesting a declaration that the contract is unlawful and a permanent injunction on its usage.
“The Madison School Board can choose not to utilize the Act 10 tools that would better serve their children and taxpayers, but they cannot enter into a contract containing terms prohibited by Act 10,” said Rick Esenberg, President and General Counsel of WILL.  “In every case in which Act 10 has been challenged, the courts have held that it is constitutional.  Labor contracts, such as the one between the School Board and MTI, that violate state law are invalid and unenforceable.”  

All fine and good, and it is nice to know that the Shark is at Scott Walker's beck and call.  It is however unfortunate that the children of MMSD must suffer, by having to defend this frivolous lawsuit, because Scotty Walker threw a temper tantrum.  

Luckily for all involved, the Honorable Judge Richard Niess just threw this silly lawsuit out.

  A Dane County judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday by a conservative blogger that sought to void teacher contracts in the Madison School District.Judge Richard Niess rejected the lawsuit on procedural grounds, saying blogger David Blaska did not follow the required legal steps.
Specifically, the judge said Blaska, a taxpayer in the district, failed to first serve the district with a notice of claim before filing the lawsuit, a requirement that would have given the district 120 days to respond.

Maybe now someone can serve Blaska, Esenberg, Grebe with papers asking for our taxpayer money back, we had to waste in defending this twaddle.  

How much more taxpayer money will WILL cost the fine people of WI before they stop filing frivolous lawsuits?

Rick Esenberg - Man of the People

By Jeff Simpson

Rick Esenberg, using the Purple Wisconsin forum, recently wrote about the "lack of candor" of certain people who were fighting the recent wage theft bill that the Republicans in Wisconsin quickly rammed through the legislature.

However, Mr. Esenberg had the unmitigated gall to write the following:

But no one paid me to be there either and I am a public interest lawyer and legal scholar who goes where the evidence leads me. I truly believe that and try to conduct myself accordingly.

Seriously Mr. Esenberg wrote that.  Apparently legal ethics does not transfer over to statewide blogs.

Lets break this down.

*  But no one paid me to be there either

That is actually flat our lie.  As "executive director" of W.I.L.L., which is amazingly classified as a "non-profit", Mr. Esenberg makes a minimum of $210,000/yr.  For those scoring at home, that is more than four average teachers salaries combined.  

Let's also not forget who is paying this exorbitant - Michael Grebe.  Scott Walker's campaign manager is also the man funder of W.I.L.L. (Mr. Esenberg refuses to reveal other funders).  Does anyone really think that Mr. Walker's campaign manager did not want his well funded political gopher groups there at the forefront of the battle to pass the Diane Hendricks bill?  

 *  I am a public interest lawyer and legal scholar who goes where the evidence leads me.

Mr. Esenberg recently sued the Kenosha School district using new union boss Kristy laCroix as a prop.   Thanks to Ms. LaCroix's step father, he was voted a huge settlement of public education tax dollars to be split between himself and Ms. LaCroix.  

Feeling empowered, and well funded by Mr. Grebe, he also grabbed a new tool - David Blaska, and sued the Madison Metropolitan School District because they actually sat down at the table and negotiated with the Madison Teachers to agree on a new contract(while ACT10 was stayed).   

They were incensed that MTI was able to negotiate a .025% raise for its members.  Yes you read that right .025%.  After two years of wage freeze, now teachers in madison will be getting about a $60 salary increase for the year.   

Apparently, the "evidence led" to Mr. $210,000 yearly non profit director. who lives in Milwaukee to find that unacceptable in Madison.    

Mr. Public Interest lawyer, felt it was in the public's interest to force MMSD into court where they will spend a needless few thousand dollars, and win in the end.   

*  I truly believe that and try to conduct myself accordingly.

If that what it takes you to tell yourself to sleep at night, so be it.  However we have show that you have a high propensity to mislead if not flat out lie.


It amazes me that David Haynes would allow such misleading and dishonest tripe in his newspaper.



 

George WIll Say Anything

 George Will recently attempted to come to the rescue of W.I.L.L.(Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty)with his syndicated column.

The Justice Department’s perverse but impeccably progressive theory can be called “osmotic transfer.” It is called this by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), which is defending Wisconsin children against Washington’s aggression. 

  I know most people think that W.I.L.L. is just a tool, used by Michael Grebe, to help advance Scott Walker's career and file frivolous lawsuits.  They also serve another purpose - desperately trying to privatize our public schools.      Which leads us to the question, of who in Wisconsin's, children are they defending exactly?   

Not mine.  My children attend a public school that routinely outperforms private/voucher schools in WI.  

Nor are they defending the casual observer, who is a parent of a special needs child either.  If  they were to rely on the President and General Counsel of W.I.L.L., to help them make an informed decision on what is the best option for their child.   

Fellow Purple WIsconsin blogger Rick Esenberg, wrote a blog recently complaining that the voucher/private school(he mislabled it school choice)for-profit business was being unfairly scrutinized. 

  Mr. Esenberg told us that schools have to, by law, have to "take all comers"(with an exception for space.  While that is true, what Mr. Esenberg left out was that private/vouchers schools are currently being sued for "actively counseling students with disabilities out of their programs".  

For those of you who would ask - Why would they recruit these students and the counsel them out, it is because of something we have in WI called the "third Friday count".  School and district budgets are determined by the number of students in attendance on this date.  If the privat/voucher school can just keep these children enrolled long enough to reach this important date, they can then keep the money the state designates per student.   They can also then send the special needs child back to public school, the money per pupil stays behind but the costs for educating that child does not. 

Despite the hurdles, public schools welcome these children back, with open arms.  Not because of the money, which for a while is nonexistant, but because it is the right thing to do.  

Secondly, Mr. Esenberg misses the story again as he says these students  "may not get the same services or accommodations in a private school that they will get in a public school."   The reality is they will NOT get the same services, because by law the private/voucher schools do not have to provide them.    A voucher school is required to offer only those services to assist students with special needs that it can provide with minor adjustments.    There are not many special needs students that just need "minor adjustments" especially when you are a school not prepared for them run by unlicensed teachers. 

Then the closing argument that Mr, Esenberg makes is so incredibly mindboggling, that it makes me give thanks that it's not my money on retainer:

*  Public schools get funding to provide these services that is largely unavailable to choice schools.

Public schools do get funding(albeit it nowhere near enough for most of these students) hence the "public" in the title,  Private schools, hence the private used as an adjective, are private and do NOT get tax money to provide these services.  

* Just as importantly, federal standards for accommodating students with disabilities do not - and ought not - apply wholesale to private schools. The value of school choice is to encourage a multiplicity of approaches

Democratically elected(well semi-democratically elected anyway) legislatures, who after much study (hopefully), have put together best practice,  for the way to treat special needs children in the schools,  that public schools have to comply 100% with,  are fine but if a school run by a profiteer, wants to send unlicensed teachers into a classroom of special needs children and use proven ineffective ways to teach them.   That is the way the cookie crumbles I guess. 

*  Not all behavioral disabilities should be medicalized in the way typically encouraged by federal standards. Parents ought to be able to choose between alternative approaches for their children.

Seriously?  If Mr. Esenberg does not understand that every special needs child in a public school will have what we call an INDVIDUALIZED education program(IEP).  INDIVIDUALIZED being the key word there.   

For those like the President of WILL who do not know what an IEP is:

Each public school child who receives special education and related services must have anIndividualized Education Program (IEP). Each IEP must be designed for one student and must be a truly individualized document. The IEP creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel and students (when appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities. The IEP is the cornerstone of a quality education for each child with a disability. 

A team of individuals get together, and decide what is individually best,  for each individual student.   Parents already get to choose what is best for their own children.  

If you are truly defending "Wisconsin's children" shouldn't you know what options are available to them currently?  Trying so hard to divert our desperately needed resources from public to private schools, It seems like you and your organization, are the one they need defending FROM!


cross posted at Purple Wisconsin