I can't think of any name that comes up as equally or more qualified. Is it a race based on name recognition or qualifications?
Aren't their any politicians that have a good track record of success?
Milwaukee Public Schools has one of the worst achievement gaps between white and minority students in the nation; President Barack Obama himself said so in Madison on Nov. 4. MPS's dropout rate has improved but still badly trails the statewide average. Widespread poverty clogs the gears of learning.
There are many reasons why MPS is critically important to everyone in Wisconsin. MPS's 85,381 students make up about 23 percent of all public-school students statewide, for example. And, state support for MPS totaled $752 million last year -- an amount almost equal to 1 cent of the 5-cent state sales tax.
Let's put that another way: Wisconsin sales tax collections totaled $4.13 billion last year, and 18 percent of that went directly to MPS.
I spend more time talking about the failure of Milwaukee poltics over the past thirty years with people who are older and remember the good things about the system. I'm sure there were bad things, but there was a time when the community made local schools work.
Milwaukee used to be a wonderful place, full of well kept parks, schools, programs, businesses, and jobs. Something happened along the way. The businesses moved away and took the jobs with them.
My mother's family did not speak English when they entered school many years ago. There was no bilingual education, they adapted quickly and most of them graduated from the eight grade. Not everyone went on after that. My mother went on to business school, her books were paid for by a teacher that felt she had a promising future.
MPS spent lots of money building local schools, and local people would not send their children, a waste of money. New schools remained empty.
People I know who taught in the inner city wonder why the suburban school districts look so good. "It takes a village to raise a child." Why is the village in Milwaukee dysfunctional? For so many years, and it's getting worse?
Other good teachers don't want to take assignments that include feeding breakfast to children - they want to teach, not dispense meals and clean up breakfast dishes. All that eating takes away from the teaching portion of the day.
More and more resources go into schools, and the problems just seem to get worse.
What happened to parental responsibility? Why aren't parents feeding their children before sending them to school? In these times of high unemployment, there should be more parents at home in the morning. IIRC, students still get hot lunch at school, and in some places they get snacks and dinner all provided by taxpayers.
What happened to parental responsibility? I don't think the village of Wisconsin can make up for parents that don't care. The system hasn't been working for some time, so they just keep sending more money.
More and more folks outside of the City of Milwaukee, but in Milwaukee County love their homes but hate that they are part of Milwaukee County.
I've known many who loved life in Chicago until they had children, and boom...off to the suburbs they go to educate their children. Some I know in Chicago love the city but send their children to private school. For some reason the private schools have problem teachers too.
Raising taxes doesn't help if the money is wasted on programs or experiments that don't work. I've known many who grew up in orphanages because their families could not take care of them. There was no cycle and recycle of foster homes. They grew up, had families of their own, and became responsible adults.
Senate Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau has suggested another look at a plan to break MPS into smaller, more manageable districts. And Milwaukee Co. Executive Scott Walker, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, said he'd prefer that to mayoral control.
Maybe MPS is too big to be successful? I think after years of observation, large school districts become machines that are only accountable to their unions. They are no longer accountable to parents, taxpayers, and students.
What is the worst thing that would happen if MPS were broken up into self directed districts? Maybe some districts would be successful and others would fail?
http://www.wisopinion.com/index.iml?mdl=article.mdl&article=24661Is partial success better than overall failure?It seems today, the Juggernaut of government politicians would rather choose overall failure for everyone rather than success, failure, and all the levels in between.
It's the bell curve. There are some at the very bottom, the very top, but the rest are in the curve.
I do believe all should strive for the top, but reality is that we fall somewhere in the curve. Every child and human being has different gifts, and I do believe success should be measured by factors that include testing, but testing does not always lead to a promising career.
There is no temple of education that makes everyone score 100%, unless you use fuzzy math or feel good grading systems.
Years ago, Milwaukee had a thriving industrial base and a good education system. There are examples from all over the state of school and municipal systems that work.
Should the failure that grips Milwaukee spread over the rest of the state? That is scary stuff.
Isn't there someone in the state that has a good track record? One that doesn't involve taxing and failure?
Isn't there someone with fresh ideas for the state that really work?
It seems like the whole state is being bankrupted by ideas and communities that don't work.
What happened to patterning your future from ideas that work?
Maybe one measure of success is how much you pay in taxes in comparison to how well your school district does. How much to educate a child? I think there have to be districts that spend less than Milwaukee and do good on standardized tests. I would imagine there are some wealthy districts that spend more and do ok to. Would spending more money help Milwaukee students? I don't think so. Milwaukee County taxes are amazing.
It has always amazed me that average people in other states could tax at 1/5 of what property taxes are in Wisconsin and still provide basic services, educate children, and maintain streets. In Wisconsin, they just keep raising taxes, and services fall behind. Some, want more services and freebies.
There is no money tree in Wisconsin. Money has to come from somewhere.
I think a big piece that is missing is the desire by parents and residents to build good strong communities, communities that work. You can spend good money on a new paint job, new tires, new seats, but if the engine is broke in your 30 year old car, it ain't gonna move on it's own.
I'll have to think some more on this. Chicago isn't a model that works, and it seems like the nation as a whole is just moving toward bigger and bigger failure, and ignoring all the things that are good and working.
Bigger isn't better when it comes to government. Sometimes, I believe things become too big to succeed.
jmho (wow didn't expect to go on like that)