Huh...

Well, I confess that I did not attend the school board meeting on Thursday, September 18. I was instead enjoying the music of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (a real treat, I must say). On the way home, I did tune in on the radio and was struck by the last ten minutes of the meeting.

I heard one school board director talk about how he won't vote to raise taxes because he promised the voters in his district not to vote in that way. He went on to express frustration with a lack of action on the part of the board and administration regarding money and restructuring and cuts. I have to say that to some degree, I concur (and I usually do not agree with this school board director). We do need to get creative, and we do need to think outside the box. On the other hand, I'm sure that the specific courses of action he wants are different than what I would like to see, however. So, in the next paragraph, you will find my wish list.

I want every school board member to get to Madison weekly and tell the real stories of MPS and our kids. I want the Milwaukee newspapers to ask teachers what we need, and then tell those stories; and even more than that, I want the MJS to get behind a better way of funding schools. I want to not be "lazy" by the local talk radio hosts; instead I want them to realize that I will send a great part of my weekend grading papers just to keep my head above water. I want to not worry about my job security or my mortgage after 16 years of teaching. I want the citizens of this state to listen to Libby Burmaster when she says that Wisconsin schools have reached their limit....because the reality is that MPS is suffering, but so are Florence, River Falls, Sparta, Kimberly, and Hazel Green. And I want everyone to know that we are teaching the greatest proportion of kids in the state who have needs beyond what most of us can imagine or understand.

Again, I'm not sure of the action of the school board (and it seems that the local media isn't either), other than they know they will probably have to raise the school board portion of the property tax levy (not 15% your entire property tax)! No matter how you slice it, it's ugly for most property owners...but I'd rather pay to educate children than to incarcerate adults (guess which one costs more?).