Innovation and School Reform Committee Meeting on 9/9/08

The Committee on Innovation and School Reform (ISR) is meeting on Tuesday night, September 9, at 6:30 pm. The tentative agenda is covering two topics:

• Informational Report on District and School Improvement Activities (DIFI plan)
• Informational Report on the Teach Across America Program

Both reports are attached to the advance copy of the ISR Blue Book that is available on the MPS Portal.

The Wisconsin DPI's "Corrective Action for Milwaukee Public Schools District Identified for Improvement - Level 3" plan is NOT an easy read. Some of you may be feeling the effects with extended reading and math instructional blocks. The district seems to be doing all it can to comply with the state's requirements. But again, here is an example of NCLB sanctions being put in place with little or no support provided to the district or, certainly, to the schools!

The Teach Across America program is an attempt to attract more "highly qualified teachers" to our district. The data about the gaps between MPS and neighboring districts (presented in the PowerPoint that is attached to the Blue Book) is very powerful and pretty depressing! The administration will be requesting approval of a contract with Teach Across America for the upcoming school year.