Speaking Out Works

Before I say anything else regarding the past week's events of the Milwaukee School Board I would like to congratulate and thank all the hardworking teachers of MPS that came out to the meetings both Tuesday and Thursday to give passionate and moving testimony on why our schools cannot suffer from any further cuts. I found this especially meaningful upon reflection of last fall when I was on my way to one of my first board meetings, listening to the broadcast and hearing testimony highly critical of Milwaukee Public Schools in every regard. But this year my colleagues made me proud and captivated the tone of the discourse by keeping in the forefront our purpose--working to provide our children of Milwaukee with a quality education.
More specifically, I'd like to give big ups to early childhood teachers and members of the MTEA Early Childhood Committee who were able to fight for and win the passing of a budget amendment to increase the number of educational assistants in K4, K5 classrooms.
Besides the tax levy, the other dominant theme of the week was the closing of buildings, the selling of buildings and the opening of formerly closed buildings--all in efforts it seemed to streamline operations but I found a few reasons for concern. First of all, I think about these 'mothballed' schools. I think how school buildings are generally large structures--what effect does that have on the surrounding community when it has to contend with the physicality of a large vacant building? While I understand the financial difficulty for buildings that prove more expensive to operate than necessary I worry about the lack of input from the school communities affected by these decisions and frustrated when it seems their voices are overlooked for some reason or another. The Board proved it can put children first in voting to raise the tax levy, in spite of it being an economically difficult time but putting children first needs to be done consistently. Our students deserve nothing less.

Last Week's Round-Up

Two school board committee meetings occurred last week--both dealt with school closings or schools merging/moving. I was only able to catch the end of the meeting on Thursday night, the Committee on Finance/Personnel, and heard some of the discussion around the future of Milwaukee Education Center (MEC) Middle School. The Committee did not take any action dealing with the closing of the MEC facility and putting it up for sale and then moving the Middle School to Juneau.
Though I did not attend the meeting of the Committee on Innovation/School Reform on Tuesday night reference was made to that meeting by school board members who mentioned that action was taken on the recommendation of the Bayview School Improvement Task Force, a group of school community members from various schools in the Bayview area that has been meeting since Spring 2008. Recommendations from the Task Force include a gradual merge between Fritche and Bayview High School over three years with a combined program ending up at the Bayview High School building. The other recommendation from the Task Force, to combine Tippecanoe and Dover at Dover's site was sent to the full board without recommendations from the committee. More about that meeting is blogged here.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the school funding system!

Are you a teacher who has watched your class size grow over the years yet it seems like school budgets only shrink? Did you ever wish someone could just explain to you how school funding actually gets decided? Ever want to have more of a voice in the process? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions then you NEED to be at the public forum on school funding, Wednesday October 22 from 4:30 to 6:30 at MPS Central Services auditorium, 5225 W. Vliet.
Hear from knowledgeable presenters who have been working hard for fairness in funding on behalf of our students. They include:

* Jeff Leverich, Senior Researcher for the Wisconsin Education Association Council
* Jack Norman, Research Director for the Institute for Wisconsin's Future
* Mary Bell, President of the Wisconsin Education Association Council
* Teresa Thomas-Boyd, Organizer for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, and MPS parent

So if you've ever dreamed of going to a school board budget meeting and NOT having to hear about teachers being cut or schools being closed, this forum is for YOU!