Longtime Milwaukee Public Schools Board Director Charlene Hardin has had her troubles lately—she’s become a target for conservatives and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for allegedly spotty attendance at a school safety conference in Philadelphia, and, what’s more, she failed to gather enough valid signatures to make the Feb. 17 primary ballot.
But she told the Shepherd Express that she’s mounting a full write-in campaign, seeking endorsements, knocking on doors and meeting with community leaders to gather support.
“I think I have a good chance of getting re-elected,” said Hardin, who has represented District 4 of MPS since 1997.
Hardin said she’s always put the families and children of her district first, and has focused on safety in the classrooms and around schools.
Hardin was an early critic of a controversial proposal to handcuff unruly students. That issue was later spiked. But Peter Pochowski, who had advocated for handcuffs on behalf of the MPS administration, also attended that Philadelphia conference, and his tip fueled the Journal Sentinel’s highly critical reporting of Hardin’s notorious Philly adventure.
Hardin was philosophical about her trials in the press:
“There’s nothing to say,” Hardin said. “I went to Philadelphia and my agenda was to visit schools and I did go to the conference and I went to see about the safety and I checked out their position on how they have their K-12 arts programs. We were working on in my district to put together an arts K-12 campus and how are we able to look at the safety across the schools. And that’s what I went to do.”
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While Hardin will not appear on the Feb. 17 ballot, three candidates will—Gloria Gaston, Michael Mathias and Annie Woodward.
However, Gaston has just announced that she does not intend to run. Two other individuals have notified the city that they are write-in candidates as well: Akpan Blake and Sir Victor Bryant.
Mathias and Woodward told the Shepherd what they intend to do if they replace Hardin on the MPS Board.
Mathias is employed in the Medical College of Wisconsin’s development office; this is his first run for elective office. He said he felt compelled to run by Hardin’s poor representation of the district, as well as the larger discussion about eliminating an elected MPS board with an appointed board.
“I have a real concern about securing the future of public education in Milwaukee,” said Mathias. “I think it’s in jeopardy. I think that having an elected board is in jeopardy as well. It’s important to me that we have an elected board and a strong public education system in the city.”
Mathias, whose three children attend MPS schools, said that the board needs to take control of its resources and channel more funds into the classroom because it’s unlikely that the state will send more money to MPS or fix the funding flaw. He said, for example, that the elimination of educational aides as a cost-cutting measure can be linked to poor student achievement, and those jobs should be restored. The board should also manage its infrastructure better, Mathias said, because unused and underused buildings—and their associated debt burden—are a drain on the system’s budget.
Mathias said that MPS has an image problem, which has resulted in voters, parents and leaders simply giving up on the district. He said the board must do a better job of communicating MPS’s importance and success stories to the community.
“The district is constantly beaten up by politicians who are interested in generating news releases and getting attention in the media,” Mathias said. “It’s beaten up by the voucher crowd every chance they get. But there are a lot of success stories.”
Woodward said her concerns about declining student achievement spurred her to run. “I am concerned with the drop-out rate, the truancy rate, the suspension rate and the divided board and the funding formula,” Woodward said. “I have lived in this district for 24 years and I have a vested interest in it.
Woodward, who worked for Milwaukee County’s mental health and Department of Social Services for 34 years, said she has had the opportunity to see into the lives of MPS families.
There is a great deal of movement in families,” she said. “They don’t stay in one place long—about three months. Kids are moved around from place to place. This puts children in different schools. But there is no standard curriculum so a child can continue their education at a new school.”
Based on her observation of political appointees in county government, Woodward opposes changing the MPS board to an appointed one.
“I have been in this city and understand politics,” Woodward said. “The board would be appointed by the mayor, no doubt. I have seen what’s happened in county government. Each time there’s a different head they make political appointments of their cronies and friends and they aren’t always the best qualified people.”
Woodward said that more money needs to be sent to MPS, and Gov. Jim Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett are responsible for increasing MPS’s budget. She added that the current MPS strategic plan is a good one, but it doesn’t have enough accountability measures.
“Where’s the accountability for people who refuse to implement the plan?” she asked. “Where are the checks and balances? Who is going to monitor it?”
