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A lot of folks breathed a sigh of relief when the recent JS article predicted that the Darling/Kooyenga MPS takeover plan faced an uphill battle because key Republican Sen. Luther Olsen, chair of the education committee, isn’t on board.
Well, Olsen’s opposition doesn’t necessarily doom the bill, so don’t relax just yet.
The proposal—as weak and ridiculous as it is—could be slipped into the budget. The Joint Finance Committee (co-chaired by Sen. Alberta Darling; state Rep. Dale Kooyenga and Olsen are vice chairs) will be going over education proposals next week. Wouldn’t it be convenient if Darling and Kooyenga just happened to slip it in without any input from the public?
There are many problems with this proposal, beginning with its assumption that a change in governance would help students. That hasn’t been seen elsewhere—take note of New Orleans, which hasn’t seen notably improved student performance since being transformed into a charter district—so it’s not going to happen here.
Another major problem is the plan itself. There are no details. We know that the Milwaukee County executive—currently Chris Abele—would be able to appoint a commissioner. Um, OK. Will that lone commissioner, with no set term in “office” and apparently no school board, then be able to take over the schools that he or she wants with no public oversight? And this is going to help Milwaukee’s kids?
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Then consider that as of yet there is no role for the state superintendent. And that makes it unconstitutional. Just a little thing to consider.
Questions about funding, hiring of teachers and staff, accountability, redundancy of services are still unanswered.
So this plan is terrible, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t pass.
And if it’s included in the budget via the JFC, then the public won’t be able to comment on it at all. Democracy in action, folks.
Even if it doesn’t make it into the budget, the Republicans can get around Olsen’s opposition by sending it to the Senate Committee on Education Reform, chaired by state Sen. Paul Farrow until he leaves office this summer to become Waukesha County executive.
Besides the plan’s lack of detail, we must always consider the politics of the thing.
Why Abele is getting involved is just beyond me. It’s a disaster, and when it fails it’ll be pinned on him. I don’t know if he’s really thought that through or if he thinks he, a college dropout, truly could do a better job of running very challenged schools than new Superintendent Darienne Driver and the elected board.
Now, the entire delegation of Milwaukee Democrats came out in strong opposition to the proposal, arguing, fairly, that changing the governance structure will do nothing to help kids in struggling schools and, in fact, Driver should be given a chance to make her mark on the district.
Abele, of course, is a big donor to Democrats, but also to Republicans who just happen to boost his power in the state Legislature—including Kooyenga. When will he realize that his Republican pals are setting him up to fail?
