According to Doyle’s outlinethe legislation isstill being drafted, even after months of discussionthe Milwaukee mayor wouldappoint the MPS superintendent, voters could weigh in via referendum on theplan after it’s been in place for seven years (not before the plan islaunched), tenure for principals and other administrative managers would beeliminated, and a Milwaukee Children’s Zone would be created to integratesocial services with schools.
The MPS board would still be elected, but itsresponsibilities would be greatly diminished. “An elected school board wouldremain with the ability to influence decisions and highlight local concern,”Doyle’s statement said. But the board would no longer appoint thesuperintendent or be responsible for major fiscal issues.
“I Would Resign,” Board President BondsSays
Despite claims that a change in governance wouldclose the racial gap and raise student achievement at MPS, Doyle’s announcementcontained no details on how the daily, nuts-and-bolts work of educating Milwaukee students wouldchange.
“People are really missing the boat if they thinkthis is about education reform,” said MPS President Michael Bonds, a takeoveropponent. “This is strictly a power grab.”
He said it was clear that Doyle and Milwaukee MayorTom Barrett had a candidate in mind to succeed Superintendent WilliamAndrekopoulos, who is retiring next summer. The board is currently conducting anational search for a new superintendent, one who has already led a large,urban school like MPS.
“If the mayor and governor have this wonderfulcandidate, then he or she should come forward as part of the regular searchprocess,” Bonds said.
Bonds said the proposed legislation was merely a wayto strip the elected board’s power.
“If we have a powerless board, I would resign,” hetold the Shepherd.
In August, Bonds quit Barrett’s MPS Innovation andImprovement Advisory Council because Barrett had informed Bonds of the“high-level private conversations” the mayor had been having with the governorand other elected officials about taking over MPS or changing its governancestructure.
Bonds said he wouldn’t be part of a public committeethat was privately attempting to dismantle a democratically elected board.
Bonds’ resignation forced Doyle and Barrett to admitpublicly that they were, in fact, attempting to take over MPS.
“Doyle Doesn’t Have the Votes,” WilliamsSays
Doyle’s proposal has the support of MilwaukeeDemocrats Lena Taylor and Jeff Plale in the state Senate and Pedro Colon, JasonFields and Jon Richards in the state Assembly. Taylorand Colon arethe lead sponsors of the bill.
Taylor’schief of staff, Eric Peterson, said the senator undertook a long review of bestpractices around the country and determined that a mayor-appointedsuperintendent would be the best structure for MPS.
“The superintendent has to be freed up to makechanges,” Peterson said.
The bill is still being drafted, Peterson said, butshould be finished by the end of this week.
But if Doyle thinks his bill will sail through thestate Legislature, he is going to have to work around a fierce opponent, stateRep. Annette Polly Williams.
Williams is the chair of the Assembly Committee onEducation Reform, which was set up specifically to deal with Milwaukee-basedreforms. The vice chair is state Rep. Christine Sinicki, also a staunchopponent of the takeover.
Williams said the governor, mayor, Taylor and Colon had not spoken toher about the takeover bill, even though Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan toldhis fellow Democrats that any bill related to MPS would go to Williams’committee, she told the Shepherd. AndSheridan’s theone who would make that decision.
If the bill does come to her committee, Williamssaid she would stop it or amend it so that it applies to all school districtsin the state.
Williams scoffed at Doyle’s assertion last week thathe has enough votes for the takeover to be passed by the state Legislature.
“He doesn’t have the votes,” she said.
Williams, incidentally, represents a portion of Taylor’s Senate districtin the state Assembly. And Williams wasn’t too happy about Taylorand Colon’srole in any takeover attempt.
“These are two Democrats who are not listening totheir constituents,” Williams said.
Williams also questioned why Doyle and Barrett arepushing the takeover, since the issue is dividing their fellow Democrats beforenext year’s gubernatorial election.
Barrett is expected to run for governor now that Lt.Gov. Barbara Lawton has withdrawn from the race, although it isn’t likely thatBarrett will announce his candidacy while the controversial takeover isunresolved.
The takeover is supported by conservativephilanthropists and business groupssuch as the Metropolitan MilwaukeeAssociation of Commerce (MMAC).
The business community “is going to support[Republican] Scott Walker for governor,” Williams said. “They’re not going tosupport Tom Barrett. So why are we going to turn our school district over to[MMAC President] Tim Sheehy?”
“Race to the Top” Misinformation
Doyle also presented a broader package of reformsthat would help the state compete for federal “Race to the Top” funds, to bedistributed at Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s discretion. Those reformswould require a third year of math and science for high-school graduation,allow school boards to use test results to evaluate teachers, and allow thestate superintendent to intervene more intensely in struggling schools.
That package of bills is scheduled for a hearing inthe state Senate this week.
Doyle and Barrett have asserted that, in addition tothose changes, an MPS takeover would help the state win Race to the Top funds.But letters exchanged between Duncanand Milwaukee Congresswoman Gwen Moore affirm that a takeover is not a statedrequirement for funds.
Yet the perception that a takeover would net thestate more federal funds remains. So Mooretook her concerns to the White House.
Moore’sspokeswoman Marni Goldberg confirmed that the congresswoman “contacted WhiteHouse officials to express her concern that the administration was becominginvolved in a local debate about mayoral control. She also voiced concern aboutthe inaccurate perception being created that mayoral control of MPS was aprerequisite to earning Race to the Top funds.”
Williams said Duncancontacted Doyle to set the record straight. Doyle’s office did not return acall seeking comment for this article.
Mooresaid she’s concerned about the schools, as well as issues that influence MPSstudents, such as family poverty and joblessness, teen pregnancy and publicpolicies that send millions of dollars to the suburbs instead of the city.
“As we move forward with a discussion of policyproposals intended to fix MPS, we have to concentrate on the broad range ofissues facing children and families in Milwaukee,”Moore said.“These challenges beg for an all-hands-on-deck approach that incorporates thecommitments of nonprofits like the Boys & Girls Clubs and the resources ofour local, state and federal governments. I have not seen evidence that thereis any single ‘silver bullet’ that will magically eliminate the myriad problemsfacing our schools.”
