The new proposal would allow the statesuperintendent of public instruction to request changes in struggling districtsand low-performing public schools.
While the state superintendent would have more sayin the operations of a district in need of improvement like the MilwaukeePublic Schools, it would be up to the district itself to make those changes.Governance does not change.
It’s a long way from a takeover as envisioned byGov. Jim Doyle, which would have allowed the mayor of Milwaukee to appoint theMPS superintendent, who would control the district’s finances, curriculum andcollective bargaining decisions, while the elected board would have littlepower to influence any of those decisions.
However, the governor, currently serving out hisfinal months in office, has signed on to the plan and even held a pressconference in Milwaukee on Monday to show his support.
According to a draft of the bill, the statesuperintendent could get more involved in school districts that have been inneed of improvement for four years according to No Child Left Behind standards.
That’s MPS.
But the school boardnot the state Department ofPublic Instruction (DPI)would make the changes, which include applying a standardconsistent curriculum; adding more support for students, especially studentswho speak limited English; and setting up performance evaluations for teacherswhile supplying them with more professional resources.
DPI could order more changes to be made at thelowest performing schools (the bottom 5%), such as implementing a newinstructional design.
In addition to these changes, no principal orassistant principal would be granted tenure or permanent employment.
Opponents Found Common Ground
The bill is seen as a way to start to move past thetensions that have paralyzed education reform efforts, a way to show unity inadvance of incoming MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton’s arrival, as well ascritical elections in the fall in which education will no doubt be a majorissue.
The governor and state Sen. Lena Taylor are onboard, even though the bill greatly differs from the mayoral takeover they hadadvocated in the previous months.
Also supportive is state Superintendent TonyEversseen as a reluctant supporter of a mayoral takeover who then threatenedto withhold funds from the district, a move interpreted as politicalretaliation against MPS.
“It is heartening to see legislators who were oneither side of the school governance issue coming together to support thisproposed education reform legislation,” Evers said in a prepared statement.
State Rep. Tamara Grigsby, a staunch opponent of themayoral takeover bill, said she would not support this compromise if itincluded governance change. State Sen. Spencer Coggs, who drafted a reform billwith Grigsby this past session, gave his qualified support to the bill as well.
The two main teachers’ unionsthe MilwaukeeTeachers’ Education Association (MTEA) and the Wisconsin Education AssociationCouncil (WEAC)have also voiced their support.
But despite the good will, the Milwaukee delegationisn’t united behind the proposal.
State Rep. Annette (Polly) Williams, an outspokenopponent of the mayoral takeover attempt, blasted this proposal, which sheargued had been put together without community input.
“I am appalled and deeply outraged that thestudents, parents and voters of Milwaukee are once again being ‘shafted’ bywhat appears to be an attempt to undermine and micromanage the Milwaukee SchoolBoard and administration,” Williams wrote in an April 8 memo to the Milwaukeedelegation. “This legislation, which will primarily affect MPS, should not moveforward without meaningful participation from the Milwaukee community.”
State Rep. Fred Kessler stated that he could notsupport a reform bill that did not include Milwaukee’s charter or voucherschools.
