Monthly Archives: September 2007
White transfer story a stretch
Letter to the Editor, White transfer story a stretch The headline in Sunday ‘s paper — “You can’t transfer, white kids told” — could just as easily have been “School district refuses to re-segregate” or “School district complies with spirit … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Best Practices, Gimme Some Truth, Local News
We are Not Alone #16
The woes associated with the lack of action on the state budget and the fears created by the draconian GOP positions are not confined to MMSD. This from the Prairie Farm School District: The political wrangling has more immediate consequences, … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Budget, School Finance, We Are Not Alone
Why the State Budget Matters to All of Us
From the Capital Times But school district spokesman Joe Quick said several provisions in the Assembly Republican budget could still create shortfalls or other problems for Madison schools. Chief among those is funding for SAGE, the program that creates smaller … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Budget, Local News, School Finance, Take Action
Superintendent Search
From MMSD, BOE president Arlene Sliveira Community input sought for new superintendent qualities An Invitation to Our Parents, Students and Community The Board of Education has initiated its search for a new superintendent of schools to replace Art Rainwater, who … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Best Practices, Contracts, Local News
No CEO Left Behind: A Teacher’s Fantasy
From Myriam Miedzian, posted on the Huffington Post (hat tip to Schools Matter) Excerpt: No mayor or other government official would ever dream of recruiting school teachers to help fix America’s corporations. But if corporate executives can be called upon … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Best Practices
When Race Matters
As Susan Troller recently explored, the demographics of MMSD continue to move toward more minorities and more poverty (the story was quite good and the comments are worth a look too). This essay from the Teacher’s College Record by Sean … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Best Practices, Equity, National News
John Smart on the State Budget
I’ve had the pleasure of working with John on Wisconsin Allaince for Excellent Schools matters. He get’s it right. Thomas J. Mertz “The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) set Friday, Sept. 28 as the deadline for getting a final 2007-09 … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Budget, School Finance
Two Legged Stool
The Wisconsin school finance “system” is often called a “three legged stool,” with the legs being 2/3 funding from state revenues (1/3 from local and federal sources), the QEO to limit teacher contract costs and the revenue caps to limit … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Budget, Gimme Some Truth, Local News, School Finance
Charter Problems in Oshkosh and Appleton
$600,000 of federal funding for charter schools that the Appleton district was counting on and $150,000 of funding for Oshkosh is in jeapardy. At issue is the degree of autonomy the charters enjoy. In order to receive the monies, the … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Best Practices, Local News, National News, No Child Left Behind, School Finance
Quote (paraphrase) of the Day
From State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster’s “back to school” interview (more here). One thing the superintendent says schools need as soon as possible is a state budget. School districts have a sense of apprehension she says because they don’t know if … Continue reading
Filed under AMPS, Budget, Local News, School Finance
