Category Archives: Local News
Madison Prep – 1,2,3 Yellow Light (updated)
The Talking Heads, “1,2,3 Red Light” (live, 1977 — click to listen or download). [Update — I forgot a huge issue: Waivers. ULGM had previously asked for a blanket waiver of all MMSD policies and some state laws. There has … Continue reading
Madison Prep and the Attack on Public Education
Mission Of Burma – “Academy Fight Song” (click to listen or download). [Note; This post is adapted from an article I wrote over a week ago for the Progressive Dane Newsletter (as of this writing PD has not taken a … Continue reading
Is it “all about the kids” (and what that might mean)? — Take Two (in relation to ULGM and Madison Prep)
Frankie Beverly & Maze, “Joy and Pain” (click to listen or download) This is Take Two in a series. Take One, with a fuller introduction, can be found here. Briefly, the idea of the series is to counter anti-teacher and … Continue reading
Is it “all about the kids” (and what that might mean)? — Take One (in relation to ULGM and Madison Prep)
Sir Mack Rice “Money Talks” (click to listen or download) My training as a historian has taught me that all knowledge is tentative and that this is especially true when it comes to assigning motives to people’s actions. It has … Continue reading
Of two minds and no sense in Two Rivers
There is an editorial in the Herald Times Reporter on the Two Rivers school budget that presents contradictory ideas and ultimately makes no sense. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find more that doesn’t make sense. The editorial titled … Continue reading
So you want to be my Senator?
Tammy Baldwin is running for the US Senate. I’ve been pleased to have her as my Congressperson, but her record on education is undistinguished and unlike Russ Fiengold she rarely — if ever — has stood in opposition to the … Continue reading
DOJ CRS, MMSD, ULGM (and TJ) — Updated
Before a group can enter the open society, it must first close ranks. By this we mean that group solidarity is necessary before a group can operate effectively from a bargaining position of strength in a pluralistic society. Stokely Carmichael … Continue reading
Filed under Accountability, Best Practices, education, Equity, Gimme Some Truth, Local News
4K Opens Today!
After over a decade of of advocacy and effort, district-wide Four-Year-Old Kindergarten starts in the Madison Metropolitan School District this morning. Thank you and congratulations to all who made this happen. Thomas J. Mertz
Filed under Best Practices, Elections, Equity, Local News
Save Our Schools Rally — Madison, July 30, 2011 — 3:00 PM
The Staple Singers -”Long Walk To D.C” (click to listen or download) Yes, it is a long walk to D.C. and many of us who care deeply about the future of public education will not be able to join the … Continue reading
Education, Taxes, and MMSD Board Goals
I was struck by the relationship between two things in recent Wisconsin State Journal stories. The first of these is the graph above illustrating the cuts of over 150 Special Education staff positions (from Matt DeFour’s report on the new … Continue reading
