Category Archives: education

by | April 15, 2010 · 8:01 am

Time for Action — MMSD Budget Hearing, 4/18/2010

Note: The first call asks people to wear red.

Secret Affair, “Time For Action” (click to listen or download).

A couple of calls for action for Sunday’s Madison Metropolitan School District Budget Hearing* (April 18th at 1:00 pm at Warner Park Community Recreation Center — 1625 Northport Dr).

The first is from an ad hoc coalition:

As you probably already know, the school board is right now struggling with how to deal with the fact that the state legislature shifted more of the costs of education to property taxpayers.  Of the over $18 million in cuts they are still considering, many will disproportionately impact low income kids and kids of color.  A group of individuals and representatives of organizations (including the LCEC) is working to make sure the school board knows that there is public support for programs that support struggling students, improve teaching and address the achievement gap.

So many of the kids we work with at the center are struggling in school.  These cuts are going to make things even worse for them, and we can’t afford to let things get worse.

I hope that you will consider sending an email to the MMSD Board of Education and/or attend the public hearing on April 18 to urge them to protect direct services to kids in our schools (approximately $8 million of the remaining $18 million).

1.     Can you send an email to board@madison.k12.wi.us ? (- and ask one or two friends to do the same?) Please consider including the text below in your email (especially the bolded sentence) with whatever personal introduction or other comments you choose.

2.     Can you attend the public hearing at 1pm on Sunday, April 18th at the Warner Park Community Recreational Center?  (- and ask one or two friends to do the same?) If you come, please wear red (Badger gear is fine!).  You do not have to speak if you don’t want to.  We are planning to have a couple of speakers, and ask everyone else to stand in show of support.  That was we show the public support without creating something that goes on for hours.

Thank you!

Suggested text:

Dear School Board Members,

My name is… [introduce self and connection to schools here]

We recognize the enormous challenge that the School Board and the MMSD Administration has to address the remaining $18.1 million which the state legislature has shifted to local property tax-payers. We are also pleased with the School Board’s decision to preserve some important programs.  Madison taxpayers place a high value on public education and have overwhelmingly supported the schools through multiple referenda over the past few years.

The community has set eliminating the achievement gap for the nearly 50% of MMSD students who are students of color as the top priority in the MMSD Strategic Plan.  In light of this priority, and the fact that access to high quality public education is critically important to children from families who are marginalized due to racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic status, we ask you to maintain funding for all budget items that provide “direct services” (including those fitting “multiple categories”), and especially for those programs and learning communities that are addressing the achievement gap and issues of equity.

[add any personal experiences or stories you want to share here.]

Sincerely,

The second is from Progressive Dane:

Time to Stand Up for Schools (again)

Despite the 2008 referendum which so many of us worked so hard to pass, state actions and inaction have once again placed the quality of our public schools in jeopardy. It is time to stand up for our schools (again).

On Sunday April 18th at 1:00 pm at Warner Park Community Recreation Center – 1625 Northport Dr. – the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education will hold their second Public Hearing on the 2010-11 district budget. The Board needs to hear from the community that we value education and are willing to pay to keep our schools strong. Progressive Dane urges community members to attend and make their voices heard.

Even if you don’t want to speak at the meeting, you can attend register with positive message. If you can’t make on Sunday, the Board can be contacted at board@madison. k12.wi.us.

Unlike in previous years when state school funding policies required large cuts to programs and services, this year the Board of Education has the authority to almost fully fund programs at current levels. Unfortunately doing so will mean substantial property tax increases. This places the Board in a difficult position and as they work through the choices before them it is essential that they be reminded of the importance our community places on education.

Many of the budget issues are complex, but the message is simple.

  • For the good of the community and the future of our children, keeping our schools strong has to be the first priority.
  • After 16 years of cuts to programs and services and generally declining school taxes, tax increases are preferable to further cuts.
  • The over $6 million in cuts, efficiencies and reallocations initially approved at the April 12, 2010 meeting are almost entirely positive examples of fiscal responsibility. These items will have little or no effect on the quality of programs and services. The vast majority of the remaining options may have significant negative impacts and should be considered very carefully.
  • The district must fund essential facilities maintenance and plan for future needs.
  • Affordable MSCR and Community Education programs keep Madison healthy and make our community a desirable place to live.
  • We are eager to work with the Board to achieve adequate, equitable and sustainable state school funding in Wisconsin.

For more information on the MMSD Budget see here: http://drupal. madison.k12. wi.us/node/ 6001

To show your support and keep informed, join the Stand Up for Madison Schools Facebook group: http://bit.ly/aHFTPW

To get involved in state advocacy, check out the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools www.excellentschool s.org and their Penny for Kids campaign www.apennyforkids. org.

Thomas J. Mertz & Jacque Pokorney
Co-Chairs, Progressive Dane

Time for Action!

Thomas J. Mertz

* Note the hearing Sunday is not the statutorily required Budget Hearing, that will come some time in May.

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by | April 13, 2010 · 9:52 am

Cut Numbers — MMSD Budget Update

Robert Indiana, Numbers, 1968

The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education made some real progress on their 2010-11 budget at last night’s meeting (preview of the meeting here).  Working from the “Yes, No, Maybe” lists they submitted earlier, they gave initial approval to $6,043,836 in cuts, savings, efficiencies and reallocations.

I’ve posted an unofficial spreadsheet (converted to pdf) here, based on my notes (all of this is based on my notes, so there could be mistakes).  the item numbers on the spreadsheet can be matched with this set of descriptions (MSCR descriptions here).

Official versions of this, the “Yes, No, Maybe” tally, an updated Budget Book and more should be posted today and in the following days.  Check the Budget page.  The Maintenance Referendum info Lucy Mathiak has been seeking should also be up in the coming days (no fireworks on that at the meeting).

Some other meeting highlights include the announcement of lower than expected increases in WPS and GHC health insurance costs (savings totaling either $1.4 million or $2.2 million, my notes aren’t clear), an error involving double counts of  Bilingual Resource Teachers that when fixed lowers cost-to-continue estimates by $632,670, and $47,000 of additional savings in the new Special Education transport contracts.  It is anticipated that in the next weeks the health insurance estimates from Physicians Plus and Dean will also be lower than previously budgeted.

I’m not sure if this is finalized, but it appears the Board will meet next Monday (4/19/2010) at 5:30, prior to the Awards Ceremony at Memorial High School, to deal with the Reorganization Job Postings and perhaps budget matters.

Don’t forget about the Budget Hearing on Sunday (April 18th at 1:00 pm at Warner Park Community Recreation Center — 1625 Northport Dr).

Gayle Worland has more on the meeting and related developments in the State Journal.

As time permits I’ll have a fuller meeting wrap up, including Johnny Winston Jr.’s tearful goodbye.

Thomas J. Mertz

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by | April 12, 2010 · 4:08 pm

On the Agenda, MMSD Board of Education, April 12, 2010

It is a full meeting this week (Agenda here) but this is going to be a quick post.  After an Executive session on litigation issues (Federal — ?! — and personal injury), the main meeting commences at 6:00 PM (Doyle Administration Bldg. 545 W. Dayton Street, Auditorium).  Like almost all Board meetings, this will be carried by MMSD-TV.

Budget matters (all the district info linked here) are last on the agenda but first on everyone’s minds, so I’m going to start there.

As noted previously Board Members agreed to work through the remaining Budget Options and share their “yes, no and maybe” lists.  These were due last Friday.  because of open meetings concerns, these have not been shared, but may be available to Board Members (and the public I hope) at the meeting.

There has been one update to the Board/Admin Q&As since March 29 on Discussion Items 201-228 (I actually don’t see anything new, but the section is dates April 12).

I also don’t see any updates or much needed fixes to the Budget Book as of this writing.

In a related matter, there may be some action around facilities issues.  Susan Troller has the story on the Cap Times.  The recent district Facilities Assessment, memo and spreadsheet are here.  Some older related documents may be found here, here, here and here.

The very last item on a full agenda is “2010-11 MMSD Budget Reduction and Efficiency Options for Addressing the Property Tax Impact of and Revenue Gap within the Projected 2010-11 District Budget.”  It is starred for possible action.

Now from the top.

First is a resolution of thanks to Johnny Winston Jr.  This is his last meeting.  Thanks Johnny (a fuller thanks here).

Next, Public Appearances.  It will be interesting to see if people show up en masse on Budget things, or if they wait for the Public Hearing on Sunday (April 18th at 1:00 pm at Warner Park Community Recreation Center — 1625 Northport Dr).

Board President’s Announcements follow, including the receipt of a $10,000 Toyota TAPESTRY grant for excellence and innovation in science education by one of my favorite activist teachers, Troy Dassler.  Congratulations!

Here is a video of Troy’s students:

You can read about some of Troy’s creative teaching here and see more video and read more here.

Two important items in the Superintendent’s Announcements and Reports.  First is the Board of Education/Superintendent Communication Goal Action Plan.  It looks like some minor modifications from the March version.  Some thoughts on that version in this post and this one too.  Things like the facilities matter mentioned above and the Budget Book problems (as well as some of the back-and-forth at recent meetings) indicate that the communications issues are pretty bad right now.  The plan is start, but not a panacea.

Next is the Job Descriptions for the Reorganization (PART 1, PART 2, PART 3). These help a little with understanding what is envisioned, but so much of this remains vague and blurry that I continue to think the approval and implementation are premature.  One thing worth noting is that although the Chief Learning Officer is a new position, it replaces the existing Chief of Staff, so the budget line gets shifted and all the expense is not new.  One other thing that bothers me is that there has been little or no discussion of how this new organization and the new positions change the job description of the Superintendent.  Since prior to the reorganization plan announcement Dan Nerad’s contract was extended — with a raise and without any annual evaluation that I can find — this bothers me.

Lots of things on the Consent Agenda that probably deserve attention, but I don’t have the time today.

The Legislative Liaison report is on the prospects of the pending state proposal to raise the SAGE class sizes to 18.  I have very mixed feelings about this.  It would provide some relief, but it is another instance of lowering expectations instead of making the difficult choices needed to fund education.   Here are those links again: Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools, Penny for Kids, School Finance Network and the AMPS “Take Action” page.  Get involved in changing this downward spiral!.  For the economics of SAGE, see these posts: Sage Thoughts and SAGE on the Chopping Block.

A couple of other items, but this hits what is most important, on the agenda.

Thomas J. Mertz

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by | April 8, 2010 · 8:39 am

Quick, Sloppy, Thursday Wrap Up

For a variety of reasons I’m not able to do much blogging this week, but wanted to get some things up and out,  hence this quick and sloppy wrap up.

Other than the excellent and inspiring Instructional Resource Teacher (IRT) presentation, Monday’s Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education Meeting was depressing and disturbing in many ways (video here, preview here).  Much of this is due to the long and short term financial picture, both state and local — insert obligatory Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools and Penny for Kids links along with discretionary School Finance Network link — some has to do with confusion about Budget information and processes.  No time to say more.

One good thing from the meeting is that although no vote was taken, it is clear that the IRTs will not be cut this year.

Another ting that came out of the meeting was a next step for the Budget process. By Friday of this week, Board members will be submitting lists of the remaining Budget Options marked, yes, no and maybe.  I assume that the unanimous “nos” will be removed from consideration at the April 12  meeting and hope that those with a strong majority will be too.  If you want to weigh in before the lists are finalized, write the Board at board@madison.k12.wi.us.

I hope these are posted for public perusal in a timely manner (so that the public can contact the Board prior to any decisions).

It was also Johnny Winston Jr,’s last real meeting.  Thanks for the service Johnny.

The Budget Book has been posted, but from the discussion Monday and my own quick skims, there are some problems.   The biggest, but not only problem is that it doesn’t reflect significant changes that have already been decided, the Reorganization (PART 1, PART 2, PART 3)
being the most significant.  I’ve been told that some sort of fix to this and other issues is in the works.

On Monday, there were references to pending Questions and Answers on the budget, but the Q&A page was last updated on March 28.

Join the Stand Up for Madison Schools Facebook group to show support and keep up to date on the budget issues.

In other news, Jame Howard was victorious and will be joining the Board.  Congratulations and best of luck James (too late to turn back now).  I also want to thank Tom Farley for running and his desire to make a contribution to the community.

On Tuesday there were 48 school referenda on the ballot in Wisconsin, 24 passed.  All 6 recurring operational measures failed; non-recurring operational votes split 10 to 10, and 14 of 22 debt measures passed.   This is no way to fund educational investments.  For the full results, see here.

That’s it for now (may update at some point).

Thomas J. Mertz

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by | April 5, 2010 · 9:45 am

One The Agenda — MMSD Board of Education, Week of April 5, 2010

The 2010-11 Madison Metropolitan School District budget is once again front, center and all places on the Board of Education agenda.  The main meeting starts at 5:30 (after an Exec session on student discipline cases) in the Doyle Administration Bldg. Auditorium (545 W. Dayton Street).  It is a “workshop” meeting and that means no public testimony (people who have comments on the budget should continue to write the Board at board@madison.k12.wi.us).  Like almost all Board meetings, this will be carried by MMSD-TV.

A couple of notes and then onto the agenda.  First, as scheduled the Board did receive Budget Books for 2010-11 last week; I’ve been told it will be posted on the district website on Monday ( I assume on the Budget page).  The Q&A have been pretty active and are worth working through, to get more information and glimpses of Board and Administration thinking.  I’d especially recommend “Q & A – Discussion Items 229 and above” which covers items not directly among the options presented by the Administration.

Note everything on the agenda is marked as “action may be taken.”

First up is “2010-11 Budget Development Process and Timelines.”  I hope there is a new timeline presented, because the one that is on the website has been out-of-date for some time.  When I asked about this some weeks ago I was told to use the Board Calendar instead, but the information there isn’t very detailed.  I also hope that there is no discussion/evaluation of the process at this time.  I think many — on the Board, in the Administration and among the public — have thoughts about what has worked and what hasn’t, but now is not the time.  Once this is over, I do think some evaluation and changes are essential.

Next comes the “Overview of MMSD Financial Picture” consisting of Impact of state’s finances on MMSD finances and budget projections, 5-year budget forecast and Tax impact projections of 4K implementation.  I’m fairly certain that the first is the only new document.  In consists largely of  Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) memos from January and February and a PowerPoint by Prof Andrew Reschovsky.

Whether local or state, the forecasts aren’t good.  For MMSD the the expiration of the Maintenance Referendum and  the limits of the operating referendum will — with or without 4K, but more without  — the structural gap between allowed revenues and cost to continue budgeting kicks back in at between $3 Million and $6 Million from 2012 forward.  That assumes taxing to the max and the max will require property tax increases estimated at about 12% for 2010-11, about 9% for 2011-12, about 6% for 2012-13,  4.5% for 2013-14, and about 3.25% for 2014-15.  At the state level, the projected structural deficit for the 2011-13 biennium is $2.3 Billion.

There may also be more bad news from the state.  Recent tax collections have not met projections thus far.  According to Steve Walters at WisOpinion, the hope is that two of the good things that were done in the last budget — increasing the Capital Gains tax and raising the highest income tax rate — will help enough to avoid a budget reconciliation (if GPR projected expenditures exceed projected revenues by 0.5% the “emergency” adjustment comes into play).

It is time for state officials to take their heads out of the sand and address the short and long term needs of the state, including education.  As I noted above, some positive steps were made in the last budget (I’ll add closing the “Las Vegas Loophole” and the Homestead Credit adjustment), but they clearly are not enough.  For the short term, the Penny for Kids campaign has the best solution.  For the long term, school funding still needs the big fix and Wisconsin needs real revenue reform (see the the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future/Wisconsin Council on Children and Families Catalog of Tax Reform Options for Wisconsin).

The Facilities Assessment is next (memo, spreadsheet).  It looks like $85 Million over 5 years, with much of that needed sooner rather than later.  More bad news.  Susan Troller Doug Erickson has more at the Cap Times State Journal.

The last informational piece is a report on Instructional Resource Teachers (IRTs).  Research, current practices and the MMSD Reorganization all identify IRTs or “Teacher Coaches” or “Teacher Leaders” as the key to successful Professional Development practices.  The Reorganization already cut IRTs.  It makes no sense to cut further.  Here is one quote from Catherine McMillan, Principal at Franklin:

There are plenty more in the report.  I hope no one is confused by the illusion that “keeping cuts from the classroom” means IRTs are expendable.

Last is the big item, the action item: “2010-11 MMSD Budget Reduction and Efficiency Options for Addressing the Property Tax Impact of and Revenue Gap within the Projected Budget.”

Thomas J. Mertz.

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by | March 28, 2010 · 12:43 pm

Doing the Ostrich – Wisconsin’s “Leaders” Keep Their Heads in the Sand

The Primitives, “The Ostrich” (pre Velvet Underground Lou Reed and John Cale, click to listen or download).

A story in the New York Times this morning about states considering closing sales tax exemptions in order to fund essential services reminded me once again about how “leadership” in Wisconsin have continually refused to make the hard choices needed and have boasted about cutting services when they should be fighting to fund them.

Madison area state officials  Mark Pocan and Jon Erpenbach have spoken in favor similar proposals (for Pocan see here, for Erpenbach see here), but despite a Democrat majority they have not even attempted to move them forward.  I repeat, have not even attempted; It would be one thing if they tried and failed, but they don’t try or if they do behind closed doors they give up mighty easy.

When pushed they always have a reason why now is not the time to do the right thing.  As Pocan’s reaction in this recent Isthmus story shows, they get somewhat annoyed when their constituents aren’t happy with their inaction.  There is a reason I put “leader” in quotes.

If by some chance Pocan and others want to take their heads out of the sand and see the harm their inaction is doing, I’d start with the Monday’s Madison School budget hearing (video here).  Next, take a look at this week’s school layoffs and more in this post.

In the unlikely instance that this makes them actually want to do something positive, the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future/Wisconsin Council on Children and Families Catalog of Tax Reform Options for Wisconsin is full of promising ideas.

For the immediate crisis in school funding, Penny for Kids is the best idea out there.

One answer for failed elected “leadership” is continued pressure to try to get them to actually lead; another is to elect different people.  We’ve been putting on the pressure for a long time.

Thomas J. Mertz

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by | March 27, 2010 · 1:13 pm

WAES School Funding Reform Update, Week of March 22, 2010

From the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (of Penny for Kids fame).  Table of Contents below, click here for the full update.

  • School-funding reform is the topic of the day under The Dome
  • Students coming to the front of the school-funding reform effort
  • “Category 5” crisis for schools … “A Penny for Kids” would help
  • Four-day school week is getting mixed reviews
  • Brodhead superintendent lays out need for April 6 referendum
  • WAES needs your support to keep working for school-funding reform
  • School-funding reform front and center on Wisconsin Eye
  • Rep. Schneider  says we must pay the price for quality schools
  • Help WAES correct e-mail update glitch
  • School-funding reform calendar

Thomas J. Mertz

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by | March 24, 2010 · 10:42 am

More School Layoffs in Wisconsin

Click image for more on the book (actually about higher education).

Alex Chilton, “Lost My Job” (click to listen or download).

The song — by the recently departed Alex Chilton –  goes out to all the teachers and school personnel in Wisconsin and elsewhere who are being pushed into the ranks of the unemployed by our state’s and our nation’s short-sighted refusal to make the kind of investments in education that are necessary for a strong, healthy and prosperous democracy.  Let’s not let that happen in Madison (join the Facebook group “Stand Up for Madison Schools” to get involved and keep up with the latest on the Madison Metropolitan School Budget) and let’s stop it in Wisconsin (sign the Penny for Kids petition and get involved there too).

Here are some links to the latest layoffs:

Appleton Post Crescent,  Appleton school board lays off 24 educators for fall.

Appleton Post Crescent, 34 teachers among 50 Menasha school staff facing layoff.

Stevens Point Journal,  School Board approves layoff notices to 42 teachers.

For more on recent Wisconsin school cuts see, Hatchets at the Ready — More Wisconsin School Budget News.

There will certainly be more layoffs and cuts as districts work through their budgets, especially where the April 6 referenda fail (look for a post on those soon).

I repeat, this doesn’t have to happen in Madison this year.  the Board has the authority to keep cuts at $1.2 million.  Tell them to use it: Board@madison.k12.wi.us.

Thomas J. mertz

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by | March 23, 2010 · 9:17 am

“Never have to do this again,” Sign the Petition, Work for Change

Through the whole Madison Metropolitan School District budget process, but especially at the hearing last night, the bridge of the John Prine song “Fish and Whistle” keeps going through my head:

And when we get through we’ll make a big wish
That we never have to do this again, again, again…

The only way we can make that happen is state level reform and the best short and long term places to work for that are the Penny for Kids campaign and the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools.  If you share my desire to put an end to the “death by a thousand cuts” that is bleeding education in Wisconsin, sign the Penny petition, learn more, write your State Reps, a letter to the editor… and get involved.

Thomas J. Mertz

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by | March 22, 2010 · 10:35 pm

Fast MMSD Budget Hearing Report

Just a quick report, more later.

The big news is that by two 7-0 votes the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education agreed to raise taxes by at least  $11.7 Million ($4 Million from referendum and $7.7 from new cap room) and took most of Tier 4 (7-0 vote) and on a motion by Marj Passman some items from Tier 3 off the table (no time for links tonight, all documents are linked off of the district pages).  The Tier 3 items were 12, 35, 138, 140, 142, 146, covering Positive Behavior Support, Social Workers, Guidance Counselors, Nurses, Middle School Learning Coordinators and Psychologists.    The vote here was 5-2 with Lucy Mathiak and I believe Johnny Winston Jr Corrected Maya Cole voting no.

Passman’s motion came after a broader motion from Ed Hughes  to take many other items out of consideration (8, 12, 17, 35, 137, 138, 140, 142, 146, 149, 174, 175, 198, and maybe 44, 45 , 46– have to double check, it may be the 140s are wrong and the 40s are right Corrected:  8, 12, 17, 35, 44, 45, 46, 137, 138, 140, 142, 146, 149, 174, 175, 198) failed by a 3-3 vote with Winston abstaining. and Beth Moss, Marj Passman voting with Hughes.  The logic that helped Passman’s motion carry was that the Tier 3 cuts she identified paralleled Tier 4 cuts in those areas.  By Superintendent Nerad’s own admission the numbers in and even the inclusion in each Tier was a product of wanting the dollar amounts to come out neat and not any educational or policy thinking.

The one item not removed from Tier four was #9, Elementary Instructional Resource Teachers.  Much confusion around this in the budget and  the Reorganization. The one thing I know is that IRTs or coaches are considered n effective and efficient use of resources in all the research I’ve read.  I’m confused too.

I understand why Board President Silveira made the spending motions based on the amounts of the referendum and the new cap room, but the truth is authority is authority, is authority and it could just as well have been a round $10 million r $20 million.

The bulk of the night was public testimony.  Packed room, overflow crowd, strong support for schools and many reminders about the good they do, how.  Much of the testimony was about the Lincoln Open Classroom and some of the most moving about the Omega School.  Many also came to say “raise my taxes” and share their thoughts about why investments in education are so important. There was some anger, much rightly directed at state officials with Mark Pocan and Mark Miller called out by name multiple times.  Others were angry that in this year, after 17 years of cuts,  when the Board has the authority to almost fully fund education, they are hesitating.  Much more on this all later.

Stand up for schools!

Thomas J. Mertz

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