Is anyone making more sense for Madison schools than Kaleem Caire?
Does anyone have a better track record than Kaleem Caire for not only advocating for minority students but actually doing something about it?
Who else has the moral stature, as president of the Urban League of Madison, as founder of One City Early Learning, as a service veteran and a black male role model? An indefatigable innovator who thinks outside the box. A fearless who refuses to accept excuses and demands performance. A native Madisonian with national education experience. A local treasure!
Madison public schools do not need another Jennifer Cheatham and her terribly “woke” guilty white-privilege excuses. Her tenure was nothing short of disastrous! Madison public schools need a leader like Kaleem Caire. This is his latest social media post:
Kaleem Caire should be our next school superintendent
Kaleem Caire calls for justice
for other teachers unfairly fired
Bravo to the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Board of Directors and Administration for making the right decision to reverse Marlon Anderson’s termination.
MMSD’s reversal of the termination is step one in pursuing justice and fairness on this issue. We should not be satisfied until:
- MMSD hires an independent evaluator (a respected legal entity on civil rights and employment matters) to review each of its prior cases to determine if there were others who have been wrongfully terminated or encouraged to resign under the same misguided and lazy application of its non-discrimination policy.
- They reverse the terminations and make restitution to those who, following a formal independent review, are found to have been wrongfully or suspiciously terminated or forced to resign, and
- They inform the public how they have revised and reformed their policy and practice with regard to the use and admonition of racial slurs and epithets in our schools by students, faculty, staff and volunteers.
Doing these three things will serve the near-term and long-term best interests of MMSD, it’s students and staff, the general public who invests in our public schools, and other former employees who may have been unjustly terminated or forced out by MMSD. Taking these steps will also move our state’s second largest public school system from looking like mediators and harbingers of injustice to a system that values and works to ensure justice for all. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
And what about that high school senior who only has 5 credits? We need decisive and just action for our students, too. Their futures, and ours, depends on them being effectively supported, educated, treated fairly and held accountable to high expectations as well. Onward.
Education
Blaska Policy Werkes 
Good choice, David. BUT, the school board will NEVER hire somebody endorsed by a conservative, or a person that makes sense, and he lacks one prerequisite for this job; he’s not a socialist whack-job female.
LikeLike
Please stick with one name; you’ve been Kimmy the F35, David Green, and godknowswhatelse.
LikeLike
He’s not an educated* childless feminist. Hard sell in this town.
*Code for: has an English degree.
LikeLike
End Baloney
Yes David, Kaleem Caire for superintendent. Caire’s posts, which followed Marlon Anderson
and The Teacher’s Union filing a grievance over a lazy, zero tolerance rule has forced School Board members and school administrators to deal with context, nuance and other complexities. Hopefully they will learn that the rigid concepts imposed by Jennifer Cheatham, the either/or, all/or nothing thinking is considered to be a problem in need of therapy by cognitive psychologists. The New York Times’ national shaming of Madison’s crazy zero tolerance rule should lead to a new “awakening”
Wake up to the fact that the regular classroom is NOT the right place for EVERY student. Under Cheatham, the repeatedly disruptive, disrespectful student, who happened to be black, brown, or Special-Ed, was allowed to rule the classroom with verbal and physical abuse as his weapons. Cheatham kept chaos in place by labeling those who objected, “insensitive” or “racist.” It caused teachers to quit, and families of means to flee the district or place their children in private schools. Of course, instead of closing the achievement gap, it disrespected children, who came to school self regulated and ready to learn, causing them to be bullied by the disrupters, and by the parents of disrupters, while top brass hid behind absurd concepts like: showing respect to respectful teachers does nothing to cure intrinsic racism. Respecting ALL children requires a more complex approach. For example, some kids might need a loving, therapeutic setting, away from the regular classroom. It is possible to show compassion and realistically deal with severe problems.
Madison deserves a superintendent who naturally understands context and nuance. An advanced degree in faddish theory without benefit of common sense does not a leader make.
Kaleem Caire, who, like Marlon Anderson, is African American, has demonstrated his understanding of context and nuance by serving the Madison community for thirty years.
He created One School, a place where low income kids are prepped for life, college and career. He fearlessly avoids fads, demanding that Respect, a worldwide norm, be embraced by everyone, even in jittery Madison. Caire also avoids jargon, calling the zero tolerance policy for racial slurs “baloney,” adding, “context should be taken into account, no matter the race of the person saying the slur.” Caire doesn’t have an EdD, but he does have relevant experience and the ability to be an independent thinker. Wouldn’t it be nice to move away from unsubstantiated, faddish theory toward courage, common sense, and justice for all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Evaluator: Turnabout is fair play. Perhaps w/ the trajectory of the Anderson situation, this idea may land strategically where it can do some good (finally). If cops need ad hoc advice, so do all these other players. Actually/obviously they need w-a-y more advice.
LikeLike
MMSD employee, and self-proclaimed Black Hispanic Sandra Rivera used N word in an educational context.
She ONLY got suspended where a Black Y-Chromosomal Unit got fired for a similar…um…infraction.
Our Fair City is now compelled to explore both rampant Racism and Sexism in MMSD’s prejudicial and biased approach to disciplinary action!
The Gotch
LikeLike
Pingback: Who should be the new Madison schools superintendent? | Blaska Policy Werkes