Students can’t learn if they don’t feel safe!
One conclusion from the first debate among candidates for Madison school board: Stop blaming COVID for our failing schools and own up to what we’ve done to our kids. Covid was the cover story school board president Ali Muldrow spun for the on-going chaos in Madison’s classrooms. (Another brawl at East high school Monday 02-21-22.) But that’s progressivism, isn’t it? Always an excuse, always someone else to blame, never taking responsibility. Our schools and the culture at large play identity politics. Making someone else — or history itself — the villain absolves the victim of responsibility for their own actions.
During the on-line debate Sunday night 02-20-22, Blaska the write-in candidate for Muldrow’s seat #4 said kids cannot learn if they do not feel safe. We excerpt from that debate, sponsored by Grandparents United for Madison Public Schools (GRUMPS) and the East Side Progressives. (Hope they’ve recovered from the shock!) Here, Blaska is on the clock for 2 minutes:
Our schools are roiled by gun slingers, bullying, beat-downs, rapists, and schoolyard brawls. The chaos in the classroom spills out into the streets of Madison where 14-, 15-, and 16-year old kids steal cars and crash them into our neighborhoods. This is a school system that expels school resource police officers in the name of racial equity. In this clip, Blaska declares Jennifer Cheatham’s Behavior Education Plan a failure:
You self-flagellants can pull the drawbar on the bottom of the screen back to the beginning of either of the clips to watch the entire one hour and 16 minutes. You can fast forward to the good parts, the Blaska parts! The Capital Times summarizes the carnage here.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Who’re the victim of our schools’ obsession with “Equity”? Who’s getting beaten in the school yard brawls? Bullied in the hallways? Excused from accountability? Never taught life’s first lesson: discipline? In most cases, the very disadvantaged students the seven progressives on Madison’s Board of Education purport to champion.
Education
Blaska Policy Werkes 
Where there are no consequences there is no discipline. No discipline always results in failure in any area of life. Don’t discipline yourself and not study your subjects and you will fail at school.
What is the root cause of that happening? Lowered expectations. When the school board lowers the expectations of the teachers to teach. When the school board does not give the teachers the tools they need to teach. When the school board takes away the expectation that discipline and order will be maintained throughout the school and on all school property by taking away the school resource officers.
When the school board lowers the expectations of high achievement of all of its students academically, socially and physically generation after generation, there is another failure. That failure is the failure of the parents to have high expectations of their children.
Why do Asian children do so well in school? Because in their culture, the parents enforce the rule that failure is not an option.
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I listened to the entire school board presentation and found it informative. The only reason for Ali’s tenure on the school board is because she is black. She says virtually nothing that will help kids learn IMHO. The others at least talked about reading. All she talked about was vague concepts of student well being and opportunity. It was all fairy dust. Incredible. Equity is considered the only goal in MMSD and equity translates into nothing for kids.
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“Our schools are roiled by gun slingers, bullying, beat-downs, rapists, and schoolyard brawls. The chaos in the classroom spills out into the streets of Madison where 14-, 15-, and 16-year old kids steal cars and crash them into our neighborhoods. This is a school system that expels school resource police officers in the name of racial equity.”
No, no I’m pretty sure that the biggest problems the school board faces is how to manage the comeback from COVID. Because, you know we had to deal with COVID, which everybody knows causes you to beat your children more often than you would otherwise, because you are stuck at home with them all day. Yeah, COVID. And I would demur to Ali Muldrow on all aspects, of all matters, concerning domestic violence. I admit to my ignorance in this area.
And then there is this horrible situation we have with RETENTION. Can’t seem to solve the puzzle of retaining and attracting diverse staff. Seems like this has been an annual grievance for going on 40 years at least. What I want to know at this point, is who are the pale faced obstructionists? Certainly not on the school board. No diversity there at all.
No, I’m afraid weapons, rape, beat-downs and epidemic levels of car theft are pretty far down the list according to all the other candidates. They don’t consider it enough of a problem to even bring it up. Or respond to you either, Dave.
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Another thug with stolen auto and rap sheet over 30 years? Wwwhhhhaaattt?
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Why do you put the word equity in quotes in your bottom line? And I watched the forum and the question the candidates were asked and that they answered was about COVID. I don’t think they were blaming all of the school’s problems on COVID. To clarify, I’m not saying you’re wrong about discipline (depending on what your concept of discipline is). In general it can be a good thing. Just saying I didn’t hear them using COVID as an excuse for everything.
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That’s because people need to be careful not to use any of Vos’ banned words.
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It wasn’t so much that they blamed everything bad on COVID, as it was that they named it as the number one issue. As if it was THE thing on everybody’s list, when in fact, it is at the bottom of everybody’s list now. And they won’t talk about the crime, which IS at the top of most people’s lists.
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LOL. Did you listen to the same forum I did???????
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The Squire had a straightforward delivery, with zero malice or stridency, hence his easy-to-follow points were well made. Several participants agreed w/ his concern about student safety, though they used different terms and referred to different solutions (the Behavior Modification Plan). Further comments yielded worthwhile statistics showing that violent incidences in particular, (and educational problems as a whole) have increased since the Behavior Mod Plan was utilized. Whilst some evinced interest in re-installing SRO’s, they’re not clear exactly how and with what limits. At any rate -Thanks, David, The Games Afoot !
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Madison Schools were becoming more chaotic and unruly long before covid was even a thought. Didn’t it come out at the last election that Ali’s children are in enrolled at a private school and not enrolled in a Madison Public School. One has to question the conclusion she came to that Covid is the reason the schools are failing. If in fact my memory is correct and it was her children that are attending a private school….she already knew the public schools were failing and didn’t want her children placed in a failing system. I could be wrong. Don’t quote me on that, I don’t want to be “The Tony G.” on Blaska’s Blog ((Poor Tony. Here I thought he was the one that was always “digging deeper”). Still think the failing school system, the fact teenagers don’t want to work, total disrespect for authority figures, etc can all be tied to the good old participation trophy that was so readily handed out because they didn’t want to hurt anyones feelings. You reap what you sow???
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I believe that she sends her kids to isthmus Montessori which is is public charter school.
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