Basketball has rules and penalties.
In answer to a question asked by Dylan Brogan of Isthmus, Blaska said he opposes dumbing down honors classes in the Madison public schools. Another excerpt (it’s < 2 minutes) from the Madison school board candidates debate sponsored by Simpson Street Free Press 03-17-22 featuring your write-in candidate for Seat #4:
“My platform is restoring discipline in Madison’s schools. Mathematics is a discipline. … The NCAA basketball tournament is going on right now. Basketball is a discipline; it has rules and penalties. Only the best get invited to the tournament: players who can play together, follow the coaches’ coaching, follow the rules — otherwise they take a seat on the bench.
( → Shooting 2 of 22 from 3-point range! Isaac Lindsey? That gets the Werkes three-exclamation point (!!!) wail of despair! But that Brad Davidson is scrap iron! A real fighter!)
“We’ve undermined discipline,” Blaska says in the debate. “That serves nobody. It undermines the teacher and education itself … Discipline is not hitting kids with a hickory stick, discipline is stick-to-it-iveness. Discipline is finishing assignments, listening to the teacher, coming to school on time, resolving disputes peaceably.”
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Platinum subscriber The Gotch reminds your write-in candidate for Madison school board seat #4:
After the 2019 election, you made a $50 bet with Muldrow that there would continue to be a net departure/out-migration of students from the MMSD. Any figures for that, and has she paid up?
MMSD enrollment is down 817 in three years. Alternatives — other public schools through the Open Enrollment program or private school enrollment (whether through school choice or not) amounted to 5,239 in 2020-21 compared to 4,988 in 2017-18.
| Open Enrollment | Private school enrollment |
| transfers from Madison to other public schools | 2020-21: 4,342 |
| 2020-21: minus 897 for minus $7.1 million | 2017-18: 4,184 |
| 2019-20: minus 795 for minus $6.2 million | MMSD enrollment |
| 2018-19: minus 781 for minus $5.7 million | 2020-21: 26,151 |
| 2017-18: minus 804 for minus $5.7 million | 2017-18: 26,968 |
Intimidation drives policy in Madison public schools
After Ali Muldrow accuses police of “criminalizing students” her challenger points out two kids beat an autistic kid so badly he needs dental surgery. Blaska asks the school board president if she blames police for the poor kid’s beat down. Two minutes:
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Or is sacrificing discipline in the name of “Equity” nothing more than “a wedge issue”as Scott Milfred of the WI State Journal contends?
Aside from “Equity”
what other dog whistles do Woke progressives have?
Education
Blaska Policy Werkes 
Yeah, a drop in enrollment and the school board responds by building a new school!
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Muldrow: “Each and every year (SROs were in schools) the majority of students who were arrested every single year were African American […] this is something we can’t be O.K. with…”
Proglibocrats slobber endlessly on about Root Causes, so with this (incoming NPR reference trigger warning!) Disparate Impact one might suspect they’d dig into that a tad and ask “gosh, now why might that be?”
Do they?
Not exactly.
Rather than explore behavioral/cultural/parental pathologies, (you know…Root Causes) which might identify some problems and attendant solutions, they lazily play the RAYcist/ism Card and it’s left at that.
It’s almost as if they want minority children to fail in order to be able to use it as a cudgel with which to pummel their ideological foes.
The Gotch
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The geocentric model of the solar system correctly predicted some observations.
The heliocentric model was better, and is now obviously correct.
I see CRT in the same light. Probably string theory in physics too which seems to have reached a dead end. In the future it will be obvious that CBT (Critical Behavioral Theory) was correct all along.
Sports teams already know this as they compete in the real world, not in Fantasyland.
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“I see CRT in the same light.”
To its credit, CRT does bring something to the table; not unlike the laughably debunked 1619 Project, it affords Lefties the opportunity to nod in cluelessly furious agreement AND siphon off some of the crippling White Guilt they’ve willingly embraced.
Also in its favor, it features prefab conclusions, which eliminates the pesky requirements of critical thinking….something with which Lefty’s never been overburdened.
The Gotch
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Mining the vein of White Guilt pays handsomely in Madison. The racialist grifters know it well. Stop funding the machine that pays the Muldrows et al. such large incomes. The more racism they create the more grifters Madison attracts. What you subsidize you get more of.
The success of the racialists is also measured in destroyed minority lives. Way to go MMSD.
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There is now an entire industry built on white guilt—and it has unfortunately spread far beyond the Madison city limits.
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“There is now an entire industry built on white guilt”
On that subject, has anyone else noticed an observable/measurable downtick in the local, slobbering grifts of DeRail The Jail, YG&B, FreeDUMB Inc., & Urban Triage?
Can’t imagine them being paid enough to stand down.
The Gotch
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Big part of that is virtual meetings due to pandemic.
Nice tantrum there … muted.
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“Nice tantrum there … muted.”
Tantrum? The Gotch’s humblest apologies for not being more accepting/understanding of local slobbering grift supporters like yourself.
It gets worse.
In a rather (heh!) revoltin’ development, Lefty’s favorite National Flagship grift (bLack LIES Matter) has its ‘nads in a ringer.
BLM’s Millions Unaccounted For After Leaders Quietly Jump Ship.
The IRS might like a word…?
The Gotch
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Ha no Gotch I was refering to the tantrums thrown by FINCRs at some of the last in person school board meetings. IIRC the board was forced to retreat to a different room.
Now that can be fixed with the touch of a mute button. Of course that goes both ways. Many exhorted DB to “crash” the Cap Times candidate debate. Alas it was also online.
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Yoikes! Apologies again; missed your intent by a Country Mile/1.61 KM.
The Gotch wouldn’t be so paranoid if everyone wasn’t out to get him…
The Gotch
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RE: The Badgers; they couldn’t have picked a poorer time for their ugliest performance of the season, but the most abysmal stat (of FAR_TOO_MANY) from yesterday’s game?
Bucky had fewer (14) made baskets than turnovers, which at 17 more than doubled their NCAA leading seasonal average of 8.4 per game.
ON WISCONSIN!!
The Gotch
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I think the district is afraid of discipline.
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Of course it is. Discipline implies personal responsibility, as in being responsible for your behavior, your education, your goals, your future. Without discipline, you are vulnerable to those who think they know best when it comes to your behavior, your education, your goals, your future–in other words, arrogant, elitist progressives who see it as their duty to micro-manage the lives of the unenlightened (i.e., everyone who’s not them). Without discipline, you can only blame others (or vague external forces like racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.) for your failures and trap yourself in an unending vicious cycle of failure and blame from which only the aforementioned arrogant, elitist progressives can save you. The MMSD is the institutional embodiment of this toxic ideology, which is why they fume and sputter in righteous indignation when someone like our gracious host reveals the depths of their depravity.
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The stats in the post at face don’t look too bad, except for when you factor in the 16% population growth of Madison between 2010 and 2020. And while I haven’t looked at demographics of that growth, I’d bet that most of those folks aren’t empty nesters or retirees.
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it’s been my observation that most retirees and empty nesters lean toward the conservative side of the aisle,.
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My observation as well. People successful enough to enjoy retirement and watch their children become adults are inclined to protect their investments from those who think they have a right to them.
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I love how in the WSJ article today, they HAVE to work in the (paraphrasing) statement: “Repeats Conservative talking points,” when referring to Blaska. Does the media EVER say ‘Repeats liberal talking points?’ No. No, they do not. Conservatives ‘attack.’ Conservatives ‘complain.’ Conservatives ‘insist.’ It’s just nauseating.
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Exactly! The reporter did a story about 4 Sundays ago quoting University professors to say that conservatives running for school board was all a plot to develop a Republican farm team. Which is why I say, “Bring on Tammy!”
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I have noticed a shift toward this sort of language in the WSJ over the last couple years. As much as I prefer local news, with each read, I get a bit closer to canceling my subscription in favor of a more even-handed WSJ.
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I can’t do Blaska’s responses on the issue of school disorders better than he does. I did watch the part where they talk about some big reading program they are planning. What struck me in Muldrow’s comment was a typical professional class obfuscation and lack of content. All language about process, nothing at all of substance. Phrases such as “decision-making around this process,” “in the long run we have been able to engage our community in this process,” “something we’re still exploring as a board,” “as we engage the community in this process,” etc. Empty. But meant to convey a professional class bureaucratic language perfectly designed to deflect and leave ordinary citizens befuddled, but thinking “oh, well, I guess these smart people know best.” On the issue of reading, Blaska responded perfectly with one line, “I believe in phonics.” Well, there is of course more to reading than just that, but good God it was so refreshing to hear that one easily grasped word, like an oasis of palm trees and water in a vast desert. Thanks, David Blaska.
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Yepper, as grads (and the more likely NON-grads) progress thru MMSD, crime will increase.
The poor pitiful 13% responsible for 80% of crime, (maybe that stat has changed, enlighten me please), are NOT victims of racism, but certainly victims of their own egregious flaunting of the law. Like speeding 25 – 40 MPH over, no license plate, expired tag, (most for more than a year) -and then warrants are enforced. And “etc.” like a felon in possession of a handgun, drugs w/ intent to sell, stolen property -fill-in the gaps…
Even more common? 911 calls from the highway or the neighborhood to report criminal activity.
Madison, WI must be one of the few cities that, while not encouraging late night target shooting, it does allow it. Matter-o-Fact: If ya’all pickup yer brass, MPD won’t even file a report.
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I have a free car to give away to the victims that stole car from sun prairie last Friday and cause severe backup on e bound beltline rush hour. The six are all out looking right now for replacement, police took their ride away. No fear on roads or in the halls.
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Last one who was captured in swamp was put in warm blanket and given hot chocolate and cookies and told not to do this anymore. Wanna bet he will do that again? No deterrent, so why not have a free ride?
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We just need more cars with manual transmissions. I don’t have any numbers but I assume all the stolen vehicle have automatic transmissions since they are so easy to drive.
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Easy to PUT IN drive. Apparently not easy TO drive for these nitwits.
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What happens when someone gets killed by these auto borrowers? Probably nothing, can’t ruin their livelihood but others no big deal. No more Green Bay school for the boys. Not sure if Necheata school for girls still open. Most likely no. School in Wales also closed. Instead of new jail maybe we need these reform schools reopened? Nah, can’t do that. Too harsh. What then? Probably crickets.
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It’s amazing how many successful athletes and even ordinary people point to UCLA coach John Wooden and his principles for success. If I was in charge at MMSD a course on Wooden’s principles would be required for all students. I’m thinking an 8th grade or freshman course.
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