Proposed state law change could prevent
next Madison school superintendent
from being another racial bean counter!
For all practical purposes, Jennifer Cheatham remains the superintendent of Madison WI public schools. She left four years ago for Harvard University (where 32 student groups announced their support for Hamas terrorism). Her mission: clone more ultra-Woke school chiefs like herself. (“Areas of expertise: diversity, equity, and inclusion.”)
Matters not that teachers hate it, Cheatham’s race-forward Behavior Education Plan continues to undermine Madison classrooms.
To replace whoever succeeded Cheatham as superintendent, the Madison school board contracted with a head-hunting boutique that boasts of its diversity. Don’t worry Madison progressives — it employs not a single cisgendered white male! (Discussed that here.)
Education’s Deep State!
The names they may submit to the Madison school board are limited to members of an elite, inbred club. In Wisconsin, only doctorates of education administration or its equivalent (the subject Jennifer Cheatham teaches) may become superintendents of a school district. It’s state law!
To the rescue come Wisconsin Republicans! State Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) and Rep. Robert Wittke (R-Racine) are sponsoring Senate Bill 335. It would break the Woke school of education stranglehold on our schools. Their bill would allow Wisconsin’s 420 school districts to choose a successful manager of a business or, say, mayor of a city or sheriff of a large county to run a school district. Milwaukee already has that privilege. “In general, school district administrators are not classroom instructors; they are managers of the people and the program/business functions of the school district,” Rep. Wittke says.
You know it’s a great idea because Jill Underly’s DPI is opposed. Republican legislators are pushing their proposal as a solution to the rapid turnover of school administrators. Sen. Stroebel says more than a quarter of administrators are beginning their first year in their new districts this school year.
Try reforming education when you can hire only insiders!
Race & class, diversity, equity, inclusion!
Blaska Policy Werkes sees an even brighter silver lining in SB 335: Dodging the DEI/critical race guilt tripping of the Woke intelligentsia! Consider the coursework a fledgling school super must endure, according to the syllabus of the UW-Madison School of Education doctoral program (ELPA = “educational leadership and policy analysis”):
ELPA/ COUN PSY 350 — Peer Leadership and Mentorship with Transitioning Students.
ELPA 735 — Leadership for Equity and Diversity. “Coordinating … curriculum, instruction and policy, in terms of social class, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and race.”
ELPA 832 — Resource Allocation for Equity and Social Justice
ELPA 863 — Race, Class and Educational Inequality. “Critically examines race and class inequality in education, including the importance of race and class at multiple levels of analysis, including the classroom and school, as well as the family, neighborhood, and community.”
ELPA 856 — Mobility and Inclusion in Global Higher Education. “Connects the discussion on diversity, equity, and inclusion …”
ELPA 887 — Diversity and Inequality in Higher Education. “… role of inequities across categories such as race, class, sex, gender, sexual orientation …”
Blame system racism!
The Capital Times reports that 36.7% of MMSD students are chronically absent (compared to 22.7% statewide). Worse for black children, 6 of every 10 are AWOL — “a rate of absenteeism that … puts them at risk of serious, long-term disadvantage in learning.” Now, Kids Forward, blame THAT on “systemic racism”! (“Race to Equity is nothing more than another Woke guilt trip.”)
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Former governor Tommy Thompson ran the UW System. Could Dave Cieslewicz run Madison schools? He ran Madison pretty well for eight years. Barry Alvarez? Zach Brandon? Paul Soglin? Scott McCallum? Jonathan Barry? Brandon Scholz? David Mahoney? MIKE KOVAL !!!
13 responses to “School district bosses are marinated in Woke claptrap!”
Add your own name to the list, Squire. Let the overpaid, ultrawoke fanatics in MMSD know what it’s like to feel the lash (metaphorically, of course) that the unlettered field hands (who do more productive labor than all the educationists combined) at the Blaska Policy Werkes know so well. BTW I didn’t notice any significant slackening of wokeness in the UW System–or whatever it’s called now–when Tommy ran it.
I’m not cheap. I am tawdry, but not cheap.
Has anyone considered Jack Daniels for the gig?
The Gotch
[…] This post originally appeared at https://davidblaska.com/2023/10/19/school-district-bosses-are-marinated-in-woke-claptrap/ […]
I still remember the letter to the editor Tommy Thompson wrote when he was running the UW. He was commenting on how many incoming freshmen had to take remedial classes because they didn’t have the basics for higher education. Too bad he didn’t try and change the education department that teaches the teachers that the three R’s are more important in life than DEI is.
Tommy T. could have done so much. If he had but hauled that 42-ton Chamberlin glacial boulder back to campus, he would have (even more) of our hosannas!
“(Thompson) was commenting on how many incoming freshmen had to take remedial classes”
““In 100 Years We Have Gone From Teaching Latin And Greek In High School To Teaching Remedial English In College.” – Joseph Sobran.
“36.7% of MMSD students are chronically absent (compared to 22.7% statewide). WORSE FOR BLACK CHILDREN, 6 OF EVERY 10 ARE AWOL” (bolds/caps/italics added)
Gosh, the MMSD’s ideological monoculture and racialized approach to INDOCTRICATION and victimhoodie couldn’t possibly be to blame, could it…?
If you took Milwaukee and Madison student absenteeism out of the statewide totals, what would become of that 22.7%?
“Milwaukee already has that privilege.”
That “privilege” served Cream City well?
Not exactly:
Fewer Than 15% Of Milwaukee Public Schools 4th- and 8th-Grade Students Were Proficient In Reading And Math In 2022
The Gotch
I oppose this as it creates unfair competition for Dr. Biden and Dr. Cosby.
Those 32 Harvard student groups are about to get a painful civics lesson, namely that freedom of speech can come with consequences. The wealthy Harvard alums I mentioned last post demanded names of the signatories so that they knew who not to hire into their businesses. One student there already had a job offer rescinded over this. Here’s hoping some UW alums start doing the same.
I’ll be a contrarian as I believe MMSD has not hit rock bottom and it needs to do so before it can get any better. And the nominees are:
Brandi Grayson
Lilada Gee
Shady KF
Al Sharpton
Kendi/D’Angelo mashup
Would love to see how Muldrow would handle someone to the left of her.
Think the MMSD is locked in a nose-dive and plummeting toward generational STOOPIDITY (sic), victimhoodie, and dependence?
The Oregon State Board of Education: Hold Our Beer!
Oregon Removes Writing, Reading, and Math Mastery From High School Graduation Requirements
The vote was unanimous…UNANIMOUS! Sheesh! It’s almost like Lefty WANTS students to remain ignorant.
The Gotch
The making of the new serf class.
“It’s almost like Lefty WANTS students to remain ignorant.”
Strike the first three words and you have an accurate statement.