Madison board plays politics with charter school

We have a few more questions!

The Madison school board that a dozen years ago rejected Kaleem Caire’s proposed charter school catering to under-achieving minority students is now inflicting death by a thousand paper cuts to another proposal that thinks outside the box. Because of Woke politics.

Local real estate moguls John and Jo Ellen McKenzie want to prepare students for careers in the building trades, health care, info tech, and more. These are jobs that go wanting — and pay well — for all the K-12 emphasis of pushing students to go deep in debt for college degrees that don’t pay off.

But “the involvement of Paul Vallas … may also be a drawback for some board members. “I would say, personally, I do have some concerns about Vallas,” board member Maia Pearson said Monday. — Wisconsin State Journal

 Who is this nefarious Paul Vallas?

Mr. Vallas only ran the public schools of Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Bridgeport CT. Was the budget director for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Vallas darn near got elected mayor himself in last year but lost a runoff to teachers union toady Brandon Johnson. And therein lies your dagger! Vallas is a critic of teachers unions. Which is why the McKenzies are seeking a charter, which would allow it to bypass teachers union/school board tentacles.

“The biggest obstacle to improving city schools is the Chicago teachers union,” Vallas wrote for the Illinois Policy organization.

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates recently went on Chicago radio station WVON to decry standardized testing as a holdover of “white supremacy.” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson backed her up, saying school success is measured in the amount of money spent, not performance. — Paul Vallas

 Being asked to reward more incompetence

Fits right in with the Madison Board of Education, which is asking taxpayers to blow past its state-mandated levy limits by $100 million and is asking for another $507 million for buildings, many of which are under-utilized. This is a school board that:

• Has not adjusted its enrollment areas in 16 years.
•  Gave an 8% pay increase to its teachers — the most generous in history — and wants to tack on another 4.12%.
•  Admits it has made no attempts to reduce expenses.
•  Kicked out school resource police officers and now endures 800 police calls a school year.
•  Used one-time Biden/Harris Covid money to fund 110 permanent jobs.
•  Even as enrollment has declined 7% in the last decade.
•  Has made no progress on closing the racial achievement gap, despite (or because of) dumbing down discipline.
•  Teaches racial grievance but not reading or writing; only 39% of K-12 students can read at grade. 

 A plague of community organizers

For that matter, who is Maia Pearson, vice president of the school board? She describes herself as a community organizer. Ms. Pearson was endorsed by the local Socialist party in her unsuccessful bid for State Assembly. She and Savion Castro, another community organizer, were elected unopposed just this spring.

Our favorite morning daily here in town headlines its story “Proposed skilled trades charter moves one step closer to reality.” Except that the school board wants more information. Always, more information. And more and more. Statewide, 240 charter schools are up and running. No coincidence that only 2 of them within the Madison Metropolitan School District. (14 in the Appleton school district, 8 in Sheboygan, 5 in La Crosse, Hellz bellz! 4 in McFarland!)

Blaska’s Bottom Line: That, my friends, is what is wrong with Madison schools. Who was the last business person who ran for school board? The last senior civil servant, experienced in managing money and people? The last professional? 

The McKenzies are also applying for a charter from the UW Office of Educational Opportunity — the same work-around developed by Gov. Scott Walker that granted Kaleem Caire his charter for One City Schools. Because it is easier to pass through the eye of a needle than for an education reformer to survive the Madison school board. Blaska tried, now it’s the turn of former mayor Dave Cieslewicz. School board elections are conducted every April.

Who can YOU get to run?