Do we really need same old same old?
Looking on the bright side (as suggested by Monty Python in Life of Brian), school board voters in Madison WI won’t have Blaska to kick around anymore. We’re not on the ballot, don’t want your write-in. You’re welcome.
Ali Muldrow can run unopposed for a third term, along with Nichelle Nichols for a second term. That leaves the third seat as the only one contested on the seven-member Metropolitan Madison Board of Education. Which tells us little will change in a school district more Woke than Ibram X. Kendi on meth and more profligate than a Powerball winner in a trailer park.
The two candidates for Seat #3 are Martha Siravo, identified as a disability rights advocate, and Bret Wagner, a former teacher who works as an engineer in his day job. That last part had us momentarily intrigued. Oh, for just one school board member not a creature of the education industrial complex. Yes, we’re looking for a disrupter. (We’ll pick on Ms. Siravo some other time.)
We were somewhat cheered when Mr. Wagner advocated letting teachers teach “by reducing administrative burdens.” Unfortunately, Wagner opposes reinstating school resource police officers. Unlike most of Madison’s neighbors.
In the wake of tragic school shooting at Abundant Life, the debate over the effectiveness of armed personnel in schools has intensified. … Armed guards are not the answer. Instead, schools should focus on creating a holistic approach to safety that addresses the root causes of violence and fosters a positive and supportive learning environment. Studies show unarmed bystanders have been more successful at stopping school shootings than armed guards. — Bret Wagner, candidate for Madison school board
‘Studies show …’
Reality shows something different. No unarmed bystander stopped that poor deluded girl at Abundant Life Christian School from shooting eight people, killing two. Certainly not the teacher she shot to death before taking her own life. SRO police were not stationed at Abundant Life. In Uvalde TX, kids and teachers kept dying until, belatedly, federal border patrol agents busted into the classroom and shot dead the shooter. No bystanders stopped the slaughter of 20 little kids and 6 teachers at Sandy Hook elementary school, which had no SROs. No bystanders stopped the Parkland FL shooter (although neither did the cowardly school police officer). Responding police in Nashville TN stopped a shooter in mid-carnage. Imagine if just one cop had been on premises.
Instead, Bret Wagner “approach[es] school safety with a data-driven ‘both/and’ perspective that aligns with my core platform priorities.” (Got it?) Those priorities, he tells voters, include “Root Cause Solutions.” Yeah, the engineer speaks educrat-ese buzz words as fluently as any School of Education grievance monger.
Sure enough, the candidate vows to “strive for excellence through equity.” (Did we say Jill Underly’s WI Department of Public Instruction was Woke? Her DPI website lectures on “School Resource Officers, Equity, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline.”)
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Instead of spelunking for “root cause solutions,” how about teaching reading and writing? What candidate will abolish Jennifer Cheatham’s Behavior Education Plan? Restore honors classes? Close half-full schools? Tie administrators’ salaries to improved test scores? Restore SROs? Quit the DEI snark hunt?
For all that, Mr. Wagner probably has the winning message here in Madison. Anti-cop. Forget it, Jake. It’s Madison.
13 responses to “Disrupter wanted on Madison school board”
There will be NO changes in Madison Schools like there will be NO changes in City of Madison government. Neither has hit rock bottom yet.
“Can you blame parents for fleeing Madison schools?”
During the Spring 2019 elections, 12 school districts in South Central Wisconsin asked voters to approve referenda on the ballots; nearly $486 million.
Despite being pin money to the well-heeled Blaska, that’s nearly half a Billion…WITH A “B”, am I right?
Sun Prairie ($171 M), DeForest ($125 M) Milton ($60 M) in school building referenda approved. Other municipalities within driving distance of Madison (Albany, Baraboo, Columbus, Cross Plains, Verona, etc.) are preparing to be the recipient of a giant sucking sound…skeedaddling from the breathtaking cluelessness of 545 W. Dayton St. specifically, and the erstwhile Emerald City generally.
Anywho, they all passed. Funniest thing; none of that was earmarked for 77 Square Miles Surrounded By A Sea Of Reality. Turns out MMSD was playing the long game; they done come for it ALL last November.
Fat $chool referenda for districts within driving distance of Madison? Probably nothing to it…right? ‘Sides, we have Root Cause Ephemera to chase down.
“Forget it, Jake. It’s Madison.”
Noah Cross (John Huston in the classic Chinatown): “Either You Bring The Water To L.A., Or You Bring L.A. To The Water.”
Is this any different?
The Gotch
Those school budgets are going to get still larger after the Supreme Court tosses Act 10 in the trash bin. (My bold prediction anyway.)
“Those school budgets are going to get still larger after the Supreme Court tosses Act 10 in the trash bin.”
Act 10 remains wildly popular outside the 77 Square Miles Surrounded By A Sea Of Reality, hopefully they don’t succumb to the GREAT STOOPID; thing is, MMSD lies within the Tofu Curtain (H/T GOOD DOG HAPPY MAN).
Five (5) figure 2024 property tax payment, here, and well over 40% to MMSD; both figures scheduled to increase.
If you don’t see comically inflated, disturbingly manipulated reports, obscuring flatlining (or worse) results, and not saying WTF on high, you’re not paying attention!
The Gotch
Top 10 New Policies of MMSD in 2025:
Pronoun Parade: Every morning, students march around the flagpole to announce their pronouns with personalized confetti cannons.
Grievance Grievance: Every classroom has a “Grievance Grievance” box where students can complain about the complaints.
Microaggression Monitors: Each hallway features students with stopwatches to time how long it takes for the first microaggression to occur.
Safe Space Surfing: Physical education now includes lessons on how to navigate social media without offending anyone.
Sensitivity Siren: A siren sounds whenever someone uses a term that isn’t in the “Current Acceptable Language Guide” (updated hourly).
Inclusivity Inventory: Weekly audits to ensure every student identifies with at least three minority groups for diversity credit.
Trigger Warning Tuesdays: Every Tuesday, teachers must start class with a 10-minute list of potential triggers for the day’s lesson.
Equity Elevators: Elevators in school buildings are programmed to stop at random floors to ensure no one feels privileged by direct access.
Cultural Appropriation Café: The cafeteria menu changes daily based on the cultural background of the chef, but you can’t order anything unless you’re from that culture.
Intersectionality Intercom: Daily announcements are now replaced by a broadcast detailing how each student’s intersectionality score is calculated.
Good Lord OE, you deserve a late night comedy show. LOL!
One Eye only prompter to the Great AI in the Sky.
Drag-NASTics: A fun, carefree, drag themed dance class, centered on Diversity and Inclusion. An immersive experience, featuring “hands on” instruction. Children will have the opportunity to participate in a year end performance called “Shake Your Tail-feather!” (This class satisfies all Phys-Ed requirements)
Fools all of them. Their world is fantasy even when tragedy strikes and there is no way we can convince them otherwise. “Holistic” is another naive term used regularly in their world. God help us.
Wagner appears to be a graduate of Kamala Harris University with a degree in Word Salad Studies.
Anytime one of these woke educrats says “studies show”, it’s time to stop listening and start calling bullsh!t.
OMG! Just finished reading ex-mayor Dave’s latest blog post concerning the expenditure on a 100K contract finalized with a Kentucky outfit to rebrand logos for Madison high schools. A band-aid on a pig? Cosmetic chaos and delusional thinking? What is in Madison’s water?
We need a Blaska on the MMSD Board bad. Maybe a couple of Blaska clones.
Glad I voted against the referenda.
Read and weep. Superintendent Gothard just received 300K extension for another year.
Homeowners voted themselves higher property taxes in Nov for this madness.
Yikes.
“Homeowners voted themselves higher property taxes in Nov for this madness.”
Both The Gotch, and the lovely and long-suffering Mrs. Gotch, (by no means alone on this), didn’t!
“Yikes.”
Yup.
The Gotch
Good to know there are other enlightened souls out there, Gotch.