a cry of conscience from a parent
addressed to Madison’s public schools.
We devote this blog to Mr. Ray Mendez, parent of a Madison public school student to Superintendent Joe Gothard and the school board:
The head-stomping at Madison West was not a “fight.” It was a near-fatal attack. Madison Police arrested three teens; two are accused of first-degree reckless injury and battery, and a third faces battery and disorderly-conduct charges. Police said the victim required hospitalization.
This was predictable. I and others warned you for years that your policies, culture, and cowardice would end in blood. Weapons are confiscated every week. Fights and stabbings barely make the news now. And still you hide behind silence and word games while children bleed.
With the resources you control, this failure is not negligence. It is criminal. I should not have to spend my own money (over my taxes) and time on attorneys to make schools safe for my child and yours. You waste time on optics instead of action. Each of you own the escalation of violence in schools that will lead to more bloodshed and worse.
Ray Mendez
is 63 years old, retired from the communications agency he founded. Grew up in India, became a U.S. citizen 25 years ago. His family moved to his wife’s native Madison in 2019 from New York City. Their son is 14 and attends middle school in the MMSD district. Describes himself as having “zero tolerance for waste and closed-minded people.”
“I do not care about anyone’s color, gender, religion, or ideology. I want my kid safe, attending school, reading well, and able to do basic math. No more, no less.”
Until accountability is real, the violence will keep spreading.
Disabled children are the most abused, and you are violating their civil rights under state and federal law. What I have found in the two weeks since the incident — small fixes and systemic failures:
The Behavior Education Plan (BEP) — is outdated, incoherent, and discriminatory. It fails to protect students with disabilities, endangers staff, and hides racial disparities behind political language. Ask teachers, counselors, and principals what needs to change — I have. They know exactly where it fails.
Glass Door Negligence — A teacher warned facilities staff about unsafe glass classroom doors for two years. Asst. Supt. T.J. McCray ignored her until she threatened to go public. The digital trail is allegedly being scrubbed which should raise legal and ethical alarms. I visit schools, listen to staff, and verify what’s happening firsthand. The BEP fails to connect safety infrastructure to student protection.
I’m finding more victims and witnesses every day. They will speak. There are clear, simple steps to fix this. You continue to ignore them. — Ray Mendez
Security without oversight — Security staff reports to no one on site. They gossip in cafeterias while students vape, fight, and carry weapons in unmonitored spaces. Principals need authority over them. The BEP shields accountability.
Identify risk early — teachers can spot high-risk behavior long before violence occurs, yet warnings vanish into silence. The BEP ignores early-intervention data.
Intervene, don’t transfer — Violent or traumatized students are shuffled between schools instead of helped. The BEP enables this revolving-door practice.
Engage all parents — Families in the neighborhoods most affected feel ignored or blamed. The BEP deepens inequality through inaction and PR.
Police partnership and hotspot monitoring — Students face most danger at bus stops, parking lots, and nearby streets. The BEP says nothing about coordination with Madison Police.
Fix communication breakdown — Central leadership is detached from school reality. The BEP has become a paper shield protecting administrators.
Rebuild relationship with police — If you reject School Resource [Police] Officers, coordinate with MPD’s mental-health units. The BEP should require it.
Install metal detectors — Not perfect, but they deter violence and signal seriousness. The BEP ignores prevention altogether.
Change the culture — Students fear speaking up because administrators suppress “snitching.” The BEP’s “restorative” language excuses silence.
Focus on data, not optics — MMSD hides behind ideology instead of addressing poverty, trauma, and measurable outcomes.
/s/ Ray Mendez
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Repeating, Blaska did not write the above nor did he solicit it; fell into our lap — but we concur absolutely!
10 responses to “‘I’m finding more victims every day’”
It should be more than obvious to any opened minded person that the liberal education system is more interested in transitioning children than protecting them. This should be a rallying point to take down the radial teachers’ union that promotes and protects this “Skullduggery”
Nothing new. Even the tragedy of death probably won’t change anything.
Unless the victim is a teacher or other member of administration. And then any action would probably be minimal at best.
While I’d love it if Mr. Mendez was on the school board, his fate is a near certainty if he tries. We saw what Madison’s progressive loons did to Mike Koval.
There’s a deep web woven throughout the city and county administration’s that prevents any rational thinking from ever be heard. It will only be penatrated property tax rebellion.
There is no toxic empathy on stolen land.
Bears win. Packers lose, all is right with the world.
This “incident” earned about ten-seconds of coverage on the local news. Wanna bet that the perpetrators are black and the victim white?
The Abby Zwerner case is currently being tried in Virginia. Could be a landmark case determining whether school officials can be held accountable for the violent actions of their students. Ms. Zwerner is a former elementary schoolteacher suing her district for $40 million. She was shot by a six year old in her classroom two years ago and still has a bullet lodged in her chest. Teacher had complained about this little monster before; assistant principal testified — get this — that she thought the kid had a toy gun in his backpack that day. Defense will now start to call in witnesses.
Postscript: FORMER assistant principal, I should have written (she has since resigned).