Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

Category: Education

Complaint Against MPS Administrator

Three thoughts occur to me.

A top Milwaukee Public Schools administrator exerted undue influence over employees this summer when she solicited principals for contributions to her daughter’s debutante fund, the head of a group that represents MPS principals has claimed.

Regional Superintendent Katrice Cotton also used district materials and facilities to prepare and mail the solicitations on work time, John Weigelt, executive director of the Administrators & Supervisors Council, complained in a letter to top MPS leaders in July.

But MPS denies any wrongdoing by Cotton. Spokeswoman Katie Cunningham said this week that the district conducted a thorough review of the statements in Weigelt’s letter and found “no evidence to substantiate the claims that were made.”

The difference of opinion may underscore some of the tension these days between mid-level managers in MPS — school principals, supervisors and other professional staff — and their bosses in the central office. Cotton, who oversees principals in the district’s East Region, is one of five regional superintendents. Above them is Keith Posley, chief school administration officer, and Superintendent Darienne Driver.

First, I had to look up what a “debutante fund” is. Second, I hate it when people at work solicit for fund raisers for their kids. I don’t do it and it annoys me when others do. Third, look at all of those layers of administration. No wonder MPS is so darn expensive.

UW Fails Diversity Test

As I discussed in my column a few weeks ago, universities are increasingly monolithic in the thoughts they allow to be expressed on their campuses. Speaker Robin Vos illustrates one example of the lack of diversity in the UW system over on Right Wisconsin.

Our review found roughly $2.7 million was spent on guest speakers in 2015. UW-Milwaukee spent more on speakers than any other school. Not surprisingly, a large number were easily identifiable as being liberal. The same was true with smaller schools. The largest amount paid for a single speaker was at UW-Platteville. Kathy Ober , a former professor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst and co-founder of the Social Justice Training Institute spoke three times for a total of $45,000. Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL, was one of the highest paid speakers for an individual speech at UW-La Crosse last December . The UW System schools have invited actors, writers, musicians and even a local farmer to speak to students, each with a varying price tag to taxpayers.

What is noticeably absent in the top paid speakers to the UW System were individuals with conservative, political or social, perspectives. Within the top 50 taxpayer-funded guest speakers, we identified less than a handful of conservatives. Sure, there could be a plethora of conservatives who refused to accept any honoraria, but I doubt it.

The data suggests that when UW System officials look to invest in an invited guest, more times than not, they’re looking for a liberal-minded individual to disperse information to the young, developing minds who pay them thousands of dollars for their education.

Free Magazine Offered on 1st Day of School

That’s how I interpret this story from the Washington County Insider.

The West Bend School District sent a note home to parents after a teacher discovered a loaded pistol magazine near McLane Elementary School.

West Bend Police said they received a call from a teacher at the school at 1:30 p.m.  Police conducted an extensive search and no firearms were located on school grounds.

It was determined that no students were in danger.

ACT Scores in County Vary

Interesting stuff. This is the first year after a new state law that mandates that all students take the ACT. In the past, taking the ACT was voluntary, so only kids intending to go to college generally took it. Since every kid is required to take it now, one would expect the average scores to drop.

The average score for the nation is 20.8, with 64 percent of all students taking the ACT. The highest attainable score is 36. The average score in Wisconsin was 20.5, ranking fourth among states testing all public school graduates.

[…]

The 2016 graduating classes of the West Bend School District, Hartford Union High School District and Slinger School District had composite scores of 20.8, 20.4 and 22.8, respectively.

There are four other high schools in Washington County: Kewaskum, Germantown, Kettle Moraine Lutheran, and Living Word Lutheran.

Germantown has a composite score of 22.3. Kettle Moraine Lutheran has a composite score of 24.7. I don’t see anywhere where Living Word has posted their’s. Since they are a private school, they are not required to post theirs. I don’t see anything online for Kewaskum either. I see a lot about the giant referendum they are moving ahead with, but more on that later.

So, here are the scores in the county we have so far in order:

Kettle Moraine Lutheran: 24.7

Slinger: 22.8

Germantown: 22.3

West Bend: 20.8

Hartford: 20.4

Living Word Lutheran: ?

Kewaskum: ?

Diversity of thought unwelcome at most universities

My column for the West Bend Daily News is online. Here you go:

Universities have often been cauldrons of controversy and social change. They are lodged at the fault line of youthful idealism and ancient knowledge. In recent years, far too many universities have been creating an environment of hate and oppressing free thought in the name of political correctness. One university, at least, is paying the price for going too far.

Last fall the University of Missouri was roiled by controversy. In the wake of several incidents of racism around campus, a group called “Concerned Student 1950,” a reference to the year in which MU first admitted black students, led protests demanding, among other things, the resignation of MU’s president, Thomas Wolfe, for not “doing enough” to combat racism on campus. Black football players supported the protests by refusing to practice until Wolfe resigned.

Despite the fact Wolfe and the rest of the administration were, like most liberals running universities these days, exceedingly willing to pour taxpayer dollars on the smallest fires of racism, the university caved to the students’ demands and forced him out.

This capitulation was followed by the public spectacle of MU professor Melissa Click being shown on video calling for “some muscle” to remove a photojournalist who was covering one of the race protests. She was later caught screaming obscenities at police officers at another protest. Despite one of their professor’s overt acts to suppress media coverage, even with violence, to the protests, MU officials initially stood by her actions. Later, after she was criminally charged, they finally fired her in a close vote.

MU’s actions last year sent a clear message. The people who run that university are unwilling to support the right of all students to be heard and will sacrifice anything to remain in the good graces of the racial provocateurs. The citizens of Missouri responded to that message by sending the smallest freshman class in a decade to the campus. The incoming freshman class declined by more than 1,400 students from last year as part of an overall decline in enrollment of more than 2,200 students. That is a 7-percent drop in one year. This comes as other universities in Missouri, like Missouri State University, University of Missouri-Kansas City and Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, are seeing strong increases in enrollment.

Contrast the stench at MU with the fresh breeze emanating from the University of Chicago. Freshman entering UC were welcomed with a letter from the dean of students informing them of the university’s “commitment to freedom of inquiry and expression.” The letter continues on to define that commitment as not supporting “so-called ‘trigger warnings,’” and saying, “We do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspective at odds with their own.”

That sort of commitment to a rigorous learning environment where all ideas are welcomed to be offered and challenged is supposed to be the ideal. Sadly, most of our universities have created an oppressive culture gilded with comforting words like “diversity” and “sensitivity” that squashes any words or thoughts that do not conform to the current politically correct doctrine. Letters like the one at UC should be welcome every incoming freshman at every American university. Instead, it is an anomaly worthy of note.

Perhaps the reaction to MU’s actions and the letter at UC represent a pivot to our nation’s universities striving for the ideal of being arenas where all ideas are welcomed to be debated and challenged.

Perhaps not, but we can hope.

Degree Matters More than Where You Get It

Here’s an interesting analysis from The Economist.

THE economies of the rich world increasingly depend upon skilled workers, and college degrees are in high demand. In 1972 a university-educated man aged 25-34 could expect to earn 22% more than a peer without a degree, according to the Urban Institute, a think-tank. Today that premium has risen to 70%. But if university pays, its benefits are not spread evenly across all graduates. A new report from PayScale, a research firm, calculates the returns to higher education in American universities. Its authors compare the career earnings of college graduates with the present-day cost of a degree at their alma maters, after taking account of financial aid.

Top universities may be growing ever more selective, but the returns on a college degree depend far more on field of study than the choosiness of the university itself, the report says. Engineering and computer-science students earn most, achieving an impressive 20-year annualised return of 12% (the S&P 500 managed just 7.8%). Engineers were also least dependent on institutional prestige: graduates from less-selective schools experienced only a slight decrease in average returns. Business and economics degrees also pay well, delivering a solid 8.7% average return. Courses in arts or the humanities may pay intellectual dividends but provide more mixed economic returns. Students concerned about their financial outlook should worry less about their school’s rank and spend more time brushing up on maths.

University of Missouri Sees Enrollment Drop

Parents want to know that their kids are going to a campus that is safe and a school that has a suitable environment in which to learn. MU failed on both of those basic requirements. They made it clear that if you’re a white kid, you’re assumed to be racist and you deserve to be harassed. I’d be curious to see the demographic makeup of the incoming freshman class as compared to to previous classes – or Missouri as a whole, for that matter.

The University of Missouri’s (MU) flagship Columbia campus has officially lost a staggering 23 percent of its freshman class this year, an even worse figure than administrators initially predicted in the wake of major racial strife.

The big enrollment drop at MU has been brewing for months, but finally became a reality this week with the start of fall term on campus. MU’s freshman class this year has some 4,799 students, a drop of over 1,400 from last year, when freshmen numbered 6,211. Overall enrollment is down by over 2,200, a drop of about 7 percent, according to preliminary numbers released by the school.

[…]

It’s not hard to find the cause of the school’s woes. Last year, the black activist group Concerned Student 1950 launched a major protest effort, claiming the school was a hotbed of racism and demanding the ouster of MU president Thomas Wolfe. After black members of the football team went on strike, their demands were swiftly met. At the same time, professor Melissa Click was caught on camera attacking a student journalist trying to cover the protests, and calling for “muscle” to carry him off if he refused to leave. Though Click was eventually fired, campus officials otherwise focused on trying to placate protesters and meet their demands, but this only spurred follow-up protests.

 

DPI Superintendent Laments Teachers’ Opportunities

Talk about a Marxist mindset.

At a conference of public school funding activists in Wauwatosa on Tuesday, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Tony Evers told the audience he’s not happy with competition for talent between school districts.

“In addition, especially in this part of the world, and I know you don’t want to hear it, after Act 10, the ability of districts to poach other teachers,” Evers said to over 300 attendees of the Wisconsin Public Education Network conference at Wauwatosa East High School. “I know that, probably I’m sure that, others don’t want to hear it as poaching. It’s the wild west out there.”

Before Act 10, it was very difficult for teachers to change districts. Since pay and benefits were largely based on seniority because of how the union contracts were negotiated, moving to a new district usually meant starting back at the bottom of the labor pool. This practice effectively limited the ability of good teachers to better their pay, work environment, or location.

After Act 10, it is much easier for teachers to move between districts. Act 10 created an environment where districts can recruit (or as Evers calls it, “poach”) good teachers that they need to benefit their students. The districts must recruit the good teachers with more pay, better benefits, better work conditions, etc. if they want to be successful. Act 10 has allowed for the free market to work a little more in the labor market for teachers resulting in better pay and benefits for good teachers – particularly for the teachers who teach in specialized areas.

So instead of celebrating a freer labor market that is allowing great teachers to benefit and encourage them to stay teaching, Evers wants great teachers chained to their districts with no chance of leap frogging their less talented peers. In case Evers hadn’t noticed, this is how the labor market works in 90% of the private sector.

DPI Expands Options for Teacher Licensing

This is a positive step. We shouldn’t put up arbitrary hurdles to letting good teachers into the classrooms.

State schools Superintendent Tony Evers on Tuesday announced a group of changes to the state’s teacher licensing process including allowing teachers with emergency one-year licenses to renew even if they haven’t yet passed required tests, and allowing retired teachers or teachers planning to retire to gain a nonrenewable five-year license without going through training typically required to get such licenses.

[…]

Other changes taking effect this school year are increasing the number of days a short-term substitute teacher can stay in the same teaching assignment from 20 days to 45 days and adding new ways for teachers to gain additional licenses in other subjects based on passing subject-area tests.

The changes are being implemented through a process that does not require legislative or Gov. Scott Walker’s approval.

Thousands of Wisconsin kids are going into the wrong grade

My column for the West Bend Daily News is online. Here you go:

You can feel it in the air. The leaves on a few trees are starting to turn and the temperatures dipped down into the 50s this weekend. There is no mistaking it — we are in the waning weeks of summer. In case you had any doubt, over the next few weeks social media will be filled with back-to-school pictures and the giant yellow buses will once again rove the streets.

As kids head back to school, we also turn our thoughts again to the schools to which they are returning and whether or not they are providing the education our kids need, expect and deserve. Much of the educational debate in the past few decades has been focused on making sure our schools work for the kids on the bottom rungs. Educational agendas like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top are designed to push education from the bottom up so every kid has the opportunity to get an education.

While pushing from the bottom is laudable, much of America’s education system has failed to pull up from the top because of the structure of age-based curriculum. That is the conclusion of a study co-authored by University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Associate Professor of Educational Foundations Scott Peters titled, “How Can So Many Students Be Invisible? Large Percentages of American Students Perform Above Grade Level” and published by the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Educational Policy.

According to the study, an estimated 20-40 percent of K-12 kids perform above their grade level in reading and 11-30 percent perform at least one grade level above in math. And it is not just one grade level. A large percentage of those kids score several grade levels higher than the grade they are in. The data suggests that 8-10 percent of fourth-graders perform at the eighth-grade level in reading and 10 percent of fifth-graders perform at the high school level for reading. The percentages are slightly less for math but the study suggests fifth- and sixth-graders are rarely given access to algebra, geometry, statistics or calculus, creating an artificial barrier to kids excelling further in math.

Specifically in Wisconsin, 45 percent of eighth-graders score at least one year above their grade level in reading and 26 percent do the same in math. In real numbers, “somewhere between 278,000 and 330,000 public-school Wisconsin students across grades K-12 are performing more than a full grade above where they are placed in school.” That is a tremendous number of underserved Wisconsin kids.

What does this study tell us and what are the implications? The study confirms what every parent knows: Kids are all unique. Some sixth-graders struggle and need a lot of support to meet the minimum educational expectations. Some third-graders are bookworms and are reading at an eighth-grade level. This makes it exceedingly difficult to create an educational system that perfectly serves the needs of everyone.

In an ideal world with unlimited resources, every kid would have a team of tutors who would instruct, support and push them as necessary to suit their educational capacities. We do not live in that world, so we must create an educational system that pools resources to provide a quality education to the most kids possible. The study posits most of the kids our current public education system is leaving behind are not at the bottom of the educational spectrum, but at the top.

Our public education policy leaders need to immediately look for ways to provide accelerated learning opportunities to kids performing above their grade levels. This means more flexible scheduling and movement between grades. Also, public schools should aggressively adopt the various distance-learning tools that allow kids greater access to diverse learning opportunities. Long term, this may necessitate a movement away from neighborhood schools to central campuses that can include access to more opportunities for kids of all grade levels.

But while progress can be made in our public schools, no single system can serve everyone. This is why support for school choice, which encourages a broader education ecosystem capable of meeting the increasingly diverse needs of our kids, is vital for providing an education suitably supportive and challenging for all kids.

Our educational system has come a long way in the past few decades in meeting the needs of lower-performing kids. We have a lot more work to do to push the kids who are already performing above expectations.

Feingold Cashes in on Higher Ed

The GOP has a point.

“Sen. Feingold can’t have it both ways, and his record places him firmly on the wrong side of students, said Pat Garrett, spokesman for the Wisconsin Republican Party. “While Feingold talks about making college affordable, he hypocritically spent years cashing in— taking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees and salaries.”

Garrett was referring to Feingold’s six-figure salary at Stanford University and honoraria collected from various universities for campus visits listed in his personal financial disclosure forms.

A search of those records dating back to 2013 show he collectively received $450,000 between 2012-15 from 17 different schools, the lion’s share coming from Stanford, where he was on staff.

I’d like to know the ROI for spending so much money on Feingold that the students and taxpayers received. It is difficult to take Feingold seriously about his concerns about the cost of higher education when he is cashing in on the bloated spending from that same industry. It is equally difficult to take colleges and universities seriously when they cry “poor” given how much stupid spending they do.

Dodgeville Teachers Leaving Over Pay and Safety

This will be hard for the kids.

DODGEVILLE (WKOW) — Close to 30 educators have left Dodgeville schools since the end of last school year.

[…]

Dr. Jacobson says the mass exodus comes down to teachers wanting more money, and a challenging district-wide punishment rewards behavioral system.  He says the program is currently being modified, and the school system is looking into other ways to discipline behaviorally challenged students.

“It has become the impetus for some who have left,” Dr. Jacobson said.

Bell says she saw more fights break out last year than ever before, and understands why teaching would be difficult with that climate.

“There were just a lot of kids that thought they could get away with whatever they wanted and they wouldn’t get punished like the way that they should,” Bell said.

The superintendent says the reason is pay and safety, but the story does not supply any details on the pay situation. I suspect that the new discipline policy is the primary reason with some teachers leaving with an exasperated, “they don’t pay me enough to put up with this!”

I can’t find details of Dodgeville’s “punishment rewards behavioral system” on their website, so I don’t know how it is implemented. In general, such systems are not necessarily bad. They simply provide a structure to reward good behavior and punish bad behavior. The devil, as they say, is in the details.

For example, if the school rewards expected behavior, like being attentive in class, behaving appropriately, etc., then kids will act out in order to receive the rewards. Rewards should only be given for exceptional behavior. Also, if punishments are weakened in favor of using more rewards instead, then the system breaks down. Essentially, kids should behave according to an accepted standard. Then they are given rewards for exceptional behavior and punishments for not meeting the accepted standards.

Judging by the comments in the story about the dramatic increase in fights and unruly kids, it sure sounds like the school district’s behavioral system has been poorly implemented leaving teachers to fear for their safety and ability to do their jobs effectively.

Recycling Encouraged in West Bend

This is curious.

For the 2016-17 school year, the Director of Elementary Education will be shared by Nan Lustig and Al Pauli.  Lustig  has been with the WBSD for 29 years in multiple capacities including Reading Specialist, Reading Recovery teacher, Reading and Integrated Language Arts (ILA) Coordinator, and Principal at Decorah Elementary.  Last year she served the WBSD as a Learning Specialist.

Pauli recently retired from the District after 40 years and served as Chief Academic Officer, Director of Standards and Assessments, Elementary  Principal, and was also a kindergarten teacher.  

If Pauli “retired” just last year from a leadership position in the district, why is he back as a Director this year?

Milwaukee Lacks Means to Reform MPS

From Wigderson at Wisconsin Watchdog.

Opportunity Schools Partnership Program Commissioner Demond Means announcedhis resignation Wednesday, citing the inability to forge a “collaborative partnership” with Milwaukee Public Schools.

 

[…]

State Rep Dale Kooyenga, an author of the OSPP law, said in a statement released after Means’ resignation that he appreciated Means’ efforts to improve underperforming schools in Milwaukee.  “It is unfortunate that the powers of the status quo were so resistant to working with a man who cares so deeply and has so much to give to the educational community in Wisconsin,” Kooyenga said.

Brett Healy, president of the John K. MacIver institute for Public Policy, said in a statement that Means’ resignation should be “a wake-up call” to Wisconsin that MPS is not serious about fixing its failing schools.

“Dr. Means expressed his frustration over the increasingly adversarial attitudes he encountered in his resignation statement and that kids weren’t the top priority. We wholeheartedly agree,” Healy said. “Rather than working together with the good-faith OSPP effort to give Milwaukee children a better shot at success, MPS and the teachers’ union have thrown one temper tantrum after another.”

“It is clear that the so-called adults running MPS are unwilling to put the 28,000 children trapped in failing schools in their district above their own interests,” Healy said.

UW Wastes Money on Unused Tickets

Wow.

Since January last year, records obtained by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin show at least $121,000 in tickets purchased by university officials sat unused for so long that airlines wiped them off the books for good.

UW-Madison, the state’s flagship public university, was the biggest spender, tallying 139 expired tickets valued at nearly $70,000. UW-Milwaukee also took a big chunk of the statewide total with 63 tickets valued at nearly $22,000.

I travel quite a bit and have to occasionally cancel flights. It happens. But letting this much money expire is inexcusable.

It varies by airline, but on a non-refundable ticket, most airlines will keep the credit for a canceled flight on the books for a year. Then, when you book another flight and use the credit, they’ll deduct the change fee and apply the credit to the new ticket. In other words, with rare exception, UW has a year to use those credits before they expire and use most of the money even if they lose money on some change fees. Given the amount of travel we’re talking about, it is just gross mismanagement to let that much money expire.

Walker Says Teachers Should Be Paid On Merit

Apparently Governor Walker is getting heat for these comments.

When asked whether he would encourage a relative with a teaching degree to seek employment in Wisconsin or Minnesota, Walker said Wisconsin.

“They don’t have to wait 20 years to be able to succeed,” Walker said. “If they’re a great teacher and they’ve got great incentive to perform they can get a high-quality teaching job anywhere in the state of Wisconsin and they can get rewarded for that and not have to wait to build years of seniority.”

Walker said school districts can set pay based on performance and hire based on merit.

“It’s about putting the best and the brightest in the classroom,” Walker said. “If someone is an exceptional talent and wants to go into education, they can be rewarded for that.”

When asked whether he thought such incentive-driven salary programs would be a hindrance to allowing school districts to keep quality teachers, Walker compared teaching to being a player in the NFL.

“If the Green Bay Packers pay people to perform and if they perform well on their team, (the Packers) pay them to do that,” Walker said. “They don’t pay them for how many years they’ve been on the football team. They pay them whether or not they help (the Packers) win football games.”

Walker said Wisconsin school districts can pay either a fresh college graduate or a 25-year veteran based solely on performance.

“Most businesses outside of government, that’s how they operate as well,” Walker said.

I understand that measuring merit (or even defining what constitutes “good”) is subjective given the nature of the job, but that is true of many jobs. After all, someone thinks that Jay Cutler is good enough to deserve a massive contract. But is there something inherently wrong with the notion that good teachers should be able to be paid more than crappy teachers?

Act 10’s Effect on the Teacher Workforce

Interesting findings from The Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty.

Some of the findings include:

  1. When compared to neighboring states, Act 10 had no significant impact on the number of students per school teacher.  Put another way, changes in classroom size did not differ significantly from changes in neighboring states.
  1. When compared to surrounding states, we did not find any significant effect by Act 10 on school district spending on teacher gross salaries (incl. bonuses, some pay for performance, and stipends).  We did find an effect by Act 10 on base salaries.  We suspect that this reflects the new marketplace for teachers post-Act 10 where districts are moving towards pay-for-performance, bonuses, and stipends, as described in a previous WILL study.
  1. There was little difference in the change in average teacher experience before and after Act 10.
  1. There was little difference in the change in racial makeup of the teaching workforce before and after Act 10.
  1. Wisconsin’s teacher decline began well before the implementation of Act 10.

A&M Improves Diversity Without Affirmative Action

This is interesting.

The Texas Tribunereports that Texas A&M University has seen a 114 percent increase in black and Hispanic student enrollment since 2003 — effectively more than doubling its minority student population — despite the fact that it refuses to employ affirmative action. In comparison, black and Hispanic enrollment has only grown by 45 percent over the same time period at UT Austin, which proudly uses affirmative action.

What’s Texas A&M’s secret? Campus officials told the Tribune it’s because they use the state’s controversial Top 10 Percent Rule:

Texas’ Top 10 Percent Rule … promises automatic admission into public Texas universities for students who rank near the top of their high school’s graduating class. The rule ignores the SAT and other factors, which on average benefit white and Asian students, and was meant to ensure that a certain number of students from the state’s poorer, lower-performing schools can also get into a top public college.

With the rule in place, then-President Robert Gates figured A&M could achieve more diversity without changing other admissions policies.

“Every student who is at A&M must know … that he or she and all students here have been admitted on personal merit,” Gates said at the time.

On the other hand, I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the 10 Percent Rule. Imagine that your kid is brilliant so you send him or her to the best high school you can. In a school of other exceptional kids, your kid is in the 11th percentile. He or she is still brighter that 99% of the kids at a lot of other schools, but since he or she is in the 11th percentile at this school, the 10 Percent Rule doesn’t apply. Meanwhile, a lot of slots at some of the better schools are being filled up by kids who are in the top 10% of crappy high schools. Many of those kids don’t graduate because they lack the skills, but they took a slot nonetheless.

I don’t think I would like to see a similar rule passed in Wisconsin, but the consequences – both negative and positive – are instructive.

Milwaukee Public School Board Thwarts Law

They don’t like people trying to improve schools for the kids if it eats into their power and money.

Milwaukee Public School officials have rejected a plan from the county executive and his appointed commissioner to create a county-led turnaround program for the district’s lowest performing schools. District leaders countered with their own proposal, which they said will meet requirements set out in state law.

Milwaukee schools Superintendent Darienne Driver and school board president Mark Sain responded Friday morning to a proposal released in April by Demond Means, superintendent of the Mequon-Thiensville School District and commissioner of the Opportunity Schools Partnership Program. Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele appointed Means to head up the program after it was created by the state Legislature as part of the state’s 2015-17 budget.

The 2015 law calls for the partnership to take over the operation of up to three schools for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years and up to five schools in following year. Under the plan released by Means and Abele in April, the partnership would run one school next year using a community school model, which means bringing in community organizations to provide wrap-around services like a health clinic and social services. The school would be run by a charter school operator but remain part of the Milwaukee district and employees would also remain in the district and their unions.

The whole point of the reform plan was to take the schools away from MPS. These are schools that have been failing for years and the MPS leadership has failed to improve them. The law calls for the schools to be removed from MPS control so that they can improve.

MPS is flagrantly thwarting the law. The state needs to forcefully enforce the law on behalf of the kids.

‘stallis School District Shortchanges Teachers

Well, this stinks.

West Allis-West Milwaukee, which has been digging itself out of a $14 million deficit over the past year, alerted teachers in an email last week that those who normally take their summer pay in a lump sum in June would receive just a fourth of their expected paychecks Thursday, with the balance to come a week later.

What’s more interesting than the actual impact is the reason for it. Yes, it stinks that the teachers will not receive their pay as scheduled, but they will get it all a week later. It’s an inconvenience, but it’s not the end of the world.

Also, the way the school district handled it looks pretty poor.

She said many teachers were blindsided by the news, which was buried in a “budget update” emailed to district employees June 9, the last day of school.

That’s poor management. Whenever something changes that impacts people’s compensation, the organization has a responsibility to REALLY emphasize it so that people can make arrangements. Burying it in a budget update, assuming that’s an accurate reflection of the communications, is bad form.

The Union immediately jumped to blaming this on Act 10:

Steve Cupery, the Wisconsin Education Association Council representative for West Allis-West Milwaukee teachers, said the district has agreed to work with individual teachers who can demonstrate a hardship.

But he blasted the delay as a byproduct of Act 10, the 2011 state law that eroded the bargaining rights of public employee unions.

“It’s just one more example of the consequences of Act 10, how it hurts people and will dissuade people from going into the profession,” Cupery said.

But the truth is that the district has been horribly mismanaged for years and the bills for that mismanagement are coming due.

West Allis-West Milwaukee’s issues appear to stem from a series of costly financial decisions made under then-Superintendent Kurt Wachholz, who retired unexpectedly in the summer of 2014. Among them, according to Chromy: the purchase and renovation of a new building, cost overruns on staffing and benefits, and several facilities projects.

The largest piece of that — about $5 million — was for a debt payment related to a yearslong lawsuit over a risky investment scheme that cost West Allis-West Milwaukee and four other districts a total of $200 million a decade ago, Chromy said.

“Since the verdict had come, there was some anticipation by our legal team that that payment would come in … to offset that cost,” but that didn’t happen, Chromy said.

According to an audit released late last year, the district had overspent its 2013-’14 and 2014-’15 budgets by a total of $14 million, wiping out its entire reserves.

A good description of the financial decisions that led to that huge debt payment can be found in the NY Times, but the gist is this: in 2005, several school districts, including West Allis, needed money to fund their huge pension obligations to retirees. In order to make money, they borrowed money to invest in some risky investments. The thought was that the money received from the investments would be enough to pay back the debt with interest and still have more money left over. It would be like you getting a cash advance on your credit card to buy Powerball tickets with the hope that your winnings from the Powerball would be enough to pay back the credit card company and leave you with a profit.

The districts’ luck was bad and the investments went belly up, leaving the districts with a big loan to pay back for which they had no alternate source of income to fund the payments. Thus, they are having to take money out of the operating budget, which is supposed to be used for things like paying teachers, and use the money to pay off debt so that the district doesn’t default, thus destroying their ability to borrow in the future. The district won a lawsuit over this, but the award has not been paid yet.

On top of that bad decision, the district went on a building spree and racked up a myriad of other bad decisions.

The teachers are getting the short end of the stick here, but it has nothing to do with Act 10 or a lack of funding. It has everything to do with extremely poor management by an incompetent school board and administration.

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