Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Thornton was fired up when he spoke recently to a crowd of about 250 at a north side church. I need your help, he told the audience. Help me tear down MPS and build up a better one.
I don’t think I’d ever heard a school superintendent say he wants to tear down the system he heads, but I understand where Thornton was going. The status quo in MPS is not so thrilling. Some things have to go if you want to get to a better place.
But I have a serious concern that, because of circumstances mostly beyond Thornton’s control, things may be going better on the “tearing down” side of Milwaukee Public Schools than on the “building up” side.
What does it take to have a successful school system? Let’s focus on a few key ingredients: People, money and a unifying, energizing sense of mission.
People, both in terms of quality and numbers. MPS is in a precarious state on these scores. When teachers voted a week ago by a decisive margin not to give up a week’s pay next year to ease cuts in classroom services, they played a serious part in the unfolding plot for 2012-’13 to be a grim year for MPS.