I’ve noticed in several postings that people have criticized the Madison School Board for lack of leadership. I believe that true leadership happens in the community and then comes to the board level for action. This has been the case in many actions that have been taken place in the past, present and will undoubtedly be the case in the future. All of these actions have had or will have a profound impact on the Madison Metropolitan School District.
Fifty-one years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated formal school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education. Twenty-five years later, this ruling forced the Madison School District to dramatically change how it educated elementary students. In 1979, South Madison residents lead by Dr. Richard Harris filed a lawsuit with the federal Office of Civil Rights concluding that the Madison School Board had knowingly created and perpetrated racial isolation by closing schools and changing boundaries on the city's heavily populated minority South Madison. This lead to the creation of a task force that created the current school pairings we know today.
This community leadership has also lead to new initiatives such as Nuestro Mundo Community School, the district’s dual-language charter school. This school is responding to Latino community leaders’ concerns regarding the changing demographics in the city and school district. English speaking families wanting to expose their children to Spanish and Latino culture are also enrolling their children in the school.
In addition to Nuestro Mundo, the Madison School Board is supporting the building of Wexford Ridge Community Center on the grounds of Jefferson Middle and Memorial High Schools. Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center currently runs adult and youth programming out of a two-bedroom apartment. Again, community leaders and residents supported the proposal that initially didn’t have the support of the Superintendent or a majority of the board. I am proud to state that voting for this proposal was one of my first acts as a member of the school board.
In the near future, on April 11th the School Board’s Partnership Committee will convene a meeting to discuss a proposal from a group of parents to form a girls hockey program. This program will be a cooperative effort with girls from Memorial, West, East and LaFollette as well as schools outside of Madison being able to participate on one team. I am in favor of this program because it allows girls to participate positively in athletics and uses parent’s creativity and community resources to fund the proposal.
In conclusion, the school board is elected to lead the school district, however, it is the community that truly leads schools. It is the above stated community initiatives that lead me to believe that the real leadership comes from the community, not solely from school board members. I look forward to seeing what future initiatives come from the community, so we can work together to make them happen for the betterment of the Madison Metropolitan School District.
The less pupils use computers at school and at home, the better they do in international tests of literacy and maths, the largest study of its kind says today.The findings raise questions over the Government's decision, announced by Gordon Brown in the Budget last week, to spend another £1.5 billion on school computers, in addition to the £2.5 billion it has already spent.
On March 28, the Madison School Board will vote to place three referendums on the ballot in a special election on May 24. The total bill for the referendums will be $85.1M if the operating budget referendum is for three years, as proposed by Finance Chair Carol Carstensen.
The operating budget referendum will increase to the MMSD share of the property tax by $44.4M cumulatively by the third year. The $22.2M increase for the third year will be permanent. This referendum allows the school district to exceed state revenue limits by $7.4 each year. In effect, the $7.4M doubles in the second year and triples in the third year. In other words, a successful referendum adds $7.4M to the MMSD tax in the first year, $14.M in the second year and $22.2M in the third year.
According to Assistant Superintendent Roger Price, the increase in the MMSD property tax on the average property currently valued at $204,500 would be $82.99 in 05-06, $211.64 in 06-07 and $331.17 in 07-08. At the end of three years, tax payers will have spent an additional $44.4M on the operating budget over and above state revenue limits. Because the changes in the revenue limits will be permanent, the tax level will remain at an additional $22.2M forever. However, because the state legislature raises the limits on school property taxes each year, the base for the school tax will also be larger with each year. The district does not include this additional amount in its calculations of the costs of the operating budget referendum.
Until last week, the administration estimated the new taxes caused by an operating budget referendum at $164 per year on the average home. That estimate assumed that the Board voted for a one-year referendum to raise $8.6M, not the up-to-three year referendum that the Board now prefers.
The referendum to construct a second school on the Leopold School site will add $14.5M to the homeowner’s tax for schools over a fifteen year period. The district estimates that the school referendum adds $20 per year to the taxes paid on the average Madison home.
The referendum for maintenance and other items will cost $26.2M over five years. This referendum will not increase property taxes. It prevents a decrease of $82 per year for the average home owner. The maintenance referendum asks taxpayers to forgo a drop in taxes that will occur when the last five-year maintenance referendum lapses.
Until March 14, the revenues from this referendum would have gone only to maintenance of the district’s facilities. However, Carol Carstensen persuaded the majority to amend the maintenance referendum. Now money from the referendum could be used to building maintenance or for operating needs such as the purchase of computers, microscopes, and textbooks. If the operating budget referendum fails, the dollars from the maintenance referendum could easily be used for operating costs.
Janet Morrow says that the "fact" that the public has lost confidence in the Madison Board of Education is a "lie". She points to the Boards reaction to the District Administration's recent proposed Boundary changes as an example of their listening and acting on public input.
The RFP is available for inspection on-line here (PDF):
PROPOSAL NUMBER: 3060
ISSUE DATE: 02/21/05
DUE DATE: 03/31/05 2:00 PM Local Time
PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for requested modifications to the RFP WAS March 8, 2005. A vendor conference WAS held "on March 14, 2005 at 9:00AM in room 209 at 545 West Dayton Street, Madison, to respond to written questions..."
Madison parents and citizens need to ask the School Board a) why they continue to allow the Superintendent to treat elementary strings separate from the music education curriculum, b) why there is a continued delay in getting a committee together for fine arts, c) why the delay in seeking federal funding for fine arts for disadvantaged children, d) why the Administration continues to attack the fine arts academic curriculum rather than coming forward with ideas for strengthening this curriculum in light of the academic achievement benefits?
In July 2004, U.S. Secretary of Education wrote to all Superintendents of school districts in the United States:
"...the arts are a core academic subject under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). I believe the arts have a significant role in education both for their intrinsic value and for the ways in which they can enhance general academic achievement and improve students' social and emotional development."
"There is much flexibility for states and local school districts under the No Child Left Behind Act with respect to support for the core subjects. ...Under NCLB, Title I, Part A funds also can be used by local education agencies to improve the educational achievement of disadvantaged students through the arts."
"In keeping with NCLB's principle of classroom practices based on research evidence, studies have shown that arts teaching and learning can increase students' cognitive and social development. The arts can be a critical link for students in developing the crucial thinking skills and motivations they need to achieve at higher levels."