The perennial argument that the QEO has somehow “capped” teacher salaries just doesn’t square with the numbers because most districts voluntarily settle above the 3.8 percent total package, which includes both salary and benefits. The Wisconsin Association of School Boards database shows that total-package increases averaged about 4.5 percent in 2003-04 and 4.3 percent in 2004-05.Stan Johnson:
Prior to the law change, arbitrators intervened in stalled negotiations and brought the sides together by analyzing such data as a local school district’s ability to pay, national and regional market forces, and comparable wages and benefits in the geographic area. Arbitration was the single most important factor accounting for the period of labor peace from the late 1970s to early 1990s.What's the QEO? via wisopinion
4.11.2005 Capital Times Editorial:
Newcomer Lawrie Kobza surprised a lot of people with her win in Tuesday's voting for the Madison School Board, which saw her upset incumbent Bill Clingan by a comfortable 53-47 percent margin.Great to see the Capital Times engaged....Her win is being read as something of a municipal Rorschach test.
Some members of the current board majority, who vigorously opposed her candidacy, fear that Kobza will be another Ruth Robarts, the dissident board member who has angered her colleagues by picking fights on budget issues and accusing other board members of being rubber stamps for Superintendent Art Rainwater.
UPDATE: Karyn Saemann on No School District, no sense of place; schools in Fitchurg.
Jason Shepard speculated on how a majority might form on the MMSD school board when Lawrie Kobza officially takes a seat.
“Lawrie Kobza’s win . . . over Madison school board incumbent Bill Clingan by a 53% - 47% margin will almost certainly alter the board’s ideological alignment. The only question is how.
Kobza credits a surprise endorsement from The Capital Times as the tipping point of her campaign. But a last minute mailing signed by Ed Garvey and former Mayors Paul Soglin and Sue Bauman questioned whether Kobza is really a liberal.
Kobza, an attorney with a sharp mind, says her election proves voters want changes in school governance. Soon-to-be colleague Ruth Robarts is thrilled: “There’s going to be a new dialogue.”
At election–night parties, there was speculation that Kobza could side with Robarts on what would normally be 6-1 votes, and also of a coalition made up of Kobza, Robarts and moderates Shwaw Vang and Johnny Winston. But Carol Carstensen says her big win . . . shows public support of the board’s liberal majority. We’ll see.”
-- Isthmus, April 8, 2005
Quite a bit happening in Milwaukee, according to Alan Borsuk.
The revolving door for urban school superintendents has been a major fact of life across the country. The general rule of thumb many use is that if you make it three years in the job, you're doing better than average.Andrekopoulos will reach the three-year mark in August. He has said from the start that he was committed to the job for five years, and he recently said he might want to make it six.
It is still going to be heavy going for him and everyone else involved in MPS. The budget decisions are going to be tough and the politics demanding. Change, as Andrekopoulos says, is hard.
Most important, the job of raising the level of educational success of children in the city overall is complicated and slow going, at best.
But the Goldberg election may prove over time to have been an important signal that Andrekopoulos will beat the urban superintendent challenge and get the five years or more that he wants. That is likely to make this the key question for the next several years: Will the policies he stands for work?