Fabu, Madison’s former poet laureate:
I’ve listened carefully to all of the School Board candidates — Nichelle Nichols and Arlene Silveira in one race, Mary Burke and Michael Flores in the other. After a panel in the Atrium of the Park Village, I wanted Silveira to look in my face and hear me say as a mother, a tax-paying citizen, educator and poet that I believe she has not done enough to support the success of African-American students in her time on the School Board. I moved on to Flores and we had a lively conversation. Flores said that he supports all children in Madison. I told him that when you have several children, and one is sick, you help the sickest one first even though you love all of your children. Flores told me that “first you have to determine who hurts the most.” Well, I know that African-American children, regardless of economic status, hurt the most in the current school district and we need new board members who will immediately address that pain, as well as to choose a new superintendent to begin the healing process.
After considering the positions of all of the candidates, I believe that Nichelle Nichols and Mary Burke are the candidates who will work urgently to help hurting children.
Seat 1 Candidates:
Nichelle Nichols
www.nichols4schoolboard.org
email: nnichols4mmsd@gmail.com
Arlene Silveira (incumbent)
www.arleneforschoolboard.com
email: arlene_Silveira@yahoo.com
Seat 2 Candidates:
Mary Burke
www.maryburkeforschoolboard.net
email: maryburkewi@gmail.com
Michael Flores
www.floresforschoolboard.org
email: floresm1977@gmail.com
Arlene Silveira & Michael Flores Madison Teachers, Inc. Candidate Q & A
Fabu is allowed an opinion. But many of us don’t feel that african american kids should be any more of a priority than any other kids in the MMSD.
I fully agree with dadanonymous in this regard.
However, at this stage, there is NO priority given to African American children or other non-whites. It may look like there is because of the rhetoric, but it’s been all rhetoric.
The latest Isthmus article by Pat Dillon is one of the best most complete and accurate accounts of how MMSD actually treats non-white kids.
I’m a left-wing liberal, but I have never bought into liberal kumbaya, or Rudyard Kiplings White Man’s Burden, or any other “feel-good” intentions which seem to occupy the white majority’s liberal culture, time and money.
From my perspective too much liberal thinking is really mushy thinking, softy, syrupy sweetness that doesn’t make the grade of being hard-nosed and demanding of both teachers, students, and administration to get mastery of the material, NOW! But, the talk, the mere talk of high expectations for all kids, as the new MMSD plan resurrects, will not cut it.
Years ago, Asa Hilliard made the important point that merely the claim to setting a high bar for kids does not cause the bar to be reached. It requires a solid curriculum, solid knowledge of the material by the teachers, solid delivery of those resources to the kids that is required.
My brief personal experience with the schools thus far is that many teachers are accepting of less than reasonable effort by students, as though if kids are encouraged to push themselves they’d break.
Here an excerpt from William J. Bennett on CNN taking a critical look at the reactions to this case:
“The leading cause of death for black male teenagers is homicide, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Of all the black homicide victims, about 93% are killed by other black people. In 2011, nearly 85% of all people murdered in Philadelphia were black. Where are the marches and protests for these victims? Is it justice people seek or are they looking and even hoping for signs of white racism so they can exploit it?
In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”
While we wait and respect due process of law, we should do our part to uplift human personality. We can do so by giving both Martin and Zimmerman a just weighing of the evidence, both in the court of law and public opinion. Let us not assume the worst of anybody but be guided by the fact.”