Notes on the teacher school district climate: Madison edition

Scott Girard:

“We need impactful change in our handbook before May 15 or the mass exodus of staff will continue,” she said. “It’ll become impossible to staff our schools with qualified teachers and the staff that our students deserve.”

MMSD spokesperson Tim LeMonds wrote in a statement Tuesday that the district “has hired more teacher staff this year than ever before, and now employs its largest teacher workforce in many years.”

“We value the voices of all MMSD staff. Our teachers who participated in public comment at last night’s Board meeting spoke from the heart, and their words were powerful,” LeMonds wrote. “The district’s recruitment strategy continues to make progress in addressing the nationwide teacher shortage impacting our school district.”

He said the 100 vacancies “only represent approximately 3.8% of our roughly 2,600 teaching positions and 1.7% of our overall staff.”

LeMonds also alluded to the ongoing financial challenges school districts face, calling the challenges ahead “serious” after a state budget that did not raise revenue limits for school districts each of the past two years.

The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”

My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results

2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results 

Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.

“An emphasis on adult employment”

Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]

WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators

Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results

Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.

No When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?