Open records (meetings, too) and the taxpayer funded Madison School District, redux

Scott Girard

The public records request came from NBC15 reporter Elizabeth Wadas, who requested all emails from Dec. 19, 2021, through Dec. 19, 2022, that contained her name or references to an NBC15 reporter. The district released hundreds of records related to the request, but per open records law notified LeMonds that the complaint would be part of the release and allowed him time to challenge that.

He did so, with his attorney arguing that the October 2022 complaint and related documents are “technically” responsive to the request, but were “not, themselves, the subject of the request.” The filing further argued that releasing the documents “would almost certainly cause irreparable harm to him, his reputation, the public’s perception of him, his standing in the community, and within MMSD itself.”

The briefing also states that an investigation of the complaint by the district’s legal and human resources department found that the accusations were “without merit.”

Olivia Herken:

A meeting in which the Madison School Board was to discuss its open records policy was effectively held behind closed doors Monday after a problem with its livestream kept the public from being able to see it.

The meeting was scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday and was legally noticed as a virtual meeting, with only school board members attending in person. But when officials couldn’t get the public’s livestream for the meeting to start, they decided to proceed with the meeting anyway and post a recording of it later.

“Well, it’s kind of too bad that we’ve got the smartest people at our universities, and yet we have to create a law to tell them how to teach.”

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?