An Update on One City Schools (Monona, WI)
Kaleem Caire’s FB post (screenshot):
Today, we will welcome back more than 400 children to One City Schools. Nearly 85,000 children will walk through the doors of traditional public, public charter, and private K-12 schools in Dane County, Wisconsin, and another 17,500 will attend child care programs.
That’s more than 100,000 children being taught and cared for by (regulated) early childhood and K-12 educators in our state’s second largest and fastest growing county, and the county with the strongest growth economy as well.
I am proud of my team. Today, One City continues to be the largest employer ever started by an African American in Dane County history (not counting Alliant Energy Corporation, which was created by a merger of three utilities led by CEO Erroll Davis Erroll, Jr., one of the most notable corporate leaders in American history, who passed away at age 81 in April 2026). We currently employ 100 people, and as of this year, have brought in more than $98 million in revenue, with $57 million of this coming from philanthropic donations. All but $1.85 million of these donations have come from Dane County.
We also have the greatest staff and client (children and families) diversity of any medium and large employer in Dane County. Last week, I reported to our Board of Directors that we are starting the 2026-27 school year with a workforce where 58.1% of our employees are staff of color, with 56% residing in Madison and 94% in Dane County. This group will serve a student body projected to be 95% students of color, 65% low-income, and 23% with special education needs.
This is also a team that, according to our last Wisconsin School Report Card published in fall 2025 by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, achieved academic growth among children enrolled in our middle school – One City Preparatory Academy – at or better than 98.7% of ALL middle schools in Wisconsin, and #1 in Dane County.
Likewise, “academic growth” (which is what parents send their children to school for) at One City Elementary School was at or better than 75.8% of ALL elementary schools in Wisconsin.
Among Dane County’s medium and large employers, One City is a market leader in employing women overall and in leadership roles, employing men of color in education, and contracting with minority and women-owned businesses.
Since its founding in 2014, One City has never paid a wage lower than $15 per hour, and all full-time employees are eligible for comprehensive health benefits and our matching 401K program. All employees who would be first-time home buyers are also eligible to participate in the Own It: Building Black Wealth home ownership and wealth building program, which One City helped launch. To date, 32 staff and families of our Scholars have purchased their first home through this program, which provides an 8-week home ownership course, credit repair assistance, and a $19,000 grant toward their down payment, no repayment required. And yes, staff and families who are not Black have purchased homes through this program, too.
Additionally, we provide a 50% tuition discount to staff whose children attend our 5-Star early childhood center, One City Preschool, with a maximum of 14 staff able to participate due to budget limitations and our commitment to maximizing seats available to the broader community. One City Preschool was the first early childhood center outside of Mainland China to be selected by its founder to operate the highly regarded Anji Play program (www.AnjiPlay.com). Several of our staff have been to China to train in their preschools.
BTW, during COVID, we didn’t lay off one employee, and kept several of our contractors (janitorial, landscaping, etc.) fully employed and whole financially. We also raised and gave out more than $135,000 to the families of children enrolled in our schools to help them pay rent, mortgages, phone bills, and utilities, and cover groceries, supplies, and prescription drugs.
When we endured a budget crisis after a major donor’s pledge expired and federal aid for early childhood education was substantially cut, ALL members of our executive team took three months of salary reduction to avoid cutting the pay of any other employee or laying off staff critical to the needs and education of our children. I took four months.
Everyone did it without argument or disagreement, even though it hurt.
This is how much our team loves our children and is dedicated to them, our families, our staff, and the greater Madison community.And from 2014 to 2021, I was always the third or fourth highest paid employee at One City. Having earned well north of $100K since the year 2000, and with a family of seven to support, it hurt to earn a lot less than that, but I did it to help build One City and provide a fair, competitive wage and benefits to the staff who joined me in building it.
How many CEOs do you know do that?
Yes, a 55-year-old Black man named Kaleem Caire, who was born at the old Methodist Hospital in downtown Madison in 1971, and grew up in a low-income household in South Madison, raised by his aunt, grandparents, and extended family and friends, and who rarely saw his mother and only met his father twice (2004 and 2017), did this, along with dozens of dedicated team members and volunteers, and nearly 3,000 donors. And he did it while being opposed by hundreds of people who were raised in far more privilege than him, and who still take shots at him on social media and through the press.
No, One City Schools is not perfect. What school or employer is?
Moreover, what school has done all that I have mentioned here, with an annual budget leaner than every school district and almost every public school in Dane County, and with far greater public accountability and scrutiny? Think about it: imagine what already strong academic growth would rise to if One City received the same level of public funding as other public schools in Madison and Dane County? Imagine what those superintendents and school board members would feel like if they had to privately raise 30-40% of their operating budgets every year, while being required to serve all children, while enduring a much higher level of public accountability and annual academic, financial, and operational reviews like One City Schools does?
And we’ve accomplished so much more, with millions of children around the world and thousands here in Dane County benefiting from innovations we’ve helped establish and cultivate with partners near and far.
This is what’s possible when a community decides its children are worth the sacrifice.
There is still so much ground to cover. But if this is what we’ve done with less, imagine what we’ll do together with what’s still ahead of us.I look forward to seeing our 400 Scholars walk through our doors with their parents today for their Ready, Set, Goal conferences, and tomorrow when the learning begins!
Onward.
P.S.
How are One City’s public charter schools funded?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aYTaCWkw5Yfq5lKiroU-srkGw1|1VIoL/view?usp=drivesdkHow are One City’s independent public charter schools held accountable?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YCcTcFovXKYLjgpekSZqsabXs30UoZUc/view?usp=drivesdk [PDF]
and
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18tDchWCz95fHLRfB_CSOvz2mQytsGU1B/view?usp=drivesdk [PDF]
How has One City led and partners on innovations in education?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VRT_WKFXoKswXK_Mv1j¡DI3AVrfZNxWf/view?usp=drivesdk
Despite the criticism, whether legitimate or not, we listen, we learn, we pivot, and we grow. One cannot deny our impact, because it’s real, and in Dane County, it’s unprecedented.
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Notes & Links: Kaleem Caire // One City Schools //
2011: The Madison School Board aborted the proposed Madison Preparatory IB Charter School: On the 5-2 Madison School Board No (Cole, Hughes, Moss, Passman, Silveira) Madison Preparatory Academy IB Charter School Vote (Howard, Mathiak voted Yes).
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2025-2026 Madison 4k-3rd grade Early Literacy Screener report: The bar moves faster than the kids.
Joe Gothard, Becky Kundert and Sonia Spencer Remarks on Madison’s K-12 Literacy Crisis.
2026-2027 Madison K-12 $pending continues to grow, fueled by a 9.7% (!) property tax increase. Total spending will be at least $706,000,000 for 25,003 students, or $28,236 per student.
May 2026 Madison School District Presentation: 7,095 adults for 25,003 students (3.52 students per adult!)
2024-2025 Early Literacy Screener Map.
Map: Foundations of Reading Results: 2015–2024
Where have all the students gone?
3,887 Madison 4 year old to third grade students scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group.
Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average k-12 tax & $pending. This despite our long term, disastrous reading results. May, 2026: 7,095 Staff for 25,003 students; $pending > $26k per student!
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
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.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?
