2,495 results
Scott Girard: If approved, the district would be able to exceed the revenue limit by $6 million in 2020-21, an additional $8 million in 2021-22, another $9 million in 2022-23 and finally another $10 million in 2023-24. The referendum would allow the district to surpass the revenue limit by that total of $33 million in […]
Kelly Meyerhofer: The district said total compensation has exceeded the rate of inflation for the last seven years — something it said has helped recruit and retain the best and brightest teachers. But the board directed officials to pause a proposed 1% increase to base wages and freeze part of a salary schedule that rewards […]
Logan Wroge: Board members acknowledged the tough financial reality facing residents, but several members said the need to renovate aging school buildings and shore up the operating budget remains the same. “These are not things I think we should be putting off,” board member Ali Muldrow said during an online Operations Work Group meeting. “We […]
Scott Girard: While campaign season looks slightly different in a social distancing world, the Madison School Board races have continued this spring. The ballot for the April 7 election includes two contested races and one uncontested seat. The five candidates participated in a virtual forum hosted by Simpson Street Free Press earlier this week. Much more on […]
Scott Girard: “People win elections by hitting pavement, just historically. That was one of my biggest things, before the pandemic,” she said. “I wanted to gain the knowledge, or get more insight and talk to more people regarding my platform so that if I win the election that I kind of have that knowledge already.” […]
Scott Girard: “Teachers are ready to do this work, but for whatever reason there’s a barrier set up in front of them,” Ball said. “A goal is to have no gap. I know we can do it in this community.” School Board candidate Ball wants to ‘get out of the way of people doing their […]
I’ve posted a candidate summary, here.
Logan Wroge: Three candidates for an open Madison School Board seat aligned on several issues facing the school district while offering their own solutions to other topics during a forum Tuesday. The trio seeking the board’s Seat 6 — Karen Ball, Christina Gomez Schmidt and Maia Pearson — spoke of rebuilding trust between the community […]
Scott Girard: During a board retreat Saturday to discuss strategies for both a capital and an operating referendum in April, board members generally agreed they wanted to vote in March — before board member Kate Toews’ term is over and a new board member takes her place. Toews is not running for re-election to Seat 6 […]
Scott Girard: When he initially filed papers to run, Strong said he considers school safety and racial disparities in discipline and achievement to be the top issues facing MMSD. “We have to make sure that our schools are safe and that they’re safe learning environments for our kids to learn and for our teachers to […]
Scott Girard: For the past seven months, Strong has been a program associate with the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Strong said in an interview Thursday he considers school safety and racial disparities in discipline and achievement to be the top issues facing MMSD. “We have to make sure that our schools are safe […]
Scott Girard: The Madison School Board seat left open by incumbent Kate Toews choosing not to run for re-election has a candidate. Maia Pearson, a Madison native who has three children in Madison schools, will run for Seat 6. She filed her declaration of candidacy and campaign registration statement with the city clerk Monday and […]
That’s the amount Illinois school districts want for renovations, additions, fieldhouses, career centers, and “21st-century learning.” The cost to taxpayers of all those proposals over the next 30 years, if passed, will be nearly $4 billion when interest costs are included. There’s more than just debt taxpayers will be on the hook for when it comes […]
Erin Gretzinger: Chuck Moore, executive director of Impact Christian Schools, agreed the voucher cap lifting won’t significantly impact Madison private schools largely due to capacity limits. The nonprofit supports more than two dozen private Christian schools across Wisconsin, including several in Dane County. “I think there’s a very big misunderstanding by people about the cap […]
Ian Leslie: Following the confrontation in the car, and after much soul-searching, Hannah-Jones decided to let Najya choose which high school to go to. Najya identified the top-performing schools in the area as her preferred options. This meant a heavily white, middle class school, and one with academic selection: the kind of school to which […]
Robert Pondiscio: Roland Fryer observes that “resources alone can’t explain disparate outcomes among schools serving similar children with similar budgets” (“The Education of Nikole Hannah-Jones,” op-ed, Sept. 24). He’s right, but we should follow that insight where it leads. For decades, education debates have focused nearly to exclusion on structures and inputs: funding, segregation, poverty, class […]
Erin Gretzinger Panelists also pointed to the competition Madison schools are facing from other public school districts, charter schools and private schools. ——— Madison’s district, despite an elite university pipeline, hypereducated leadership, and a shiny, new strategic plan, suffers the same frailties as Milwaukee’s: basement performance, backbreaking spending. But while Milwaukee is pulling out of its tailspin […]
Nikole Hannah-Jones A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice. My hands tightened on the steering wheel as I worked to keep my face neutral, buying a few moments to […]
Michael Strong Schooling is one function that is almost universally dominated by government managed institutions around the world. The belief that governments should provide “public schools” and that those schools were an “investment in human capital” and that they were “vital” for democratic citizenship are among the most deeply embedded beliefs around the world. Many […]
Zhang Can: 1. A growing number of doctoral graduates from elite global and domestic universities are bypassing traditional careers in academia to become secondary school teachers in China’s major cities, driven by an oversupplied labor market and fierce competition for university posts. [para. 1] At Shenzhen Middle School, all 21 prospective hires hold master’s degrees or higher, including […]
AJ. Bayatpour No other state funds its K-12 schools the way Wisconsin does, and there’s hope an influx of new faces at the state Capitol in January will lead to a new funding formula. Currently, Wisconsin’s school funding system is a combination of several different aid sources. The base is revenue limits introduced in 1993, […]
Barbara Biasi, Chao Fu, and John Stromme: ———- More. My JMP showed that flex pay for teachers ⬆️avg average achievement. But is it good for ALL students? 1/n We show that this is not necessarily the case, that low-achieving students can be left worse off, and illustrate how this trade-off arises and how targeted bonuses can improve both achievement and […]
Will Austin I am not ready to hand over learning to a robot, or a “guide.” Think of your favorite, most impactful teacher right now. I bet you are smiling. Learning is so important, so human, that it requires and is in some way defined by the people you learned with and from. If there […]
Erin Gretzinger: Now, he is working closely with south side families once again as the first associate director of family, youth and community engagement, a new joint position between Centro Hispano and the Madison school district. In Ambriz’s view, his job is to be a “bridge” in communication. Ambriz said he is well positioned to […]
John Burn-Murdoch: There was one problem: even as these visits were taking place, Finnish scores were in a sustained slide. Today, its results are little better than the average country, and many argue its exceptional performance — which peaked around 2000 — owed more to the conventional comprehensive approach it had used in previous decades. Recent results in […]
Quinton Klabon Talk to your typical Wisconsinite and they will tell you Milwaukee is the past, Madison is the future. Milwaukee is shrinking, unsafe and broke, they will argue, while Madison is flush with people, turning out votes, and have you seen all of the new construction? I do not buy it. To keep Wisconsin strong, […]
Rachel Canter For the past year, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing from callers wanting to learn more about how Mississippiimproved its public schools. Frustrated by sagging reading and math scores, educators, advocates and lawmakers across the country are curious about reforms that transformed Mississippi from a national punchline into a leader in reading and math proficiency—policies […]
MJ Slaby: After roughly six years, IPS changed its grading policy to make it possible for students to receive a zero. However, students have multiple opportunities before that happens. Indianapolis Public School students can receive a zero on assignments again, but only if they make zero effort to complete them. The IPS school board updated […]
Wall Street Journal A new report finds a lot of critical theory and not much of the basics. Children learn a great deal about race and gender in schools these days, but not nearly enough about reading and math. A big reason is the colleges that teach the teachers, and a new report forthcoming Wednesday brings more […]
by Doug Lemov Key Points Introduction The importance of fluent reading is routinely underestimated, especially as it applies to middle and high school students. Far from a mere primary-grade issue, fluency is a prerequisite to reading comprehension at every level. Dysfluency is a hidden crisis in American schools, and the decline in recreational reading among children […]
David Blaska: Surprise surprise, as Gomer Pyle would say. The Behavior Education Plan (BEP) STILL isn’t working! Its failure is so obvious that even the Madison school board can’t ignore it. When superintendent Joe Gothard, in his second year on the job, says he hears “a lot of staff feedback about the BEP” you can […]
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 […]
Erin Gretzinger: In addition to creating Ambriz’s joint role, the agreement expanded Centro’s youth programming into Lincoln and Leopold elementary schools on the south side. While Centro has worked with the district for many years to provide programming to middle and high school students, Menéndez Coller said the elementary school level had been a missing link. Norma […]
Taxpayer Funded Madison K-12 System: Performance Objectives Academic Achievement MMSD will increase overall student academic achievement Belonging MMSD will increase the percentage of students who feel they belong in their school, as measured by the climate survey. College Credit/Credentials MMSD will increase the percentage of students who graduate with credits or credentials that provide postsecondary […]
Corri Hess: When students return to Wisconsin schools over the next few weeks, their cell phone use will be limited. Phones have been prohibited during class time since July 1. But some parents say the new law doesn’t go far enough — they would like to see all screen use limited in classrooms. “Our concerns are […]
Ivana Greco In July, Angie Sullivan, co-host of the popular podcast, I’ve Had It, decided to tell her audience she’d had enough of homeschooling. Per Sullivan: “I think it’s just f***ing weird…that you want your kids around you all day, every day and all night.” She went on to say: “I don’t trust somebody that wants to […]
The taxpayer funded Madison School Board Special Meeting: School Board Memo: One City Schools, Inc. submitted two Initial Applications on August 14, 2026, requesting conversion of its existing charter schools from authorizer status under the University of Wisconsin Office of Educational Opportunity (OEO) to instrumentality charter schools under MMSD. On Wednesday, the Board of Education […]
Patrick McIlheran: A chance for consensus as new study finds school choice is ‘like skipping a grade’ for working-class kids A rigorous new study showing just how much children benefit from Wisconsin’s parental school choice program raises a key question for Democrats’ new nominee for governor — whether he’ll break from a calibrated neutrality that […]
Corrinne Hess: The school also has two reading intervention teachers and every student gets a half hour every day to read at their own level. “We don’t care where you start but we promise you will grow a year’s worth in a year’s time,” Platt said. Platt says while she appreciates the “bright spot” recognition, […]
Sabine Martin: Madison School Board members will pick a name Aug. 24, a week before the new school year begins, along with new names for Lindbergh and Chavez elementary schools. The three schools are part of a yearslong effort to rename schools with namesakes that, seen through the passage of time, are controversial. Here’s what […]
Patrick McIlheran: A major party’s likely nominee for governor, state Rep. Francesca Hong, says she favors good schools. “Every child deserves a strong and comprehensive education,” her platform says. So why, as a matter of policy, does she want to close the particular schools providing measurably great education for working-class kids? She did so again the week […]
Scott Niederjohn & William Flanders: This study examines the association between participation in Wisconsin’s private school choice programs and English Language Arts achievement using longitudinal administrative data from 96,241 students tested in 2018–2019 and 2022–2023. Propensity score matching compares voucher participants with similar public-school students, with exposure measured by years of participation. Sustained participation is […]
Via a kind reader, amidst our long term, disastrous literacy crisis: 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 […]
Will Flanders and Brooke Smith: As students prepare for the 2026-27 school year, DPI has finally released spending data for the 2024-25. While this continues a pattern of the DPI seemingly dragging it’s feet in releasing public school spending information, the data is still illuminating. Despite the continual refrain that public schools are “underfunded,” the data reveals—yet again—spending that is near all-time highs. On […]
Corri Hess: Homeschooling is the fastest growing education option in Wisconsin. Recently released numbers from the Department of Public Instruction show the number of students being homeschooled in the state grew by nearly 6 percent since 2025 to 32,891 children. Meanwhile, the number of private school students is up 0.1 percent and the number of […]
Tosin Akintola: Since 2019, public school enrollment has fallen by 2.84 percent nationwide, an exodus of roughly 1.4 million. K-12 students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Yet the amount spent on public schools nationwide grew by 34 percent from 2019 to 2024, according to NCES data. Much of that is thanks to the nearly $190 billion Congress […]
Chad Aldeman In April, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that the 50 states and Washington, D.C., took in $1 trillion in federal, state and local revenue for K-12 public education in the 2023-24 school year. One. Trillion. Dollars. That’s a remarkable milestone. And while it doesn’t tell the whole story — it represents only revenues, […]
Amanda Geduld: There’s a prevailing principle in the U.S. that funding disparities are at the root of education inequality, with poorer districts receiving less money than their wealthier counterparts. But a recent study has actually found the opposite, documenting that over the past nearly 50 years high-poverty and predominantly non-white districts across all 50 states actually […]
Carl Campanile: New York is spending more on education than any state in the nation despite shrinking schools and 12% fewer students than 15 years ago, an eye-opening new report found. Empire State enrollment could see another double-digit decrease by 2031 as population growth stagnates and birth rates plummet — which would mean New York is […]
William Flanders This study examines the association between participation in Wisconsin’s private school choice programs and English Language Arts achievement using longitudinal administrative data from 96,241 students tested in 2018–2019 and 2022–2023. Propensity score matching compares voucher participants with similar public-school students, with exposure measured by years of participation. Sustained participation is positively associated with […]
Rebecca Noel The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board questioned – but passed – a controversial tech contract at its first meeting since Superintendent Crystal Hill was placed on leave. Instead of the proposed two years, the board only approved a one-year term. In recent weeks, parents have questioned the use of technology in CMS schools, especially early on in […]
David Blaska: Fully state-funded requires assuming $6.1 Billion in school property tax levies across Wisconsin’s 432 school districts — an 11 percent increase in state spending right there! Of course, Governor Hong would tax Wisconsin’s few billionaires — who have all that cash stuffed in mattresses instead of invested in the economy. (She’d also let Madison […]
Teagan King; Lindbergh and Elvehjem were first suggested for renaming in proposals submitted in spring 2023 and fall 2022, respectively. In the past six years, the district has already renamed three elementary schools — now known as Carey, Henderson and Anana — as well as Gillespie Middle School and Memorial High School. Elvehjem was suggested […]
Deborah Prinze: On Thursday, Wisconsin Congressional Reps. Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan helped introduce the “Keep Public Funds in Public Schools Act,” which aims to eliminate the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), which was included in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” To many families, this new legislation is yet another attempt by Democrats to halt […]
Erin Gretzinger: The Madison school district would raise the property tax levy by 8.5% next year under its preliminary $609 million operating budget, which would include salary increases for veteran teachers, paid parental leave, more school safety staff and an expansion of community recreation facilities near West Towne Mall. Property taxes for the average Madison home, […]
Erin Gretzinger: Nine Madison parents from Parent Check on Tech who spoke with the Cap Times expressed concerns about the prevalence of screen time in classrooms, as well as the millions of dollars the school district spends annually on hardware and subscriptions for digital tools. They’re distressed about students using Chromebooks for non-educational purposes like […]
“Legal Process” Vanderbilt report decrying State of Scholarship calls out Ed schools and social work research for serious problems: “There is reason to believe that the problems we have identified in the core disciplines are significantly more serious in some of these allied areas” ——- Early Literacy Screener Map. More. Act 20. 3,887 Madison 4 year old to […]
Teagan King: The district’s overall revenues and expenses would be roughly even, at about $706 million each. That represents a 5.6% increase in revenues from the current school year, largely boosted by higher property tax revenue generated from the referendums voters approved in 2024, and a 4.1% increase in spending. The district is planning a […]
Erin Gretzinger: Under Madison’s approach, a student who receives an A in a standard class earns the same 4.0 grade points as a student who gets an A in an AP class. District officials also decided not to implement a tiebreaker for students with identical GPAs, meaning all students with GPAs in the top 10% and 5% […]
David Blaska: courtesy of us taxpayers. Blaska is back in kvetch mode today. Madison public schools will do it every time. The district is giving away more free stuff to its employees: 12 weeks — 60 days worth — of taxpayer paid parental leave for every teacher, custodian, lunch lady, and bureaucrat. Price tag: $1.2 million/year. […]
Erin Gretzinger: The district “had identified early on, for the thousands of people who now live there, that there would be a school in that area. Here we are, 25 years later, with nothing there,” Gothard said at a November School Board meeting. “Part of our impetus for doing this work is to avoid ever […]
Claire Cain Miller, Francesca Paris, Sarah Mervosh: The drops in U.S. scores go beyond the pandemic and cut across income, geographic and racial divides, new data shows. Something troubling is happening in U.S. education. Almost everywhere in America, students are performing worse than their peers were 10 years ago, according to new, district-level test score […]
Dave Cieslewicz: Conservative Republican Sen. Steve Nass, points out correctly that this is still more dollars going into public schools with no requirement for better results. But Madison senator and gubernatorial candidate Kelda Roys also blasted the deal as irresponsible and she has been endorsed by the state’s largest teachers union. She wouldn’t have made […]
Erin Gretzinger But between the years where scores jumped, the state Department of Public Instruction adjusted testing benchmarks and lowered the threshold to score proficient. The number of students reading and writing proficiently statewide went from 39% to 51%. The department cautions the public against comparing test scores before and after the change because the results “cannot be […]
Stephanie Lundquist-Arora On Aug. 5, 2025, FCPS Chief of Schools Geovanny Ponce, who earns an annual salary of $289,565, emailed hundreds of district administrators to announce the program. “FCPS is launching a district-sponsored doctoral cohort program in partnership with George Mason University,” he wrote. “This program will lead to an Education Leadership PhD concentration, providing […]
Matt Barnum: Cecilia Lopez Alvarado was scrolling through Reddit one evening in her dorm room when she came across a thread about students at the University of California San Diego who struggled with basic math. A report had warned of an alarming decline in students’ math skills at UCSD, a highly selective university. It drew international headlines […]
Erin Gretzinger The Madison school district unveiled its proposal for a new cell phone policy at a School Board meeting Monday, recommending an all-day ban for students in grades K-8 while allowing more leniency for high school students to use their phones during passing time and lunch periods. At the meeting, some School Board members expressed trepidations […]
Dale Mezzacappa More than 100 students and some teachers rallied before the Board of Education meeting Thursday to protest how the lottery system for citywide and selective admission high schools is causing huge enrollment drops for many of next fall’s incoming classes. The declines mean that schools will lose staff positions and many teachers will […]
Tyler Cowen Summary: Often what is on the phone is in fact more interesting and sometimes more instructive as well, even if the students do worse in terms of the standards set by the school. Have online worlds become the last free places for children? Eli Stark-Elster: Major public intellectuals and politicians have responded by […]
Erin Gretzinger: In Caire and his team’s view, One City and other charter schools are more accountable than traditional public schools given the specific academic goals and other stipulations in their charter contracts. Wittke, the Republican lawmaker, said One City’s lobbying wasn’t a factor in his support for funding demonstration charter schools. “I don’t care […]
Dave Cieslewicz: Shortly after those taxpayers voted to pony up a record $607 million in school spending increases, the district blew $100,000 on a new marketing campaign including a new MMSD logo — to add insult to injury that money was paid to an outstate consulting firm. Then the school board voted themselves a massive […]
Erin Gretzinger: “I don’t know when, where or what age — but there is interest in the city, in this region, right now that we have to think is going to produce more children with the kind of growth that’s being projected,” Superintendent Joe Gothard said in an interview this year. The new projections from MGT, a […]
David Blaska: We wanted Ray Mendez to run for school board this year but he has more sense than that. No entity in local government more needs a disrupter than the Metropolitan Madison Board of Education. We introduced the gentleman to Werkes readers in November 2025. Mr. Mendez picks up on a platform this on-line scribbler […]
WILL: The Wisconsin Constitution grants the Legislature the authority to determine education policy and to effectuate school funding and charges the Superintendent of Public Instruction with the task of supervising public instruction, not the judicial branch. Moreover, the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s Choice Programs 30 years ago. The Quote: WILL Deputy Counsel, […]
Teagan King: The programs are shuttering at the end of this school year, the district confirmed Monday, after President Donald Trump’s administration cut funding for AmeriCorps initiatives like United Way’s Schools of Hope last year. “We are deeply grateful to United Way of Dane County, as well as the many volunteers who have supported our […]
Erin Gretzinger: Blair Mosner Feltham and Nicki Vander Meulen will retain their seats on the Madison School Board, defeating challengers Daniella Molle and Dana Colussi-Lynde in two contested races Tuesday. In the Seat 6 election, Mosner Feltham, a teacher in the Sun Prairie Area School District, received 61.8% of the vote with 100% of precincts […]
By Paul Ciotti: For decades critics of the public schools have been saying, “You can’t solve educational problems by throwing money at them.” The education establishment and its supporters have replied, “No one’s ever tried.” In Kansas City they did try. To improve the education of black students and encourage desegregation, a federal judge invited […]
Kyle Koenen: Reality: ~$17,900 (Madison > $26,000) If people don’t know how much we’re spending, it becomes difficult to determine the “right” amount of spending on schools. 🧵/2 WILL: Parents Are Unaware of Current School Spending: 44% of parents surveyed say they are “not sure” how much is spent on each student. Another 43% provide estimates […]
Tristar Daily: Key Findings from the Interim Report – Deficiencies and Observations: Nearly 175 deficiencies were identified across various sections of the report, indicating systemic issues. – Financial Mismanagement: – Disbursements: $1,145,909.97 flagged as waste or abuse, with about $1,112,750 linked to contract-related spending. – Issues included inadequate oversight, unsupported or duplicative […]
Dave Cieslewicz: For example, in 2024, Madison voters approved a record $507 million capital improvements referendum. One of the largest items in that referendum was $85 million for a new, bigger building to house Sherman Middle and Shabazz High schools. Yet, that building is at only 50% of capacity, and projections are for enrollments to go down. Before […]
Shannon Whitworth: For example, the Obama administration implemented a race-based disciplinary approach for secondary schools. In practice, this policy led many schools to limit discipline to avoid racial disparities in disciplinary outcomes, reducing accountability for students’ unacceptable behavior in school. In turn, that policy encouraged disruptive behavior in classrooms. It also created an environment not conducive […]
Teagan King: This year, 25,029 students are enrolled in Madison schools, a 0.5% decrease from last year, when 25,155 attended. Enrollment also has fallen statewide over the past five years, according to data from the Department of Public Instruction released earlier this month. Larger 12th-grade classes than incoming freshman classes are partially to blame for […]
Paul Runko: So it’s time for K-12 public education to have a “Moneyball” moment. Here’s the “stats” that should matter when schools construct their teacher rosters: 1. Classroom Management Students can’t learn if they are constantly distracted by their peers or chaos in the classroom. Principals, administrators, and school board members can easily observe a […]
Neetu Arnold Boston Public Schools has posted its highest graduation rates in district history. 81.3 percent of seniors graduated in 2025, according to recently released data, compared with 59.1 percent in 2006. Despite this surprising jump, Mayor Michelle Wu insistedthat BPS isn’t “lowering any expectations” or “moving the goalposts and making it easier for people to get by.” […]
Armando Garcia: Cesar Chavez, the late farmworker organizer who became a national civil rights icon and co-founded the United Farm Workers, is accused of abusing “young women or minors,” the union said in a statement Tuesday. “The UFW has learned of deeply troubling allegations that one of the union’s co-founders, Cesar Chavez, behaved in ways […]
Chad Aldeman: Besides, thanks largely to the state’s investments in free community college for everyone and tuition- and fee-free public four-year college for students from low-income families, the number of students attending public colleges and universities has jumped by about 24,000 since 2022. That’s a gain of 16 percent in three years, reversing years of declines and […]
Erin Gretzinger: As Mosner Feltham and Vander Meulen underscored their track records and ongoing endeavors to improve the Madison Metropolitan School District, Molle and Colussi-Lynde spotlighted their ideas and what differentiates them from their opponents. The candidates share many overarching priorities, such as advocating for changes to the state funding formula for public schools and addressing salary compression for […]
Institute for reforming government The tool allows taxpayers to review: The tool uses publicly available state and NCES data. Taxpayers now have clear, consolidated information in one place, helping inform them about local school referenda. WHY IT MATTERS According to IRG’s latest analysis, ——- 30 October 2025 Madison School Board approves a $668,000,000 budget for 25,557 “full time equivalent” students.
Natalya Murakhver When 80% of parents wanted in-person learning and got virtual school instead, venture capitalist Paul Martino discovered his job description had changed: he was now doing the superintendent’s job for him. In August 2020, Paul Martino wasn’t looking for a fight. He was looking for answers. The Central Bucks School District — Pennsylvania’s […]
Dave Cieslewicz: Maia Pearson, the chair of Madison’s police oversight board and a Madison school board member, has been charged with criminal misdemeanors related to her resisting arrest in an incident in downtown Madison in December. In a criminal complaint, it is alleged that she and her friend, Urban Triage executive director Brandi Grayson, verbally […]
Matthew Yglesias The growing progressive interest in exotic new tax-policy ideas — like Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna saying they can raise trillions in revenue from a base of around 1,000 billionaires — shows a left that has lost faith in the idea of asking Americans to pay higher taxes in exchange for more and better public services. And […]
Will Flanders: We also look at Wisconsin’s largest school choice program–open enrollment. Here, you see the marketplace working as families move to school districts with better academic outcomes and graduation rates. The Report: WILL’s Apples to Apples report provides a rigorous, side-by-side comparison of academic performance across Wisconsin’s public, charter, and private choice schools. Because […]
Preeya P. Mbekeani, John P. Papay, Ann Mantil & Richard J. Murnane: Improving education and labor market outcomes for low-income students is critical for advancing socioeconomic mobility in the United States. We use longitudinal data on five cohorts of 9th grade students to explore how Massachusetts public high schools affect the longer-term outcomes of students, […]
Jason Riley: Far too many children are still assigned to substandard schools, and too many remain unable to read or do math at grade level. Meanwhile, educators and policymakers seem preoccupied with nonsense like helping students “transition” behind their parents’ backs or indoctrinating impressionable youngsters with social-justice poppycock to promote trendy political causes. American kids […]
Preeya P. Mbekeani, John P. Papay, Ann Mantil & Richard J. Murnane: Improving education and labor market outcomes for low-income students is critical for advancing socioeconomic mobility in the United States. We use longitudinal data on five cohorts of 9th grade students to explore how Massachusetts public high schools affect the longer-term outcomes of students, […]
Cap Times: Two Madison School Board seats will be decided by voters on April 7, and the Cap Times will bring together the candidates for each seat in a public forum on Wednesday, March 11, at La Follette High School. The moderators will be Cap Times education reporter Erin Gretzinger and Taylor Kilgore of the […]
Dave Cieslewicz: And here’s what Pearson is alleged to have done according to a criminal complaint as part of formal charges brought against her last week. She and a friend, Brandi Grayson, were out together just before Christmas. At about 11 PM they parked in a loading zone behind a theatre. When a security guard asked them […]
Erin Gretzinger The Dane County district attorney filed misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting an officer against Madison School Board Vice President Maia Pearson Thursday. The charges stem from a December incident involving Pearson and Brandi Grayson, the CEO of Urban Triage, that led to their arrests. Both Pearson and Grayson have entered not guilty pleas and […]
Jorge Elorza: America is in a decade-long education depression. Barely a third of students are proficient in reading or math across most grades in recent testing, achievement gaps are widening fast, and too many college freshmen are arriving on campus unable to read a full book or do middle-school-level math. Chronic absenteeism has surged after the pandemic; students are disengaged. Educators […]
Erin Gretzinger: The Madison School Board approved a $165,500 contract for a compensation study at its Monday meeting following months of mounting calls from the teachers union to address salary compression for veteran teachers. The Madison Metropolitan School District’s board green lit a proposal from Evergreen Solutions, a Florida-based consulting firm, to conduct a study of about […]