Recently, the Madison School Board has authorized a plethora of special committees to consider issues confronting the district and to make recommendations to the board. These committees have the potential to improve future board decisions by bringing new ideas and new information to our attention.
Currently, there is a special committee to advise the board on advertising. There are the two large task forces that recently issued recommendations regarding overcrowding and under-utilization problems in the West, Memorial and East High attendance areas. There is committee of parents, teachers, and administrators to suggest changes in our health and safety policies regarding animals in our classrooms. There is a committee to review whether staff and other resources are allocated equitably to the schools, taking differences in student populations into consideration. There are budget forums intended to seek community input on next year’s budget.
In every case, the board publicly discussed its goals for the committee before launching it. In every case, the board voted on a specific charge to the committee and set procedures and a timeline for meetings. In every case the board has received regular reports on the progress of the committee.
The glaring exception to this process was the creation of a task force of teachers union and district representatives to consider whether changes in health insurance programs for the teachers might make it possible for the district to shift dollars from health insurance payments to wages. Millions of dollars in potential savings are at stake.

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Ian Shapira:

As many of the nation’s school systems begin searching for new superintendents in the next few months, they will employ a traditional tactic: secrecy. In many cases, the process will involve only a select few who know who is being considered for what can be a municipality’s most highly paid public…

Teachers sign their contracts for the next year usually in March – however, this is not a guarantee of a job for next year. Teachers can still be surplused or laid off from their jobs. The process for this is governed by their MTI contract.
Surplusing teachers effects the school budget the next school year, so there is an “immediate” effect upon the number of teachers, upon the district’s educational resources available for children’s learning and upon the budget’s bottom line. This is different for MMSD personnel on administrative contracts. Administrative contracts are in most cases two-year rolling contracts, except as stated in the Human Resources (HR) policy , so the financial effect of reducing administrative positions that are filled can take up to 18 months to be reflected in the budget. Wouldn’t this reduce the Board’s decisionmaking authority during the budget process and potentially put an additional burden of budget cuts on teachers, psychologists, social workers, custodians, etc.?
Does this mean that administrative employees on a two-year rolling contract have 18 months to retrain/to apply for an open position in MMSD or to find a new job while still keeping their current job and getting paid if their contract is not extended. WI law governs some of the policy in place, but I don’t know how much of MMSD’s policy is required by state law, and I don’t know if state law requires contracts for all administrative personnel.

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I have noticed a movement about MMSD. There seems to be the following needs:
1. Make each grade/class the same across the district so that all
students have a equitable distribution of funds, resources, and knowledge. (Connected math, FOSS science, middle school curriculm, and West English)
2. Great concern from “legal” I assume that food, animals, and flammable paper present a hazard to the students and potentially invite a lawsuit. (pet proposal, upcoming food proposal to eliminate any homemade food in the school, and the fire code issue)
3. Boundary changes to solve growth and income disparity which causes financial stress on the district. (Task forces, failed referendum, spending cap)
So here’s the solution:

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On Wednesday, January 11, representatives of Madison Teachers, Inc. (MTI) and the Madison school district met at the union’s headquarters for three hours. MTI Executive Director John Matthews chaired the meeting. It was the first of two meetings at which MTI and MMSD will supposedly explore the potential for savings on health insurance costs for the teachers. Those expecting a serious effort by union and district representatives to compare costs and services from a range of health insurance providers and press the companies for savings will be seriously disappointed.
There were two presentations at the meeting: one from representatives of Wisconsin Physicians Services (WPS) and one from Group Health Cooperative (GHC). Despite a promise from the board president and superintendent that the meeting would be videotaped, the district did not tape the meeting. So far only the text for the WPS presentation (with accompanying PowerPoint) is available for public review.
At the meeting on January 25, 2006—also at MTI’s headquarters at 821 Williamson Street beginning at 1 p.m.—the task force will hear presentations from representatives of Dean Care and Unity. There has been no explanation of why there will not be presentations from Physicians Plus or the State Group Health Plan. Both offer services comparable to those that teachers currently receive under the collective bargaining agreement between the parties at competitive rates.

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Since there have been different ideas about using Doyle to solve some of the district’s space/funds problems, I thought I would list the questions that occur to me as I consider next steps.
1.Locate the Affliated Alternatives (at Brearly) in Doyle:
a. How much space will AA need?
b. What will be the cost of remodeling to accommodate students?
c. What about cafeteria and gym space?
d. Where would we move the staff that must leave Doyle to make room for the students?
e. What is the cost of the move and of remodeling the new space?
2.Sell or lease Doyle
a. Where would central office staff be located?
b. What is the cost of the move?
c. What is the cost of remodeling the new space?
d. What are the out-of-pocket costs (travel, time, etc) of locating Doyle staff in more than one location?
e. What is a realistic expectation of the money generated by a long-term lease?
f. What is a realistic expectation about the amount Doyle would bring if sold?
g. If there is development potential, why haven’t there been proposals for the district/UW parking lots behind Doyle?

Sandy Cullen writes:
For nearly two years, a wide range of school officials and parents have puzzled over what to do about the lopsided enrollment trends. In the next few weeks, the emotionally charged issue will come to a head as two task forces offer their ideas to the Madison School Board.
A next step might include representatives from both task forces working with the school board, because these representatives bring to the table the two very different perspectives of these task forces, which the School Board will have to meld into one plan. Both task forces have worked thoughtfully and diligently, and representatives of these task forces would bring that experience to help with next steps.
As a community, we need to make this work for all kids fairly with consideration of their education needs and the financial resources available.

If the MSCR were to be moved from Hoyt, how would Hoyt be used?

Two Madison School Board Candidates have published their answers to Madison Teachers, Inc. 2006 School Board Election Questionnaire:

• Maya Cole [ Seat 1 ]
• Lucy Mathiak [ Seat 2 ]

I’ll post links to the other candidate’s responses if and when I receive them here and on the election page.

Jenny D:

William Ouchi is giving a talk today on decentralized schools, and organizations. He’s a management prof at UCLA and author of a best-seller, Making Schools Work. He says that before WWII there were 25 million students in public schools, now there are 50 million. Before WWII there were 116,000 school districts, now there are 16,000. School districts have become centralized.

O’Keeffe and Lapham/Marquette PTGs will host a forum on the Affiliated Alternative Programs at 6:45 p.m. in the all purpose room on Wednesday, January 18. A flyer on the meeting lists the following purposes for the forum:

Message from the East Attendance Area Task Force regarding rationale for Removing School Closings from Consideration. It reflects contributions from several Task Force members. This is another reason to be impressed by the hardwork of both the East and West/Memorial Task Forces.

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David M. Herszenhorn writes:
In the context of the system’s regular budget of about $15 billion a year, $311 million might seem insignificant. But the tax dollars come with so many strings that the administration has viewed private money as crucial for research and development and an array of experimental programs.

“You are able to do it without saying this is money that is going to come out of the classroom,” Mr. Klein said in an interview.
So far, the mayor’s and the chancellor’s collections include more than $117 million to start new small schools; nearly $70 million to open an academy for principal training; $41 million for the nonprofit center supporting charter schools; $11.5 million to renovate libraries; $8.3 million to refurbish playgrounds; and $5.7 million to reshape troubled high schools.

New money or old, donors have been enthusiastic enough to write seven- and eight-figure checks. As a result, the school system has been the largest beneficiary in a mayoralty that has reached to the private sector, strategically and aggressively, for all sorts of support.
Donors to the schools, many of whom have been attending black-tie benefits together for years, said the mayor and the chancellor have transformed the way the school system relates to gift-givers, by improving communication and creating a sense of professionalism.
“I come from the business world; I’m used to a world where there is freedom and accountability and that never seemed to exist in the world of public education,” Mr. Reich said.
“The very notion of a dynamic entrepreneur is that they want to make something happen,” he continued, sipping from a demitasse of espresso served by an aide in chef’s whites. “They want to be part of a movement. As mayor he believes in the ideal of these public-private partnerships.”
After becoming chancellor in 2002, Mr. Klein created an Office of Strategic Partnerships and imposed on his wife’s college friend, Caroline Kennedy, to serve as its chief executive. Mr. Klein made the pitch while visiting Ms. Kennedy and her husband, Edwin A. Schlossberg, on Martha’s Vineyard.

Last August, MMSD parent KJ Jakobson asked “whether the new joint district-union task force for investigating health insurance costs be a truly collaborative effort to solve a very costly problem? Or will it instead end up being a collusion to maintain the status quo?” Collaboration or collusion: What should the public expect from MMSD-MTI Task Force on Health Insurance Costs?
Her question remains an important one. If the task force of representatives of the school district and Madison Teachers , Inc. identifies future cost savings from changes in health insurance providers, the district could save million of dollars per year after 2007. Although the savings would go to higher wages for teachers during the 2005-07 collective bargaining agreement, there would be possible savings for the district budget in future years. The district now pays about $37 M per year for health insurance for its employees.
Unfortunately, the history of the task force to date suggests that Ms. Jakobson’s fears were well-grounded.

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Boston Herald Editorial:

It may sound simple, but it helps illustrate the urgent need to change the state’s approach to improving failing schools.
As it stands, the state can deem a school underperforming if students fail to meet minimum standards for two or more years.
Then it’s six months to come up with an improvement plan, another two years to make changes and only then does the state even consider intervening. Meanwhile, another generation spends its most important years in schools that aren’t getting the job done.

Public education is public business, that is, your business. However, the administration thinks otherwise, and I was raked over the coals a few days back for saying, “The MMSD’s line certainly tells students, parents, teachers, and taxpayers that we don’t know bleep about education, so we should sit down, shut up, and get out of the way while the administration does what it pleases.”
I further commented, “The issue is MMSD’s ‘corporate culture,’ and how it values the opinions of administrators vs. the rest of us.”
In the draft of the minutes of Performance and Achievement Committee on November 14, 2005, we get a clear restatement of the MMSD’s organizational culture:

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An administrative report recommending changes the middle school curriculum district-wide that was due in late December is now expected some time in January. Shwaw Vang, chair of the Performance and Achievement Committee of the MMSD school board, held a second meeting on the expected report on December 19. According to minutes of the November meeting on this topic, the December meeting would be an opportunity for Board members to provide feedback or input.
Unfortunately, the Board received no new information about the likely proposal of the committee, although the recommendations will affect most areas of the middle school curriculum, including Fine Arts, Life Skills, Mathematics, Wellness, and World Languages as well as Student Support Services. Among other things, the recommendations will result in equal minutes of instruction across subject areas.

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Residents of the Madison Metropolitan School District will be given the opportunity in 11 January sessions to make suggestions and set priorities for budget reductions necessary for the 2006-07 school year. The budget reduction exercise uses a $100 budget that reflects the proportionate share for 47 major program areas of the actual MMSD budget.
MMSD Press release, 12/22/05

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Let me first say, daring detectives, we dismissed Sam Spade that language larruping lout. So uncouth!
So let’s get back to real sleuthing on the case of Mumbo Gumbo in the Kitchen, the MMSD kitchen to be exact.
The puzzling budget portfolio presented to the Board of Education says, “The Division [Food Service] is reviewing staffing levels for the 2005-2006 school year and expects to reduce the staffing level by approximately 2%.” (page 150)
Now here’s the first of the mysteries in this mumbo gumbo. The budget figures on page 149 (the page right before page 150!) show the Food Service budget RISING from $7,152,021 to $7,398,620, an increase of $246,599 or 3.5%! Mysterious!
Don’t go away. We’re just getting started on these numbing numbers.
“Fringe FTE” increased from $1,004,621 to $1,922,782, or $918,637 or 91.5%, according to the same budget figures. Do the Food Service employees have such a bold bargaining brigade as to wring such a wonderful increase from the MMSD contract negotiators?
The same table shows that “Other Salary and Benefits” leaped from $1,219,053 to $2,180,790, an increase of 78.9%.
What would cause such a dramatic increase in salaries and fringes in light of the professed reduction in staffing level “by approximately 2%?” (The simple solution won’t stump those who paid attention to Mystery #4: Body Count or 1-2-3 FTE.)
“Other expenses” in Food Services (still on page 149) yo-yo around from $2.1 million in 2003-2004, $3.9 million in 2004-2005, and settle at $2,395,600 in 2005-2006.
This is a most curious concoction!
Can anyone tell the okra from the rice in this gurgling mumbo jumbo?

An article by Joe Quick on MMSD’s Web site lists the MMSD as one of the organizations opposed to legislation that would allow the UW-Madison to support a charter school in Dane County. Quick wrote:

An individual does not have to register with the State Ethics Board unless they are a paid lobbyist working for a group like those listed above.

Jacob E. Adams, Jr. & Michael A. Copland [PDF]:

This report asks two fundamental questions: do the licenses that states require of school principals encompass the knowledge and skills those principals need to promote student learning? If not, what kind of policy framework would help decisionmakers, educators, and others rethink principal licenses and the school leadership they support? To find the answers, we examined licensure content for principals in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Based on that in-depth investigation, we reached the following conclusions.
Licenses don’t reflect a learning focus. No state has crafted licensing policies that reflect a coherent learning-focused school leadership agenda. On the contrary, licenses run between two extremes: a reliance on individual characteristics, such as background checks or academic degrees, that signal nothing about the purposes or practice of the principalship, and lists of knowledge and skill requirements whose scope and depth don’t clearly sum to a meaningful definition of the job. Neither approach represents a set of qualifications on which the public may rely or the profession may depend. In an era of standards and accountability, this omission stands out.
Licensing requirements are unbalanced across states and misaligned with today’s ambitions for school leaders.

Since Thursday, “thousands and thousands” (and I mean – thousands) of e-mails have filled the e-mailboxes of Madison School Board members (and probably other members of school boards in Wisconsin). The message reads:

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Please see www.madison.k12.wi.us and click on the Long Range Planning section and view the updated options on this site. Or view the report that will be given to the BOE Monday evening. The W/M Task Force will have another meeting on Dec 20th and tweeking of the options may occur but many of us feel we have reached the near end. (Of course anything can happen so don’t hold me to that.) Also, the East Task Force Report for the BOE is available on the LRP site.

The Madison School Board is looking for persons interested in serving on an Equity Task Force. At this time we are targeting our efforts in finding citizens that live and/or have children in the LaFollette and Memorial attendance areas. Persons selected will need to be sensitive and understanding of issues of poverty, class, privilege, race, and disenfranchisement. Other attributes would include someone who has had experience working or living in a culture, community or environment that serves predominately low income or individuals in a minority group.

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Parent Group Presidents:
BUDGET FACTOID:
The Qualified Economic Offer (Q.E.O.) law provides that a district which offers its teachers a combined salary and benefit package of at least 3.8% can avoid going to binding arbitration. The practical impact is that a district must offer at least 3.8%. Over the 12 years of revenue caps, the Madison district has settled at about 4.2% with MTI that means the total increase of salary and benefits (including health insurance) has been about 4.2%. This year the settlement was 3.98%.

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The East task force met last night (December 8). Can anyone provide an update?

Perhaps we’ll see something like this for local officials, including our own Board of Education. Very impressive use of RSS.
Ideally, the district would publish a page with votes along with items that Board members requested be placed on an agenda. This information would provide the public with easily accessible voter data and illuminate issues that were prevented from being discussed by the then current President. What is RSS?

Could someone post a report on the December 6 meeting of the West/Memorial task force? At the meeting the members were going to consider the following 5 Base Plans.
* A2e- New School – Pair Chavez/Falk
* A2f- New School – Move some Leopold to Chavez
* C3 – No New School – Pair Chavez/Falk- Leopold to Thoreau
* C4 – No New School – No Pair- move a grade level to another location
* C5 – No New School – No Pair – Move some Leopold to Chavez
(In all plans, students who live on Allied Drive will be assigned to Stephens and Crestwood)
The six “preliminary” options for consideration by the East task force at its meeting on December 8 are:
E-1 Move students from the West attendance area into the East attendance area schools
E-2 Move portions of the La Follette attendance area into the East attendance area
E-3 Move MSCR (Madison School Community Recreation) into the East attendance area schools
E-4 Move Alternative Education Programs in rented space into the East attendance area schools
E-5 Move Packers Townhouse area from Lindbergh to Mendota
E-6 Analyze East Attendance Area school pairings

Juan Lopez, chair of the Board of Education Committee on Human Resources, released a report on the MMSD’s worker’s compensation experience after a critical story on Madison’s WKOW-TV.
The new MMSD report seems only to repeat the information contained in the TV report.
Roger Price, assistant superintendent and author of the report, offered this conclusion, without directly responding to any of the issues raised in the TV station’s story:

NPR:

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been talking tough in his bid to take control of the huge, but troubled Los Angeles Unified School District. Such a takeover could put Villaraigosa at odds with the teachers’ union, a group he once served as a labor organizer

More on similar efforts in New York and Chicago.

• Middleton Schools Referenda Failure Input via channel3000
• Drug Awareness Presentation at Middleton High School
• Special Education Group asks Madison School District for Consistency – Sandy Cullen
• Schools might put tests in transcripts – Jamaal Abdul-Alim

According to a recent report by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, the Madison school district could save $2.4M per year by negotiating health insurance coverage for its teachers through the state’s employee health insurance plan, rather than continue with Group Health (HMO) and Wisconsin Physician’s Service plans.
The $100 Million Question: Breaking the Health Insurance Monopoly”.

Conversations with current Board of Education members in mp3 format can be found here. Art Rainwater’s September and October messages are posted (in mp3 format) here. Both can be used with itunes automated podcast subscription tools.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/nov05/373715.aspAlan Borsuk:

But issues facing MPS, including budget constraints, school closings and a recent decision by an arbitrator on a teacher contract that was widely unpopular among teachers, have subjected Andrekopoulos to increased heat.
The issues have underscored the way the board is frequently divided into two factions, with five members consistently supporting Andrekopoulos and the other four ranging from mild support to general opposition.
On the recent high-profile votes to close Juneau High School, the board repeatedly split 5-4, including six votes of 5-4 in one meeting.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel argues that Andrekopoul should have more time:

The reasons for supporting Andrekopoulos are as clear now as they were in 2004. The superintendent may have the toughest job in Milwaukee. No one in the country, as far as we know, has been completely successful at turning around a big-city school district. But Andrekopoulos has a vision for reform and a plan to make that vision a reality. He was hired to carry out that vision – which includes a move toward smaller high schools and cutting the district’s central bureaucracy – and has had some success in moving it forward. But much more needs to be done.

The MMSD Web site includes a table of options discussed and action taken at the meeting on November 17.

Sam Dillon, New York Times writes:
“After Tennessee tested its eighth-grade students in math this year, state officials at a jubilant news conference called the results a “cause for celebration.” Eighty-seven percent of students performed at or above the proficiency level.”

The WKCE test taken in Fall 2005 (reported in Spring 2005) shows statewide percent performing at minimal (below basic level) in Grade 4 Reading: 4%; Grade 4 Math: 16%; Grade 8 Reading: 6%; Grade 8 Math: 11%.
The WKCE test results for test taken in Fall 2004 (reported in Spring 2005) shows MMSD percent performing at minimal level in Grade 4 Reading: 5%; Grade 4 Math: 16%; Grade 8 Reading: 3%; Grade 8 Math: 10%.
National Assessment of Educational Progress – Also known as “The Nation’s Report Card” is the only national standardized continuing assessment administered periodically by the US Dept. Of Education in reading, math, science, writing, US history, civics, geography, and the arts to random schools in each state to evaluate national performance of students ages 7, 12, 14, and 17.
The 2005 NAEP results for Grade 4 Reading: 33%; Grade 8 Reading: 23%; Grade 4 Math: 16%; Grade 8 Math: 24%.

Madison Board of Education President Carol Carstensen:

Subject: Nov. 21 Update
Parent Group Presidents:
BUDGET FACTOID:
The school district has been under revenue caps since 1993 when all school district budgets were frozen and then permitted to increase only by an amount per pupil each year (this year it is $250). That amount approximates a budget increase of 2.5% (the city and county are both struggling with cuts to keep their budgets close to a 4% increase).
Board meetings on Monday, November 21:
The Board looked at a comparison of the school district policy on arresting a child at school and the Police Department’s guidelines there are some significant differences, mostly in the area of informing the parent/guardian before the child is questioned and in making sure the child fully understands his/her rights at the time of questioning. The Board took no action but did ask the administration to continue working with the Police Department to try to bring their procedures more in line with school district policy.

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A letter-writing campaign by third-graders at Allis Elementary School encouraging an end to the war in Iraq was canceled because it violates School Board policy, district officials said Tuesday.
Julie Fitzpatrick, a member of the 10-teacher team that developed the project for the school’s 90 third-grade students in five classes, said the assignment was intended to demonstrate citizen action, one of the district’s standards in social studies.
By Sandy Cullen, Wisconsin State Journal, 11/23/05

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By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 22, 2005; A01
The Bush administration has begun to ease some key rules for the controversial No Child Left Behind law, opening the door to a new way to rate schools, granting a few urban systems permission to provide federally subsidized tutoring and allowing certain states more time to meet teacher-quality requirements.
The Education Department’s actions could signal a new phase for school improvement efforts nearly four years after the law’s enactment. Taken together, these actions amount to a major response to critics who have called No Child Left Behind rigid and unworkable. They also help the administration combat efforts to amend the law in Congress.

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According to the minutes of the November 10 meeting of the East task force:

Unfortunately, the minutes do not mention the “specific” schools. Can a member of the task force or someone who attended provide the names of those schools?
I also wonder whether the meetings are getting a bit contentious.

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