1,424 results
In using MMSD resources and schoolinfosystem.org to promote his basketball event, Johnny Winston, Jr.’s announcements said: This year’s proceeds will go toward “The Campaign to Promote Student Achievement and Parent Involvement in Schools.” I have e-mailed him twice to ask for details about the campaign, and he has not answered. Laurie Frost also raised this […]
Johnny Winston Jr.: he 6th Annual Johnny Winston, Jr. Streetball and Block Party will be held on Saturday August 12th from 12 noon to 7:00 p.m. at Penn Park (South Madison – Corner of Fisher and Buick Street). Streetball is a full court, 5 on 5 adult mens Basketball tournament featuring some of the best […]
Chicago’s Black Star Project launches the “Million Father March“. Molly Snyder Edler has more: Chicago’s Black Star Project launched a nationwide event called the “Million Father March” that encourages African-American fathers, grandfathers, stepfathers and foster fathers to “march” their kids to their first day of school to demonstrate their commitment to education and their kids’ […]
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. Email: Is it me or is the summer going by way too fast? Very soon the school year will arrive for our students and the board action will mark some changes. On July 17th the Board approved a wellness policy that will prohibit the sale of soft drinks at local […]
Joseph Epstein: And child-centered we indubitably are, like no other people at no other time in history. A major enticement for parents to move, for example, is good schools. Private schools, meanwhile, flourish as never before, heavy though the expense usually is. Parents slavishly follow their children around to their every game: soccer, little league, […]
Ms. Cornelius: Dennis has a lovely post discussing the myth that God has abandoned the public schools over at his place. It is beautifully written. I hope you go over and read it; it is really well-crafted and obviously comes straight from the heart. Here’s the intro: Dennis was sent one of those chain emails:
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. email: Welcome to the week of July 3rd edition of the Madison school boards Progress Report. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer First, upcoming business…On Monday July 10th several committees of the board are meeting: Partnerships at 5 p.m.; Finance & Operations at 6 p.m.; Communications at 7 p.m. […]
Posted on Edwonk FROM JONATHAN KOZOL: An Update, Bulletin, and Manifesto to the Education Activists who have asked me: Where do we go next? June 16, 2006 Dear This is to report that, at long last, the network of activists in education that I’ve been assembling from the thousands of teachers and advocates for children […]
The Economist: That said, government should not be looking for ways to haul the rich down. Rather, it should help others, especially the extremely poor, to climb up—and that must mean education. Parts of the American system are still magnificent, such as its community colleges. But as countless international league tables show, its schools are […]
Marc Eisen: Most of us have had those eerie moments when the distant winds of globalization suddenly blow across our desks here in comfortable Madison. For parents, it can lead to an unsettling question: Will my kids have the skills, temperament and knowledge to prosper in an exceedingly competitive world? I’m not so sure. I’m […]
Much good stuff here but I’ll just point to the “Blueberry Story,” which encapsulates how public education differs from business. Click the title link for a version with comments TJM The Yearlykos Education Panel – a review / reflection by teacherken Sat Jun 17, 2006 at 03:19:37 AM PDT NOTE also crossposted at MyLeftWing I […]
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. email: The Madison School Board has been (and will be) very busy. At the June 12th meeting the board voted to go to referendum on November 7th for a new elementary school on the far Westside of Madison, Leopold Addition and refinancing of existing debt. The total amount of the […]
Sandy Cullen: he Madison School Board will put one $23.5 million referendum question to voters in the Nov. 7 general election. If approved, the referendum would provide $17.7 million for a new elementary school on the Far West Side, $2.7 million for an addition at Leopold Elementary, and $3.1 million to refinance debt. It also […]
On Wednesday, May 31st, the MMSD School Board will consider amendments to the 2006-2007 school budget proposed by the Superintedent. In his proposal, the Superintendent proposed cutting Grade 4 strings this year and Grade 5 strings the end of next year. One amendment to be discussed on Wednesday would have Grade 4 strings 1x per […]
I sent the following message to the School Board yesterday, in reaction to MMSD’s announcement that 6 elementary principals will be moved to different schools this summer in a series of transfers. I realize that it’s easy to talk tough from the sidelines, but I think that this is a significant personnel decision that will […]
Let the Dialogue Begin Bridging Differences A Dialogue Between Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch May 24, 2006 By Deborah Meier & Diane Ravitch In the course of the last 30 years, the two of us have been at odds on any number of issues – on our judgments about progressive education, on the relative importance […]
Board member stirs controversy Baraboo News Republic Thursday May 25, 2006 By Christina Beam BARABOO – New Baraboo School Board member Kevin Bartol (kbartol@baraboo.k12.wi.us) stirred up some controversy at his second meeting Monday night when he suggested district policy be amended so that only teachable students be enrolled in Baraboo’s public schools. “There are some […]
Sandy Cullen: A new statewide assessment used to test the knowledge of Wisconsin students forced a lowering of the curve, a Madison school official said. The results showed little change in the percentages of students scoring at proficient and advanced levels. But that’s because this year’s Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations- Criterion Referenced Tests proved […]
Sarah Natividad: Recently Utah schools have been given an F for technology use in the classroom (or lack thereof). This is one area I hope Utah continues to fail in. Technology has been touted as a fabulous tool for teaching math and other subjects, but it’s not. Technology teaches technology; you still have to learn […]
I sent the following letter to the School Board last week after reviewing data and text on elementary strings sent to the School Board by the Fine Arts Coordinator. In late March, I spoke before the School Board about working together on strengthening strings and fine arts education and hoped that we would not see […]
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. MMSD email: It is with great humility that I announce that I have been elected to serve as President of the Madison School Board. I am honored to have the opportunity to provide leadership to our school district and community. Serving as President is the culmination of part of a […]
Jay Matthews: Only 30 percent of high-school students take any Advanced Placement courses at all; by the time Frausto graduates later this month, she will have taken 16 of them — in many cases earning the highest grade, a 5, on the three-hour final exam. That is because Frausto’s school, the Talented and Gifted Magnet […]
Mitch Henck interviewed Carol Carstensen and Nan Brien this morning. They discussed the District’s 06/07 planned budget, health care spending, local property taxes and Monday’s approval of an 856K electrical upgrade to Sennett Middle School that was $397,000 over the estimated cost, funded by the maintenance referendum (I’ve not seen any discussion of this in […]
Expressions of parent concern over the quality of third-quarter report cards for students in Madison’s elementary schools continue. Parents at Thoreau School joined parents from other schools who have wondered why their children make so little progress in the third quarter of the year in many subject areas that no information on progress can be […]
Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago: Following CPS (Chicago Public Schools) graduates from 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2003, this report uses records from Chicago high schools and data from the National Student Clearinghouse to examine the college experiences of all CPS alumni who entered college in the year after they graduated […]
I was looking for more information about the combined grades at Elvejhem (my grade school was all combined grades with team teaching and it worked very well) and I found an interesting study that I don’t think has been previously noted on SIS. It is by noted Urbanist David Rusk and looks at the effects […]
David Herszenhorn: New York City will offer housing subsidies of up to $14,600 to entice new math, science and special education teachers to work in the city’s most challenging schools, in one of the most aggressive housing incentive programs in the nation to address a chronic shortage of qualified educators in these specialties. To be […]
A Strategy to Create Small, High-Performing College-Preparatory Schools in Every Neighborhood of Los Angeles Green Dot Public Schools, Bain & Company [180K PDF]: Public school reform has become the #1 issue for the City of Los Angeles. While most acknowledge the poor state of the public education system, the discussion to date has largely focused […]
To those concerned about the success of the Madison Schools, I am writing to express my support for the positive changes proposed by the district with respect to food policy. It is exciting that the district has been proactive in including students, parents, health providers, educators, and policy makers. As a pediatrician working with childhood […]
Five years ago we moved to Madison. A big factor in this decision was the expectation that we could rely on Madison public schools to educate our children. Our eldest went through West High School. To our delight the rigorous academic environment at West High transformed him into a better student, and he got accepted […]
Yesterday, Juan Jose Lopez and I had the honor of debating in Mr. Borowski’s AP American Government and Politics class. The debate was open to anyone at East High School who wanted to attend. The students organized it, wrote and asked the questions, and managed one of the best debates that we’ve had since the […]
Capital Times, March 30, 2006 By John Nichols Paul Wellstone has been dead for a long three years, and yet there is rarely a national political debate that does not cause me to think: What would Wellstone do? The late Minnesota senator was an epic political figure, who fought not just against right-wing Republicans but […]
Reid Epstein: While other public schools have named sports stadiums after major donors, New Berlin is believed to be the first Wisconsin district to actively solicit naming rights sponsors for other areas of its schools. The InPro corporate sponsorship, which is worth $150,000 to the district, is the first of what New Berlin school officials […]
Tonight the School Board’s Performance and Achievement Committee will discuss a status report on the elementary strings class, which they received last Thursday. This report describes the current course, but the report a) is not an assessment of the course and b) says nothing about the future of the course. (Mr. Rainwater told me the […]
A Cap Times editorial It has been a good long while since Madison Metropolitan School District voters have had an opportunity to vote for a new School Board candidate who is as prepared as Arlene Silveira is to hit the ground running and to have an immediately positive impact on the process. The parent of […]
Recent post from the Madison United for Academic Excellence (MUAE) list serve: Dear MUAE Friends, When we volunteered to oversee a District-wide “TAG” parents email list back in 2002, it was in part to help out the District “TAG” staff and in part to make the list available for explicit “TAG” advocacy efforts. We never […]
George Lucas, writing about education and his Foundation (via Maya Cole’s post on Effective School Boards: Public education is the foundation of our democracy — the stepping stones for our youth to reach their full potential. My own experience in public school was quite frustrating. I was often bored. Occasionally, I had a teacher who […]
Isthmus: The percentage of elementary-aged children in the Madison school district defined as “low income” increased from 29% in 1995 to 42% in 2005. What implications does this trend have for Madison schools? Extra Credit: What is the single biggest problem that you hope to address as a school board member over the next three […]
Madison School Board candidates Juan Jose Lopez and Lucy Mathiak look at what is happening in schools here in very different ways, but on at least one issue they are in complete agreement: Public education here and throughout the Badger State is at a critical crossroads. But the two candidates vying for School Board Seat […]
The continued public discussion of “some” versus “no” ability grouping originally scheduled for tonight’s Performance and Achievement Committee meeting has been postponed. Instead, according the the District website, the agenda for tonight consists of a 2005 Summer School report and 2006 budget recommendations. In response to a suggestion that the discussion has been postponed because […]
When the Cincinnati Public Schools devised a reform strategy for improving student performance, it became clear that the district’s traditional budgeting system was inadequate. The authors trace the district’s process of moving to a system of student-based budgeting: funding children rather than staff members and weighting the funding according to schools’ and students’ needs. By […]
Next year’s projected operating budget shortfall is $8 million – projected expenses will exceed revenues by that amount. For 13 years the growth in expenses have exceeded what the district received and was allowed to receive from the a) state and federal government revenues and b) allowed growth in revenues from property taxes. Further, the […]
On SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 3PM TO 5 PM Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Annual Scholarship Fundraiser “Men Who Cook” is at the Fitchburg Community Center located on 5520 Lacy Road. Tickets are $15 in advance or can be purchased at the door the day of the event for $20.
Jim Zellmer: Dear Editor: The election of Maya Cole to the Madison School Board is the best choice for Madison’s future generations. Our public schools face a number of challenges, including flat or declining enrollment (despite a growing metropolitan area), providing our children with a world-class curriculum and significantly improving taxpayer confidence in the budget […]
Madison school politics make for some strange bedfellows. Take the case of the Feb. 21 primary race for the School Board, in which three candidates are vying for the seat left open by incumbent Bill Keys’ decision not to seek re-election. The marketing manager of a Madison-based biotechnology giant has been endorsed by the powerful […]
This message was sent to me by Mazie Jenkins an MMSD employee. This trend needs to STOP. I’m committed to changing this. I need your support on Monday nights and every single day!!! If there is not major intervention in the next 25 years, 75 percent of urban young men will either be hopelessly hooked […]
Celeste Roberts: The problems with CMP go far beyond failing to reach parents. One big problem is that the edifice of mathematics is so huge. Think of how long it took mathematicians to discover all of it. When one tries to use the discovery paradigm as the sole model for math lessons, all of the […]
WKOW-TV: The goal of college goal Sunday is to help high school students fill out this the free application for federal student aid – or the FAFSA form. Students and their parents were taken through a step-by-step process of filling out the FAFSA something organizers say is the most important step in getting high school […]
By Susan Troller, The Capital Times, January 31, 2006 Madison voters may be looking at another referendum on school building this spring to address overcrowding issues, but the School Board appears split in its support of taking the issue to the voters. School Board President Carol Carstensen has recommended that the administration prepare language that […]
Andrew DeMillo: Thirty-eight percent of Arkansas’ public school children are overweight or at risk of being overweight, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences said in a report issued Thursday. The finding was the same as last year’s when UAMS also studied the effects of a 2003 state law that called for mandatory and voluntary […]
This is a message from Janice Rice of the Native American Council of Madison on the Communities United list serve. This message is pertinent given some of the changes that State Superintendent Libby Burmaster is proposing regarding state high schools and nicknames.
If you were at the West HS PTSO meeting last night (report to be posted soon for anyone who was unable to attend — the topic was an update on the SLC initiative by SLC Coordiator Heather Lott), then you know that the question of what 9th and 10th grade science will look like next […]
Tamar Lewin writes in the New York Times January 8, 2006, about Advance Placement Classes – students and parents believe AP classes are important preparation for college, colleges have mixed feelings about students who take AP classes. “We’ve been put off for quite a while about the idea of teaching to the test, which is […]
Let me attempt to answer your questions [about Mumbo Gumbo in the Kitchen]. First, remember that the budget is an estimate made in April/May of what will be needed in the next school year. Several determinants of the budget are not known until the fall – most importantly, the number of students.
Preview of Doyle’s State of the State speech from The Wheeler Report, 1/6/06 DOYLE ENDORSES HIGHER MATH, SCIENCE GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS MERRILL, WI — Gov. Doyle last night endorsed higher math and science requirements for high school graduation during a town hall meeting set up to preview his January 17 State of the State Message to […]
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:
This is an article by Martha McCoy and Amy Malick which was published in the December 2003 journal of the National Assocation of Secondary School Principals. The Madison Partners in Special Education are very interested in using this as a tool to engage the MMSD school board, staff and various parent groups in productive dialogue. […]
Here is the email I wrote earlier today to Ed Holmes, Art Rainwater, Pam Nash, Mary Gulbrandsen, and the seven members of the BOE, followed by the reply I just received from Ed Holmes: I wrote: Hello, everyone. I wonder if one of you would please send us a status report on the plans for […]
Alan J. Borsuk: North Ave. is a microcosm of the wealth of things being done to help educate low-income black students and is ground zero in Milwaukee (which itself has been called ground zero in America) for school reforms of many kinds – all of them paid for with public money. “This whole plethora of […]
Or, What Is This Old Building Worth? Photo of Washington Public Grade and Orthopedic School, 545 W. Dayton St., Madison Trust for Historic Preservation. To see where it is located, click here. Complex problems require creative solutions. But what happens when innovative ideas don’t get serious consideration? This fall, the Madison School Board assembled two […]
Dear Carol, First, let me say a hearty and heartfelt “thank you” for replying to my 12/2 email request — and so promptly. One of the major frustrations parents have experienced over the many months we have been expressing our concerns about what’s happening at West HS is the chronic non-responsiveness of the people we […]
Steve Rosenblum, writing to Carol Carstensen: Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 15:07:45 -0600 To: Carol Carstensen ,”Laurie A. Frost” From: Steven Rosenblum Subject: Re: West English Cc: raihala@charter.net, jedwards2@wisc.edu, bier@engr.wisc.edu, jlopez@madison.k12.wi.us, wkeys@madison.k12.wi.us, svang7@madison.k12.wi.us, rrobarts@madison.k12.wi.us, jwinstonjr@madison.k12.wi.us, lkobza@madison.k12.wi.us Carol, Thank you for the response. I am somewhat confused however regarding your statement concerning the Board’s role. Maybe […]
Here is a synopsis of the English 10 situation at West HS. Currently — having failed to receive any reply from BOE Performance and Achievement Committee Chair Shwaw Vang to our request that he investigate this matter and provide an opportunity for public discussion — we are trying to get BOE President Carol Carstensen to […]
This week is the official start of the spring campaign season, and three local parents are launching bids for Madison’s board of education. Arlene Silveira, 47, the president of Cherokee middle school’s parent-teacher organization, and Maya Cole, 42, an active member of the parent-teacher group at Franklin-Randall, are seeking the open seat being vacated by […]
Erin Weiss and Gina Hodgson (Thoreau PTO) engage in some impressive grassroots work: November 28, 2005 Dear Thoreau Families, Staff, Teachers and Friends, Now is the time for you to get involved in the MMSD redistricting process! This Thursday, December 1 at 6:30pm, a Public Forum will be held at Cherokee Middle School. This forum […]
Madison School Board Vice President Johnny Winston, Jr. is profiled in the current Isthmus. I’ll link to the article if and when it is available online. It might be useful to visit my April, 2004 elections page to take a look at a pre-election video interview with Johnny. Our public schools have no shortage of […]
I’m not sure if this is still the case, but at one time, MMSD offered a college entrance test prep course in an 8-week summer session. But for many reasons, needing to work among them, not all students can take advantage of this opportunity. What if high school seniors or adult volunteers tutored their younger […]
Here is the full text of SLC Evaluator Bruce King’s recent report on the plan to implement a common English 10 course at West HS. Evaluation of the SLC Project at West High School The 10th Grade English Course M.Bruce King, Project Evaluator 608-263-4769, mbking1@wisc.edu 2 November 2005 The development and implementation of the common […]
Parent Alan Sanderfoot wrote a letter to the Isthmus Editor on Katherine Esposito’s recent article: Ed Lite: Madison Middle Schools Serve Up an Uninspiring Academic Menu: Dear editor, Thank you for publishing Katherine Esposito’s article about Madison’s middle schools (“Ed Lite,” Nov. 11, page 12). Please allow me, however, to correct some mischaracterizations in her […]
I believe a relevant and challenging curriculum is the #1 priority for any educational organization. There have been a number of questions raised over the years regarding the Madison School District’s curriculum, including Math, English and Fine Arts and the recent controversial changes at Sherman Middle School (more details in Kathy Esposito’s recent Isthmus article). […]
A telling conclusion of the report was that schools with the highest
achievement levels among black students – such as Clayton, Webster Groves and Kirkwood – often also had the greatest gap in achievement levels between whites and blacks.
I’ve attended many of the School Board meetings where equity issues came up. I listened to parents and representatives from the Northside Coalition talk about their concerns about equity issues over the past several years, including concerns about the application of the equity formula over the past several years frustrated, in part, that the School […]
Sponsors of a proposed constitutional amendment to limit state and local tax increases today sought to put a positive spin on a key vote in Colorado to exceed similar limits there. “I think this shows that TABOR is working,” said Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Bellevue, using the acronym for the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights. “The voters […]
Dear La Follette Parents & Taxpayers, I am writing because I am greatly distressed about conditions at La Follette High School under the 4-block system. I strongly believe that as parents and taxpayers you have the right to be included in the debate about your child’s education. Because I believe the future of the 4-block […]
I believe that virtual education initiatives could help with some of the concerns raised by parents and community members regarding Advanced Placement courses. Please check out this website http://www.digitaldistricts.org/ and let me know what you think.
Many good things are happening in the Madison Metropolitan School District! This viewpoint and the things we see conflict with the stated concern by some families as they tell us that they will be leaving the district rather than attend West high school. The one reason common to families is that they want their child […]
I previously wrote about the lack of information received via email, internet, etc…from the school district. Since I posted that blog the District has been “experimenting” with two software systems they deem worth evaluation by parents and staff and are asking for feedback. (please go to the www.Madison.k12.wi.us for more info) But not all the […]
This is a neat idea for helping out students displaced by the hurricanes administered by the League of Women Voters. The Wisconsin League is checking to see if MMSD is following up on the grant request piece. Read on if you’d like to contribute: Melanie Ramey, President LWV of Wisconsin 122 State Street, Suite. 405 […]
For more than a week, I’ve been trying to get the names of the people appointed to the East and West/Memorial task forces on attendance and facilities. I have the following partial list of the names of people who were nominated by board members and the board member who nominated each.
Two gubernatorial candidates endorse school-funding reform Check out the school-funding reform calendar What’s new in the anti-TABOR toolbox? School-funding reform calendar The Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES) is a statewide network of educators, school board members, parents, community leaders, and researchers. Its Wisconsin Adequacy Plan — a proposal for school-finance reform — is the […]
A few months ago, I saw the movie “Crash” on a recommendation from Barbara Golden, founder and leader of MAFAAC. This movie has an ensemble cast and I highly recommend that you see this movie when it comes out on DVD. The movie talks in depth about race relations, stereotyping and racism. The subject of […]
Susan Lampert-Smith: At Memorial, Athletic Director Tim Ritchie said he hopes kids who get cut will find a team in an expanded intramural basketball league through Madison School Community Recreation. “You hope that you have a good intramural program that keeps kids working towards making the team next year,” he said. I worry about the […]
The current issue of The Simpson Street Free Press includes pieces by both Jazmin Jackson and Andrea Gilmore on the importance of arts education. This issue also has a letter to the editor from School Board member Johnny Winston, Jr. on the arts funding issues facing the District.
No doubt that the Madison Schools would benefit from revenues that might come through increased advertising, as recently proposed by Johnny Winston Jr., chair of the Board of Education’s Finance and Operations Committee. On the other hand, increasing advertising to our students is undesirable for many reasons. Schools should not treat students as consumers, but […]
Lucy, Your anger at your experience with MMSD is palpable. I’d like, however, to stick to the main point of my original post which is whether UW should be lowering admission standards for students who participate in the PEOPLE program. Whatever you think of the validity of those requirements, it doesn’t change the fact that […]
(With apologies to readers – it is not possible to respond using the comments feature on the blog.) Response to Lucy’s Post on PEOPLE program JOAN: Tempting though it is to rebut your arguments tit for tat I am not sure it will necessarily be productive. RESPONSE: I would be interested in a “tit for […]
Lucy, I feared this would become personal. Tempting though it is to rebut your arguments tit for tat I am not sure it will necessarily be productive. If necessary I will, though I prefer to look past your anger which now seems aimed directly at me. Let’s back up and look at the assumptions underlying […]
I was saddened and disappointed by the tone, content, and assumptions underlying Joan’s recent post on UW-Madison’s PEOPLE program and feel a need to respond as a parent who is engaged in trying to address cultures of racism in Madison schools and as a graduate and staff member of UW-Madison. I’ve interspersed the responses with […]
The Wisconsin State Journal discusses the college prep program UW sponsors for middle (Madison students only) and high school minority students. Glaringly absent from the reporting is what are the criteria for getting accepted into this program. It sounds like a program open only to minority students, or is it for low-income students of color? […]
From the FightingBob website comes this piece by a Milwaukee school teacher: http://www.fightingbob.com/article.cfm?articleID=402 His thesis: “Education spending alone cannot eliminate the educational advantages that affluent children have over poor children, but that does not mean we should not try.” I sympathize with him and admire his dedication, but wonder still if there are reliable data […]
Susan Black on the “Trouble with Classroom Competition”: How much competition is too much? I asked myself that question some years ago when I was appointed director of curriculum and instruction for a Midwestern city school district. Making the rounds of the district’s 12 schools I found competition everywhere. In a 10th-grade English class, I […]
As chair of the MMSD School Board’s Legislative Committee for 2005-06, I post information about state and federal laws and legislative issues related to the Madison Schools on this blog under Hot Topics , Madison School Board Legislative Committee blog. In June I asked MMSD staff for the committee, Joe Quick, for his ideas on […]
At its June 27, 2005 meeting, the Partnership Committee listened to a request from West High School parents (Friends of West High School Soccer) to fundraise money for an additional 2 soccer teams this fall. A committee member made a motion to allow parents to fundraise the money and that motion passed unanimously. The entire […]
Original URL: http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jun05/336091.asp NOTE: THIS LINK LEADS TO A PAGE THAT INCLUDES A CHART THAT IS NOT REPRODUCED HERE From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Does state’s method inflate graduation rate? Wisconsin says 92% finish high school; report estimates 78% do By SARAH CARR scarr@journalsentinel.com Posted: June 23, 2005 A new report lambastes states across the […]
At the Monday June 20, 2005 MMSD School Board meeting, funding was restored for music, art and gym elementary specials for a total of about $550,000. Can it be possible that all elementary specials, except elementary strings, would be restored? I can’t believe this. Isn’t the elementary string course an elementary music special (part of […]
Andrea Gilmore (This opinion piece was published in the Wisconsin State Journal): I am lucky. I have been playing the violin since I was in the fourth grade. I was exposed to music at an early age and music has helped me gain skills that have enhanced my school career. Through music, I learned self-confidence, […]
Thank you to Troy Dassler, Marisue Horton, and others who commented on my report on the meeting of the Long Range Planning Committee on Monday, June 6. Several people objected to my characterization of the some of the presentations as nasty and bitter. I know that it’s hard to perceive Leopold leaders and supporters as […]
The Scarsdale (NY) schools have a bond vote June 15. Supporters have published a website, that includes video clips, a FAQ and voter information. This site supports the bond issue, but also includes quite a bit of information. Transparency on these matters is vital, I believe to any hope of success.
The following letter was written by a parent of an East High Student to Carol Carstensen, President of the Madison School Board. The writer expresses concerns over the Sherman Middle School proposal to place curriculum band and orchestra classes in afterschool and the layoff Thursday of 8.55 FTE music teachers. Based upon my review of […]
Tuesday’s Madison Schools Referenda results continues to generate comments: Tracey Bietz James Nikora Arlene Silveira More here