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 … Continue reading Equity and School Board – Hard Work Needed by School Board AND Equity Task Force →

Thanks to Lawrie Kobza for her post “Superintendent’s Evaluation a Step in the Right Direction.” She stresses the need for the board to set goals and expectations. As an example of board-set goals and expectations, I noticed a list created by the board of education of the Forest Grove School District in Oregon. (I first … Continue reading Example of Board Goals →

Carol Carstensen provided updated information on the people selected by the Board of Education to serve on the attendance task forces: West-Memorial – Prasanna Raman (nominated by Ruth Robarts to fill a position as an Asian member of the task force) – Tim Otis (nominated by Bill Keys to fill a position as a resident … Continue reading A Few Task Force Names – Updated →

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.

The Madison School Board had several interesting discussions Monday night. The first was a proposed 3rd party evaluation of the District’s Business Services Department. This discussion is somewhat in response to the complaint that, given budget choices, the Madison School District lays off teachers rather than accountants. Watch This Discussion – Quicktime MP3 Audio The … Continue reading Madison School Board Workshop: Evaluate Business Services? →

Newly elected Madison School Board member Lawrie Kobza was wise to move to use $240,000 in money made available by insurance savings to revive Lincoln Elementary School’s Open Classroom Program and to restore “specials” – music, art and gym classes at the elementary schools – to their regular sizes. And the board majority was right … Continue reading Capital Times Editorial: Board backs school quality →

Johnny Winston Jr., chair of the Finance and Operations Committee of the Madison School Board, kicked off a new discussion of the possible role of business ads to raise money for our schools at the June 13 meeting of his committee. Committee member Lawrie Kobza asked the administration to bring back information about what other … Continue reading What’s the Future for Ads in the Madison Schools? →

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 … Continue reading Who will invite me to talk with them? →

President Carol Carstensen’s Board Goals 7MB VideoBill Keys’ Long Range Planning Goals 8MB VideoLawrie Kobza’s Partnership Committee Goals 6MB VideoJuan Jose Lopez’s Human Resource Committee Goals 3.5MB VideoRuth Robarts’ Legislative Committee Goals 3MB VideoShwaw Vang’s Performance & Achievement Committee Goals 4MB VideoJohnny Winston Jr.’s Finance & Operations Committee Goals 4MB Video

Editorial note: Carol Carstensen contacted me to correct the sequence of events at the Long Range Planning Committee meeting on Monday, June 6. She initially suggested the formation of a task force, but couldn’t make the motion because she does not formally serve on the committee. I apologize that I missed her suggestion. Many of … Continue reading Panel OKs task force on West side overcrowding →

The MMSD School Board Partnership Committee has two openings for citizens members. Letters of interest, mailed to the School Board President, Carol Carstensen, are being sought. The deadline for applying is Friday, May 27, 2005. The MMSD Partnership Committee, which will be chaired by Lawrie Kobza in the 2005-2006 school year, focuses on community partnerships … Continue reading MMSD Partnership Committee – Citizen Members Sought →

Jason Shepard speculated on how a majority might form on the MMSD school board when Lawrie Kobza officially takes a seat. �Lawrie Kobza�s win . . . over Madison school board incumbent Bill Clingan by a 53% – 47% margin will almost certainly alter the board�s ideological alignment. The only question is how. Kobza credits … Continue reading Where’s the board majority? →

I submitted the following letter of endorsement for Lawrie Kobza to the local papers. Dear Editor, I am deeply concerned about the lack of commitment to school financing at the federal and state levels and I support changes in school financing. However, I am equally concerned about our local Board of Education�s tepid leadership given … Continue reading Kobza for School Board – Our Kids Deserve the Best →

I found the story on the Stoughton superintendent interesting because the school board conducts an evaluation twice a year. Madison’s board has failed to evaluate the MMSD superintendent for years! Bill Clingan, chair of the MMSD’s human resources committee responsible for evaluating Superintendent Art Rainwater, admits that Lawrie Kobza, his opponent in the upcoming election, … Continue reading Stoughton Won’t Renew Superintendent’s Contract →

At Wednesday, March 17, 2005, candidates’ forum, Lawrie Kobza provided information that Mr. Clingan did not convene the Human Resouces Committee, which he chairs, to evaluate the Superintendent. As Chair of that committee he also did not follow through on a review of an administrative RFP from last spring that was developed in response to … Continue reading It’s Not Board Attendance that’s the Issue, Mr. Clingan, It’s Committee Leadership →

The most important vote to me is the April 5th School Board election, and I will be voting to change the School Board by voting to elect Lawrie Kobza to Seat 6. If we don�t change the school board, current board members will continue to accept the administration�s recommendations for budget cuts year after year … Continue reading Vote in the April 5th School Board Election – Next Important Opportunity for Public’s Vote to Make a Positive Difference →

On March 1, 2005, the Northside Planning Council held an excellent, well run and informative school board candidates’ forum at Warner Park in Madison, WI. Candidates for Seat 6 (Bill Clingan – incumbant and Lawrie Kobza) and Seat 7 (Carol Carstensen – incumbant and Larry Winkler) answered a wide variety of questions on many topics. … Continue reading School Board Candidates’ Forum – March 1, 2005 →

The following exchange of e-mails is between Lawrie Kobza and Johnny Winston Jr., regarding the District’s proposed elimination of the equity policy. As I read the two authors’ comments, I become more convinced that board policy changes ought to be discussed first at a Board committee meeting prior to a final vote. The substance of … Continue reading MMSD Equity Policy – Board Member’s Comments and Community Member’s Response to Those Comments →