Local pols announce cooperative plan for MPS

Put off by the plan to hand control of the Milwaukee Public Schools to the city’s mayor,  local and state politicians, along with parents, teachers, community groups and business leaders unveiled their own plan to rescue MPS from itself.

RACE for Success was presented to the public at Hawley Environmental School by it’s legislative co-sponsors, Rep. Tamara Grigsby and Sen. Spencer Coggs (both D-Milwaukee). The Monday morning meeting was packed with supporters from throughout the city of Milwaukee, along with MPS School Board President Dr. Michael Bonds. School superintendent William G. Andrekopoulos was noticeably absent from the meeting.

Grigsby announced that “handing the control of  MPS to the mayor was a bad idea and bad policy, but at least has gotten people talking about the changes in education needed in Milwaukee.”

She described RACE for Success, which stands for Reforming and Advancing Children’s Education for Success, as a plan that will provide a true partnership between the MPS School Board and the city. The plan would allow for a “Partnership for Success” committee that would consist of the mayor, Milwaukee City Council, the school board and the district superintendent. In addition, the mayor would have the authority to appoint interim board members in case of a vacancy; have an advisory role in the selection and make a recommendation as to the choice of district superintendent and have a line-item veto over the district budget if the a property tax increase due to school spending would be at or above 8 percent.

In each of these cases, the school board would have the ability to override the mayor with a two-thirds vote of the membership. Grigsby said this was an important feature, that emphasized that the community still had an elected and independent school board.

Coggs announced that the plan would include academic changes to MPS including regular, streamlined evaluations of reading and math curriculum; the development of multi-cultural education for staff and educators; and the creation of two “Assistance and Transition Campuses” for disruptive students within the district.

As to the wrench thrown into the governor’s plan to hand control of the schools to Milwaukee’s mayor, who has now decided to run for governor himself, Coggs said this plan would help Tom Barrett.

“Tom (Barrett) will have his hands full with campaigning and running the city of Milwaukee,” Coggs said. “This will empower the (school) board to assist him with the schools. This will empower the board and make sure that the children of our city are taken care of. This is a situation where all hands are on deck.”

Other district changes Coggs announced include changing the tenure track program for school principals, lengthening it from three years to six and centralizing individual school budgeting, to control costs. The tenure plan would allow for more oversight of principals, bring the tenure program in line with professors at state universities, and allow for the dismissal of poorly performing principals in a timely manner.

Both Grigsby and Coggs said this plan will bring much needed reforms to MPS, and is not simply a response to quickly change the governance of the district to obtain federal dollars promised by President Barack Obama. Neither lawmaker has a specific timeline as to when the plan could be adopted by the state legislature or signed by the governor, since lawmakers have recessed for the year. However, drafts of the plan are being written in time for the opening of the next legislative session beginning in January.

State Representative Polly Williams, often referred to as the mother of school choice, praised the collaborative effort that was made to create the RACE plan. She also announced that she had secured a promise from State Sen. Russ Decker that Milwaukee voices will be heard and listened to in the upcoming debate to reform Milwaukee schools.

Bonds, who has been outspoken on his dislike for the mayoral take-over of Milwaukee schools, likening the effort to removing him from his job, was short and to the point in his assessment of the plan. “This is comprehensive and it allows for mayoral input, but not control.”

The plan also received vocal support at the meeting from Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association President Mike Langyel and Wisconsin Education Association Council President Mary Bell.