The Crisis of MPS’s Invisible Students, Part One: FAY and Non-FAY
Wisconsin’s state achievement test, the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam (WKCE), is given every November to public school students in grades 3-8 and 10….
Read More
MPS’s high spending and the resource gap: The gap remains
Last week’s release of US Census Bureau data about school finances lead to giant-font headlines all over the state about the spending of the…
Read MoreDrop the Pineapple and nobody gets hurt: “Pencils Down” and the modern American culture of testing
Rethinking Schools, the Milwaukee-based education reform outfit that encourages improvements in America’s schools through pursuit of social justice, has a new book out. Pencils…
Read MoreWhy I won’t be applying to teach in Oconomowoc anytime soon
Not that I’m unhappy where I am–I am not really thinking about leaving MPS for the burbs. But the recent moves rearranging Oconomowoc High…
Read MoreMPS proposed budget: Could have been worse. Could have been better, too.
I talked to Meagan Holman, 8th district representative on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, a couple of weeks ago, well before the Superintendent’s…
Read MoreMPS finally discontinues “sweetener” pension
At its March 29 full board meeting, the Milwaukee Board of School Directors voted to eliminate a 30-year-old perk its teachers enjoyed, which is…
Read MoreMTEA members vote down 2.6% contribution
The email just came through from MTEA: ” With a total of 3,931 members voting, 1,635 voted in favor of the measure and 2,296…
Read MoreSchool leadership continues to churn at MPS
How do you know it’s spring? Is it the birds, the crocuses (croci?), or March Madness? No–it’s that the first list of next fall’s…
Read MoreMTEA plans “MPS Children’s Week,” including giving up a week’s pay
Back in the day when I was an MTEA union rep for my school, “We can’t afford it” was a commonplace bargaining strategy from…
Read MoreThe Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: A Failure
Last week the final reports from the five-year School Choice Demonstration Project, designed to offer some hard data to the nebulous and nettlesome question…
Read More