September 23, 2009
Tom Barrett’s Wants to Emulate New York, Chicago and D.C.
In the Mayor’s September 18 posting (http://www.city.milwaukee.gov/thebarrettreport) he strives to imitate the mayors of New York, Chicago and D.C. in selecting a new superintendent.
See the sidebar under “Chicago”, “D.C.” and “New York” for articles on the results of superintendents in those cities.
September 21, 2009
September 20, 2009
The Journal Sentinel Blames MPS for Milwaukee’s Poverty and Joblessness
Following is a quote from the 9/20 Journal Sentinel editorial on Mayoral Takeover:
“(Critics say) The mayor should concentrate on solving the city’s problems – poverty, crime, etc. – instead of adding MPS to the mix.
Many of these social ills are directly tied to the district’s longstanding lackluster performance.”
See the sidebar link “9/20 Editorial and Response” for the full editorial.
Tamara Grigsby Takes on the Milwaukee Journal on MPS Takeover
See the 9/20 Journal editorial and Tamara Grigsby’s response.
Journal Editorial and Grigsby Response can be seen on sidebar under “9/20 Editorial and Response”
September 15, 2009
NY Times Article Exposes Mayor’s Appointed Board as “Puppets”
A parent recently addressing the Mayor’s appointed board in New York City stated, “I don’t know why I’m speaking to you guys, because if you guys have any dissent, you’re not going to be sitting there tomorrow.”
It is a ritual that unfolds monthly around the city at each meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy, the oversight group that replaced the independent Board of Education when the state legislature handed New York’s mayor control of its sprawling school system in 2002.
In designing the mayoral takeover, lawmakers viewed the panel as critical to maintaining a “balance of authority,” and promised it would have a “meaningful role” on citywide education policy and approve major contracts, according to the authorizing language that accompanied the bill.
To see the full article go to sidebar article “New York Puppets”.
September 13, 2009
Chicago Schools Data Under Arne Duncan
(The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test is administered by the Department of Education.)
The NAEP records show that CPS student performance was very poor in 2002 and did not improve by 2007. On the NAEP reading test, scored from 0-500, Chicago 8th graders got an average score of 249 in 2002. In 2007, they got an average score of 250. The nationwide average in 2007, by contrast, was 261.
In 2002, 15 percent of all Chicago 8th graders were judged “proficient” at reading. In 2007, that number had increased by all of two percent — 17 percent of all Chicago 8th graders were judged proficient. Nationally, for 2007, 29 percent of all 8th graders were deemed proficient at reading.
Chicago 4th graders not only fare worse than the national average in reading – they do worse than other urban school districts. In 2002, Chicago 4th graders scored an average of 193. In 2007, the average did jump to 201. But this score was not just significantly lower than the national average but the average among the 11 assessed urban districts, which was 208. The percentage of Chicago 4th graders who scored at the proficient level in 2007 was 16 percent compared with 22 percent in other urban districts. Only Cleveland and Washington, D.C. did worse. Moreover, the gap in scores between poor students – defined as those eligible for the federal school lunch program – and the rest of the district actually increased between 2002 and 2007.
NAEP Math tests were another area where Chicago students fared poorly. Fourth grade math scores made the modest jump from 214 to 220 between 2003 and 2007. But just 16 percent of CPS 4th graders were judged proficient in Math compared with 28 percent in other urban schools districts and 38 percent nationally. The story is the same for 8th graders: scores made a modest climb from 254 to 260 between 2003 and 2007. But in 2007, 13 percent of CPS fourth graders were proficient compared with 22 percent in other urban school districts and 31 percent nationally.
September 11, 2009
New York’s Mayor Bloomberg Brags about a 54.6% Graduation Rate
New York is hardly a model for the corporate style reform that Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett wants to emulate.
See sidebar “New York Graduation Rate”
Educate All Students, Support Public Education 