Milwaukee Schools Ordered to Do More for Special needs

Alan Borsuk:

Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case, said Sunday that the decision will bring "the most substantial reform in MPS history," one that will bring higher graduation rates, fewer discipline problems and improved test scores within a few a years.

MPS officials have fought the goals set forth in the decision of Federal Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein, saying they would lead to big increases in spending and taxes and actually harm children and lower educational standards. MPS spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin said Superintendent William Andrekopoulos and School Board members had not yet seen the decision and did not want to comment until they met about it. She quoted Andrekopoulos saying only, "We're going to continue to move forward with education reforms that meet the needs of all our children."

Goodstein's decision, signed Friday and circulated over the weekend, came down on every point in favor of the position of the plaintiffs, an organization now known as Disability Rights Wisconsin, and in favor of a settlement reached recently between that organization and the state Department of Public Instruction, which was also a defendant in the case. Goodstein rejected all grounds MPS offered for finding things wrong with that settlement.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at June 10, 2008 7:46 PM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas