Dissolve the Milwaukee Public Schools?

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Editorial:

Gov. Jim Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett must act to bring radical change to the city school district. Everything must be on the table this time -- even dissolution.

For years, the Journal Sentinel has chided, prodded and coaxed the administrators and the School Board of Milwaukee Public Schools. We've backed plan after plan to "fix" MPS. Time after time, we've been disappointed.

Now Journal Sentinel reporters have laid bare the mind-numbing incompetence of those who implemented the Neighborhood Schools Initiative. This $102 million building plan was forced on the city's parents and taxpayers, and then many of those millions were thrown to the gentle wind, even after it was clear that the plan was failing.

For the sake of the thousands of kids MPS is leaving behind, fundamental change is a necessity. It might even be time to dissolve MPS and start over.

Large organizations (public or private) rarely make significant changes.

Related: Starting from scratch in the New Orleans public schools.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 24, 2008 10:20 AM
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