Madison Prep supporters revamping proposal to overcome district objections; Seniority Changes

Matthew DeFour:

And even though teachers would be unionized, they would have different rules from those at other schools to bring costs down, Caire said.

Caire's original proposal for Madison Prep called for a "non-instrumentality" charter school, meaning it would employ its own staff and be free of day-to-day district oversight. In October, Caire and Matthews announced an agreement by which Madison Prep would use union staff, opening the door for Madison Prep to submit an "instrumentality" charter school proposal to the district.

But a district analysis based on language in the union contract found the cost would be higher than originally projected. Cost-saving changes to the contract, which expires in June 2013, couldn't be made without nullifying it under the state's new collective bargaining law.

In November, Madison Prep supporters changed their proposal to a non-instrumentality charter school. District officials opposed that option, saying it would have insufficient oversight and conflict with the union contract, which requires the district to hire union employees.

The latest iteration of Madison Prep would be an instrumentality charter school. But because it would open in fall 2013, the current union contract wouldn't apply, meaning separate rules could be written for the school.

Matthews, however, said MTI opposes the types of changes Madison Prep would seek, such as eliminating a provision that grants senior teachers priority for new job openings in the district.

"Those are rights people have," Matthews said. "It gets us right back to why there was so much reaction to what Gov. Walker did last year."

Much more on the proposed Madison Preparatory IB charter school, here.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 13, 2012 1:50 AM
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