Madison's public schools go to lockdown mode; no new ideas wanted

David Blaska:

Graphical user interface? I think not, Mr. Jobs. Mainframe is where it's at. Big and honking, run by guys in white lab coats. Smart phones? iPads? You're dreaming. Take your new ideas somewhere else.

That is the Madison School Board. It has decided to batten the hatches against change. It is securing the perimeter against new thinking. It is the North Korea of education: insular, blighted, and paranoid.

Just try to start a charter school in Madison. I dare you. The Madison School Board on Monday took three measures to strangle new ideas in their crib:

1) Preserving the status quo: Any proposed charter school would have to have "a history of successful practice." That leaves out several existing Madison public schools - never mind new approaches.

2) Starvation: Cap per-pupil reimbursement at around $6,500 - less than half what Madison public schools consume.

3) Encrustation: Unionized teachers only need apply.

I spoke to Carrie Bonk, executive director of the Wisconsin Charter Schools Association.

Related:

Madison's disastrous reading results.

The rejected Studio charter school.

Minneapolis teacher's union approved to authorize charter schools.

"We are not interested in the development of new charter schools".

Notes and links on the rejected Madison Preparatory Academy IB Charter School.

Madison School District Open Enrollment Leavers Report, 2012-13.

Madison's disastrous long term reading results..

Interview: Henry Tyson, Superintendent of Milwaukee's St. Marcus Elementary School.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 18, 2013 1:49 AM
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