Perspectives
The Fourteenth Amendment (Section 1): "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the state wherein they reside.
"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any persons within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
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MCJ Editorial
Key to any education reform is unselfishness and compromise for the sake of the children
If the debate over who runs Milwaukee Public Schools--an elected school board or Mayor Tom Barrett and city hall--has accomplished anything, it is getting people engaged verbally and physically in the reform of education in the state’s largest school district.
The latest chapter in this reform/governance saga is the recent unveiling of another MPS improvement plan, this one presented by State Rep. Tamara Grigsby and State Sen. Spencer Coggs.
Simply put, the Grigsby-Coggs plan encompasses an elected school board that maintains control over the budget and school policy, shared accountability in public education by the board and the Common Council, while giving the mayor a voice in who the next board selected superintendent will be.
Said Coggs during the news conference announcing the alternative plan: “Our children deserve meaningful education reform that will truly make a positive difference in their lives.”
We agree with Coggs and Grigsby, and congratulate them both on their bold initiative.
Milwaukee MUST make the students the number one priority.
Politics, corporations, unions and federal grants cannot be the stimulus for a “takeover.”
Improvement in educational outcomes must be the top priority in any plan or piece of legislation from Madison.
While the many players in this reform/governance issue have justifiable positions from whence they speak, parents, teachers, the corporate community, the mayor and governor, elected officials and the MPS board must compromise and work together for the future success of Milwaukee’s education system. One can be no greater than the other can.
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