County exec would oversee turnaround of MPS schools in GOP plan
The Milwaukee County executive would oversee the turnover of up to five struggling Milwaukee Public Schools per year to operators of successful public charter or private voucher schools, according to details of a proposalthat two suburban Republican lawmakers have been working on for months.
Under the proposal, County Executive Chris Abele — who was not fully briefed about the plan before details were leaked to the media — would name a commissioner with parallel authority to Milwaukee Public Schools.
Abele said Monday that he didn't seek the legislation, but if it passed, he would accept the responsibility.
Staff at the public schools run by new operators — or directly by the commissioner — would have to re-apply for their jobs and, if hired, would waive their right to be represented by a union.
The "Opportunity Schools and Partnership Program" is a proposal by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. Dale Kooyenga (Brookfield). An email they sent to education leaders in Milwaukee late last week for feedback on the plan was obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Darling and Kooyenga believe it's a way to spark change at schools that desperately need it, and to work around the Milwaukee School Board, which Darling said has blocked reforms over the years, instead protecting teachers or the status quo.
District supporters say the plan is a cloaked attempt by GOP lawmakers to dismantle and privatize the public school system, without regard for the glaring factor that's largely responsible for low academic achievement: extreme poverty.
"It could contribute to the total demise of MPS," Milwaukee School Board President Michael Bonds said. "You can only pull out so many resources."
There are 55 MPS schools in the middle of the debate: schools that received "fails to meet expectations" ratings on the latest round of state performance report cards and would be eligible for a change in governance, according to the proposal. In many of the schools, more than 90% of children are not reading on grade level and less than three out of four attend school regularly.
"For decades we have had failing schools in Milwaukee and the leadership has not said: This is unacceptable," Darling said.
Try something new
Kooyenga said they are not trying to undermine MPS Superintendent Darienne Driver, but help her by allowing other parties to try something radically different in the district's most challenged programs.
Darling added that she thought highly of Driver, and that she would like to see her be considered for the role of commissioner — as long as the school board isn't involved in the turnaround schools.
Kooyenga said the charter or voucher school operators chosen to partner with specific MPS schools might be local or national operators that could attract high-quality teaching talent. He said a successful partner might be defined as schools that post average reading and math state test scores that are at least 10% higher than the MPS district average.
Having voucher schools, which are private and in most cases religious schools, assume management of any city public schools is a new twist. Most other states with turnaround zones only invite charter school operators to manage chronically underperforming schools. Charter schools are public schools and cannot teach religion.
Darling said they might change the proposal to say that private schools that took over district schools would have to be nonsectarian.
Darling said the goal would be to gain feedback from stakeholders this week and potentially wrap the proposal into the state budget by the end of this month.
Both lawmakers said there are enough votes in the GOP-controlled state Legislature to approve the plan.
In a statement Monday, Abele said if placed in the position to oversee the program, he would work hard to make it successful.
"I like and respect MPS Superintendent Darienne Driver and would want to work closely with her," Abele said in a statement.
He added that proponents of the legislation should know that he was still concerned about the negative financial impact voucher schools can have on MPS and that he believes public money should be directed to open admission schools, not selective admission schools.
No silver bullet
Driver said the impact of poverty on low test scores would not be alleviated by a change in school governance. She also pointed to the fact that private voucher schools have no better performance record overall than the city's public schools.
"We can't go to the quick fix," she said Monday during an education conference at Marquette University. "I just beg everyone: Don't go to what sounds sexy. Let's go to the data."
Driver said any new plan to address low-performing schools in Milwaukee should also address chronically underperforming voucher and charter schools — not just district schools. She also highlighted programs already in place at some of the district's lowest-performing schools that have started to show signs of improvement.
Bonds said there are other options. For example, he said he could support a proposal to put Driver directly in charge of some schools — as long as it didn't include turning over the schools to non-district operators.
Bob Peterson, president of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association union, said the plan was "an insult" to the Milwaukee community and part of a larger plan to privatize schools throughout the state.
"For two white suburban legislators to propose that the white county executive appoint a 'Commissioner' who will have 'parallel authority' to the democratically elected school board is a racist attack on the democratic rights of the citizens of Milwaukee, the majority of whom are black and brown," Peterson said in a statement.
State Superintendent Tony Evers said Monday at the Marquette conference that improving schools doesn't hinge on changing governance but on hard work and adequate resources.
"Looking for a silver bullet is a fool's errand," he said.
Details of the plan call for:
■The commissioner to select up to three schools in 2015-'16 for a change in governance. After that, up to five schools could be added each year.
■The commissioner to oversee schools in the program through direct management or through soliciting offers from charter or voucher school operators. The commissioner would also manage partnerships for school wraparound services that help support children in non-school hours. Darling said they could direct money from other state departments to help fund those services.
■Teachers at schools in the program to not have to have traditional state teaching licenses, but to have to pass criminal background checks.
■Per-pupil payments for children in the program schools to come from funding that would otherwise flow to MPS.County exec would oversee turnaround of MPS schools in GOP plan:
