Milwaukee Public Schools status called 'moral issue'

[undeterred]

MPS status under U.S. law called 'moral issue'
State education chief offers support at forum

Milwaukee Public Schools' efforts to shed its status as a "district identified for improvement" are locally controlled but closely watched by officials in Madison, the state's education chief told a crowd of around 100 people this week.

The meeting - organized by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction - was the first public forum for Milwaukee residents on what the district identified for improvement label means under federal education law and what MPS is doing to improve students' scores on mandated state tests.

"This is a moral issue, this is a social justice issue and it's an economic imperative," state schools Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster said Wednesday. "This is a pivotal time where we can answer this clarion call to action."

Failure to meet goals
MPS, the state's largest district, has failed to meet "adequate yearly progress" goals, established under the No Child Left Behind law, in state reading and math tests since 2004.

Citing a need for "an accountability infrastructure" and the use of "high-leverage strategies," state education officials described MPS administrators' plans for summer school programs, extended time for reading and math instruction in high-need schools, and professional development and mentoring for first-year teachers and struggling principals.

MPS is the only district in the state that has the improvement label, which is related to the concentration of poverty here, Burmaster said.

"We have to recognize how poverty affects the daily lives of children in MPS," she said.

About a third of students statewide receive free or reduced-price lunch, one measure of poverty. But almost 80% of MPS students are eligible for the federal subsidy.

The district receives about $100 million a year in federal Title I education aid and is at risk of losing some of this funding if it does not comply with the mandates.

Burmaster stressed that DPI's role is to offer support and technical assistance, not to step on the toes of MPS officials.

"I want to be very careful that I do not overstep my bounds and be in any way disrespectful to Superintendent (William) Andrekopoulos or your elected School Board officials," she said. "We are not telling them what to do. I am here to clarify for you what you need to do."

Williams formed group
The crowd included several representatives of the African-American Education Council, an organization formed last year by state Rep. Annette Polly Williams (D-Milwaukee). The group released a report last summer that called for better access to the decision-making process and creating a way for parents of MPS students to get involved.

"What has occurred is a systemic disenfranchisement of students," said Clara New, a retired professor of teacher education at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and a member of the group.

New said the district has "a fractured, almost non-existent infrastructure and a patchwork curriculum."

Lamont Harris, a community activist, said he wondered why the Italian Community Center, in downtown Milwaukee, had been chosen as the forum's site.

"Why is it that there's always a disconnection from the people who are being affected?" Harris said. "We are concerned and frightened by what's happening."

Andrekopoulos said students' families receive letters each time a school is identified as needing improvement, or whenever the district's status changes.

"We can always get better about communicating with our district and our parents," he said Wednesday.

The next forum on the district's improvement plan is scheduled for June 9.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=733012