Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) wrote to Tony Evers, State Superintendent of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, asking him to immediately stop the process to withhold $175 million in Federal education funding from Milwaukee Public Schools.
Congresswoman Moore wrote that Superintendent Evers’ action is… “especially troubling given that Congress and the Obama Administration are working to change the one-size-fits-all approach of No Child Left Behind that was designed to punish schools, not students” and that “punishing our children is no solution.”
She also wrote that, “If our schools are not meeting expectations today – they sure won’t be able to meet expectations tomorrow with even fewer resources” and wrote that halting this process to withhold funding is necessary to give the newly-hired superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools “a chance to succeed.”
The full text of Congresswoman Moore’s letter follows:
February 5, 2010
Mr. Tony Evers
Superintendent
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Madison , Wisconsin
Dear Superintendent Evers:
I read with much dismay in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that you are beginning a process to take away Federal funding from Milwaukee ’s public schools. Your action is especially troubling given that Congress and the Obama Administration are working to change the one-size-fits-all approach of No Child Left Behind that was designed to punish schools, not students. I ask that you immediately stop the process to withhold $175 million in critical Federal funding from Milwaukee Public Schools.
We simply cannot lift our children up and build a workforce in Milwaukee and in Wisconsin for the 21st Century if we are poorhousing our kids’ education.
We both want every MPS student to succeed, and we also want a thriving school system in Milwaukee that guarantees equal opportunity for every child. Our kids deserve nothing less. But punishing our children is no solution. If our schools are not meeting expectations today – they sure won’t be able to meet expectations tomorrow with even fewer resources.
Community members have indicated they believe you are withholding this Federal funding as part of an attempt to take away local control of Milwaukee Public Schools in order to qualify for Race to the Top funding. If that is the case, I want to remind you that Education Secretary Arne Duncan has repeatedly told me and our community – he even put it in writing – that mayoral control of public schools is not necessary for Wisconsin to receive Race to the Top funding.
You know that Milwaukee Public Schools just hired a new superintendent who will start in the summer. Your move only takes away local ability to bring about positive changes in our schools. It makes sense to immediately stop this process of withholding $175 million from Milwaukee Public Schools because we must give our new superintendent a chance to succeed.
It’s going to take all of us working together to solve these problems, and I stand ready to work with you.
Sincerely,
Gwen Moore
Member of Congress
Showing posts with label MPS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MPS. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Poor Performance of City of Milwaukee Charter Schools raises questions about Mayoral Control of MPS
Today, State Representative Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee) made public recently obtained information related to City of Milwaukee charter schools, raising new concerns over the merits of a mayoral takeover of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).
A memo drafted by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau reveals that, on average, more students at MPS are performing better than the students attending charter schools under contract with the City of Milwaukee.
“It’s one thing to talk about accountability and achievement in education, but it’s another thing to see it through,” Grigsby said. “MPS is in need of serious reform, but after looking at these scores, it is incredibly difficult to believe that placing our public schools under mayoral control would improve education outcomes for our children. As far as the city’s charter schools are concerned, the evidence indicates otherwise.”
As the Legislative Fiscal Bureau notes, in the 2008-2009 school year 49.9% of those attending a city-controlled charter school scored proficient or advanced in reading, while 59% of MPS students scored at that level in the same year. In the area of mathematics, 49% of the tested MPS students scored at a proficient or advanced level in the 2008-2009 school year, while only 33.1% of students at the City of Milwaukee charter schools met that standard.
In recent years, Milwaukee’s public schools have consistently outperformed the schools run by the City of Milwaukee by nearly ten percentage points or more. As the recent fiscal bureau memo concludes, after averaging together test scores from the three most recent school years, “49.6% of City charter school pupils were proficient and advanced in reading, and 32% were proficient and advanced in math.” Within that same time period, 59% of MPS pupils scored at the proficient or advanced level in reading and 45% scored at those levels in mathematics, resulting in an achievement gap in which MPS students are outperforming City of Milwaukee charter students in both subjects.
“Milwaukee’s schools are in need of sweeping reform, but poor performance at the schools already controlled by the City of Milwaukee raise serious doubts over whether or not a mayoral takeover will deliver the change we need,” Grigsby said. “The need for improvement at both our city charter schools and MPS is a clear indication that no simple change in school governance or sleight of hand will be the solution needed to better educate our children. We cannot afford to pander to such ideas, just as we cannot afford to abide by the status quo.”
A memo drafted by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau reveals that, on average, more students at MPS are performing better than the students attending charter schools under contract with the City of Milwaukee.
“It’s one thing to talk about accountability and achievement in education, but it’s another thing to see it through,” Grigsby said. “MPS is in need of serious reform, but after looking at these scores, it is incredibly difficult to believe that placing our public schools under mayoral control would improve education outcomes for our children. As far as the city’s charter schools are concerned, the evidence indicates otherwise.”
As the Legislative Fiscal Bureau notes, in the 2008-2009 school year 49.9% of those attending a city-controlled charter school scored proficient or advanced in reading, while 59% of MPS students scored at that level in the same year. In the area of mathematics, 49% of the tested MPS students scored at a proficient or advanced level in the 2008-2009 school year, while only 33.1% of students at the City of Milwaukee charter schools met that standard.
In recent years, Milwaukee’s public schools have consistently outperformed the schools run by the City of Milwaukee by nearly ten percentage points or more. As the recent fiscal bureau memo concludes, after averaging together test scores from the three most recent school years, “49.6% of City charter school pupils were proficient and advanced in reading, and 32% were proficient and advanced in math.” Within that same time period, 59% of MPS pupils scored at the proficient or advanced level in reading and 45% scored at those levels in mathematics, resulting in an achievement gap in which MPS students are outperforming City of Milwaukee charter students in both subjects.
“Milwaukee’s schools are in need of sweeping reform, but poor performance at the schools already controlled by the City of Milwaukee raise serious doubts over whether or not a mayoral takeover will deliver the change we need,” Grigsby said. “The need for improvement at both our city charter schools and MPS is a clear indication that no simple change in school governance or sleight of hand will be the solution needed to better educate our children. We cannot afford to pander to such ideas, just as we cannot afford to abide by the status quo.”
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Congresswoman Moore challenges Governor on MPS
Earlier this week Gov. Jim Doyle reiterated his support for a mayoral takeover of the Milwaukee public schools.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel which continues to blur the line between reporting and editorializing began its initial coverage: “Jim Doyle said Monday the state must give control of Milwaukee schools to the mayor to put in a 'good faith' application for federal economic stimulus funds.”
Wispolitics was more measured when it wrote: “Doyle hedged on whether mayoral control of the MPS will be part of the application, though he continued to voice support from the governance change.”
Doyle's position contradicts that of the Obama administration.
In a letter to Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan acknowledged that dismantling elected school boards was not a Race to the Top requirement. He wrote: Although we have not yet released the final priorities and criteria for Race to the Top, mayoral control was not a criteria included in the proposed priorities...."
According to the Journal Sentinel: “Doyle said the education reforms he and Evers are advocating would require the steady push only a mayor can provide. Otherwise, school policy could "vacillate from year to year" with changes on the School Board…”
That’s a particularly interesting observation since Mayor Barrett is actively considering a run for Governor, hardly a recipe for continuity.
It also contradicts the argument that mayoral run school districts are more accountable to the public than elected school boards because of higher voter turn-out. By acknowledging that the mayor of Milwaukee is as close to a life-time position (continuity is assured) as one can find, Doyle undermines the electoral accountability argument.
Today in a letter to the editor Congresswoman Gwen Moore challenged the Governor’s position. She wrote:
“… Doyle's contention that mayoral control of the Milwaukee schools is critical to receiving these Recovery Act funds is inconsistent with multiple assurances I have received from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that mayoral control of MPS is not a prerequisite to Wisconsin receiving Race to the Top funds (Page 1A, Oct. 20).
In a letter dated Oct. 7, Secretary Duncan wrote, 'Mayoral control of the public schools was not a criterion included in the proposed priorities (for Race to the Top funding) that were released for public comment in July.'
I agree that the Milwaukee schools face serious challenges - the achievement gap and 69% graduation rate among them. But I have yet to see evidence that placing the School Board under any mayor's control will magically erase the problems that have long plagued our public schools.
To wrongly suggest that the badly needed Race to the Top funds will not be awarded to Wisconsin unless Milwaukee wrests control away from a democratically elected School Board and hands it over to the mayor is unfair. And wrong on the facts.
To advocate for mayoral control of the Milwaukee schools is one thing; to suggest that not making the switch will restrict Wisconsin's access to a pot of money is simply untrue."
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel which continues to blur the line between reporting and editorializing began its initial coverage: “Jim Doyle said Monday the state must give control of Milwaukee schools to the mayor to put in a 'good faith' application for federal economic stimulus funds.”
Wispolitics was more measured when it wrote: “Doyle hedged on whether mayoral control of the MPS will be part of the application, though he continued to voice support from the governance change.”
Doyle's position contradicts that of the Obama administration.
In a letter to Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan acknowledged that dismantling elected school boards was not a Race to the Top requirement. He wrote: Although we have not yet released the final priorities and criteria for Race to the Top, mayoral control was not a criteria included in the proposed priorities...."
According to the Journal Sentinel: “Doyle said the education reforms he and Evers are advocating would require the steady push only a mayor can provide. Otherwise, school policy could "vacillate from year to year" with changes on the School Board…”
That’s a particularly interesting observation since Mayor Barrett is actively considering a run for Governor, hardly a recipe for continuity.
It also contradicts the argument that mayoral run school districts are more accountable to the public than elected school boards because of higher voter turn-out. By acknowledging that the mayor of Milwaukee is as close to a life-time position (continuity is assured) as one can find, Doyle undermines the electoral accountability argument.
Today in a letter to the editor Congresswoman Gwen Moore challenged the Governor’s position. She wrote:
“… Doyle's contention that mayoral control of the Milwaukee schools is critical to receiving these Recovery Act funds is inconsistent with multiple assurances I have received from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that mayoral control of MPS is not a prerequisite to Wisconsin receiving Race to the Top funds (Page 1A, Oct. 20).
In a letter dated Oct. 7, Secretary Duncan wrote, 'Mayoral control of the public schools was not a criterion included in the proposed priorities (for Race to the Top funding) that were released for public comment in July.'
I agree that the Milwaukee schools face serious challenges - the achievement gap and 69% graduation rate among them. But I have yet to see evidence that placing the School Board under any mayor's control will magically erase the problems that have long plagued our public schools.
To wrongly suggest that the badly needed Race to the Top funds will not be awarded to Wisconsin unless Milwaukee wrests control away from a democratically elected School Board and hands it over to the mayor is unfair. And wrong on the facts.
To advocate for mayoral control of the Milwaukee schools is one thing; to suggest that not making the switch will restrict Wisconsin's access to a pot of money is simply untrue."
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Congresswoman Moore: mayoral control won't help MPS
Milwaukee Congresswoman Gwen Moore has an excellent op ed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Crossroads section.
She writes:
There's no question that the Milwaukee Public Schools district has challenges to overcome; not a person in this debate would argue otherwise. But MPS's achievement gap and a 69% graduation rate are borne of our city's vicious cycles of poverty, joblessness, skyrocketing teen pregnancy rates and the perverted public policies that send millions of Milwaukee's state education dollars to the suburbs.
I wish a simple change of governance could fix these challenges. But I have yet to see evidence that placing the board under the mayor's control - any mayor's - is a magic wand that will eviscerate the achievement gap, which has been caused by factors well outside the control of the elected School Board.
The entire article is linked here.
She writes:
There's no question that the Milwaukee Public Schools district has challenges to overcome; not a person in this debate would argue otherwise. But MPS's achievement gap and a 69% graduation rate are borne of our city's vicious cycles of poverty, joblessness, skyrocketing teen pregnancy rates and the perverted public policies that send millions of Milwaukee's state education dollars to the suburbs.
I wish a simple change of governance could fix these challenges. But I have yet to see evidence that placing the board under the mayor's control - any mayor's - is a magic wand that will eviscerate the achievement gap, which has been caused by factors well outside the control of the elected School Board.
The entire article is linked here.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Study finds no evidence that mayoral control leads to academic improvement
Chicago, the home school district of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, is frequently sighted by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett as evidence that mayoral run school systems improve student achievement.
The civic arm of the Commercial Club of Chicago, one of the oldest organizations representing the business, professional, educational and cultural leaders of the Chicago region, has issued a scathing critique ,"Still Left Behind 2009", that challenges Barrett's position.
The study, which characterizes Chicago high school student achievement as "abysmal," supports an earlier analysis published in the Harvard Educational Review entitled "Mayoral Takeovers, Recipe for Progress or Peril" that concludes: "the record suggests that the long term benefits of takeovers are more elusive especially in regard to student achievement."
The Harvard analysis reinforces the Commercial Club's review of academic achievement in the Chicago public schools: ...Chicago is hardly an advertisement of mayoral takeovers. In 2005, for instance, only 42.5% of students in grades three through eight scored at or above national norms on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills reading test- a gain of only ten percentage points since the Mayor took over the system."
Here are some of the Commercial Club's key findings.
Most of Chicago’s students drop out or fail. The vast majority of Chicago’s elementary and high schools do not prepare their students for success in college and beyond.
There is a general perception that Chicago’s public schools have been gradually improving over time. However, recent dramatic gains in the reported number of CPS elementary students who meet standards on State assessments appear to be due to changes in the tests made by the Illinois State Board of Education, rather than real improvements in student learning.
At the elementary level, State assessment standards have been so weakened that most
of the 8th graders who “meet” these standards have little chance to succeed in high school or to be ready for college. While there has been modest improvement in real student learning in Chicago’s elementary schools, these gains dissipate in high school.
The performance of Chicago’s high schools is abysmal – with about half the students dropping out of the non-selective-enrollment schools, and more than 70% of 11th grade students failing to meet State standards. The trend has remained essentially flat over the past several years. The relatively high-performing students are concentrated in a few magnet/selective enrollment high schools. In the regular neighborhood high schools, which serve the vast preponderance of students, almost no students are prepared to succeed in college.
The full Comercial Club report is linked here.
The civic arm of the Commercial Club of Chicago, one of the oldest organizations representing the business, professional, educational and cultural leaders of the Chicago region, has issued a scathing critique ,"Still Left Behind 2009", that challenges Barrett's position.
The study, which characterizes Chicago high school student achievement as "abysmal," supports an earlier analysis published in the Harvard Educational Review entitled "Mayoral Takeovers, Recipe for Progress or Peril" that concludes: "the record suggests that the long term benefits of takeovers are more elusive especially in regard to student achievement."
The Harvard analysis reinforces the Commercial Club's review of academic achievement in the Chicago public schools: ...Chicago is hardly an advertisement of mayoral takeovers. In 2005, for instance, only 42.5% of students in grades three through eight scored at or above national norms on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills reading test- a gain of only ten percentage points since the Mayor took over the system."
Here are some of the Commercial Club's key findings.
Most of Chicago’s students drop out or fail. The vast majority of Chicago’s elementary and high schools do not prepare their students for success in college and beyond.
There is a general perception that Chicago’s public schools have been gradually improving over time. However, recent dramatic gains in the reported number of CPS elementary students who meet standards on State assessments appear to be due to changes in the tests made by the Illinois State Board of Education, rather than real improvements in student learning.
At the elementary level, State assessment standards have been so weakened that most
of the 8th graders who “meet” these standards have little chance to succeed in high school or to be ready for college. While there has been modest improvement in real student learning in Chicago’s elementary schools, these gains dissipate in high school.
The performance of Chicago’s high schools is abysmal – with about half the students dropping out of the non-selective-enrollment schools, and more than 70% of 11th grade students failing to meet State standards. The trend has remained essentially flat over the past several years. The relatively high-performing students are concentrated in a few magnet/selective enrollment high schools. In the regular neighborhood high schools, which serve the vast preponderance of students, almost no students are prepared to succeed in college.
The full Comercial Club report is linked here.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
MPS takeover will not improve student achievement
By Charlie Dee and Michael Rosen
The proposal to dissolve the Milwaukee Public School Board and replace it with Mayoral control will not lead to improved student achievement because it does not correctly identify the problems facing MPS nor does it offer any educational solutions to those problems.
There are numerous reasons to oppose this, some that are very obvious.
• Citizens of Milwaukee just voted for a board with three new members, and that board selected a new Board Chair, Michael Bonds. This board should be given a chance to make necessary reforms in MPS.
• The proposal is not an educational plan. Takeover proponents have not proposed even one idea as to what they would do differently to improve the schools. They have ONLY proposed that the Mayor be allowed to take over the governance of them.
• Milwaukee's Mayor Tom Barrett has no qualifications, expertise or experience that would indicate a capacity to increase student achievement in Milwaukee.
The mayor has cited only two specific reasons for why he should be in charge of MPS: gaining increased federal dollars and the closing the “racial achievement gap” in Milwaukee.
He and the supporters of this take-over claim that the Obama administration will only consider Milwaukee for Race to the Top money if the mayor is in charge of the public schools. But Congresswoman Gwen Moore has put to rest that argument by revealing that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan specifically told her that mayoral control is in no way a precondition to receiving federal money.
Milwaukee certainly has a racial achievement gap in education. But it also has a racial income gap, racial unemployment gap, racial teen pregnancy gap, racial neighborhood crime gap, and racial home lending gap. Yet Mayor Barrett has done little to solve those in his five years in office. Why would anyone think he can turn the education gap around with no plan but much power?
Then, on September 4, the mayor offered his first analysis of the racial gap in education in his “Barrett Report,” and, incredibly enough, Barrett blamed the gap on too many students going to the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC)! Barrett claimed as evidence of the “the Black-White workforce gap” and “the lack of workforce skills” the fact that twice as many MPS grads go “to MATC as compared to UW-Milwaukee.”
It is reprehensible that Mayor Barrett would so demean MATC and our students. At MATC, we close the workforce gap; we don’t increase it. This shows conclusively that Barrett shouldn’t be trusted to solve this gap by taking over MPS because he doesn’t have a clue about what the causes are.
Just as disturbing are the political forces that are pushing this change in governance for MPS. Put simply, they are enemies of public education that have lost the control they once had over the MPS. They now view a change in governance as the best way to get back in power.
Foremost among those pushing governance changes are the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJ-S) editorial board and Tim Sheehy, President of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce (MMAC). In the shadows lurks the right wing Bradley Foundation and its various tentacles, the Wisconsin Public Research Institute and Wisconsin Interest Magazine.
The Journal-Sentinel (MJ-S), Bradley Foundation and the MMAC have been major champions of the school voucher movement for twenty years, a movement that has drained many millions of dollars from the MPS without producing the promised educational improvements in its own schools or gains in MPS that were supposed to result from the “free market competition” of voucher schools.
The MJ-S, Bradley Foundation and Sheehy have either endorsed or financed pro-privatization candidates for the school board. For much of the past 16 years, their candidates had a majority on the MPS Board. They are the ones who hired the current MPS Superintendant, William Adrekopolous, and labeled any board member who tried to hold Adrekopolous accountable “as anti-reform.” They also promoted the hugely expensive Neighborhood Schools Initiative that has been a failure by every measure.
So the forces most vigorously pushing this governance change have a miserable but expensive track record when it comes to educational reform.
But they have very clear political agendas. Put simply, they don’t like the majority of the members of the Milwaukee School Board democratically elected by the citizens of Milwaukee. Keep in mind, the MJ-S and the MMAC made no critique of MPS governance when the candidates they endorsed, selected or funded were the elected majority of the MPS Board. When Bruce Thompson, Ken Johnson, Joe Danneker and Jeff Spence held the board chair, the MJ-S and the MMAC thought the governance system was working just fine.
So it is clear that their support for a governance change is not a principled stand – one predicated on a genuine researched-based belief that governance changes would result in delivering more effective education. Rather, it is a stand of sheer political opportunism: they haven’t been able to get their candidates elected democratically, so they want to change the rules of the game.
Further evidence of this opportunism is the fact that three of these forces, the MJ-S, Sheehy and the Bradley Foundation through its propaganda organ, Wisconsin Interest, joined by a cadre of Republican legislators, have called for a change in governance for MATC. Only in this case, they want to move from a board appointed by elected officials to a board elected by the public. Obviously, this is exactly the opposite from the change they want for MPS.
The only consistency in their position on elected versus appointed boards at MPS and MATC is that Sheehy and the MMAC, with editorial and reportorial support from the MJ-S, have tried and failed to get people hand-picked by Sheehy appointed to the MATC Board. Right on cue, Wisconsin Interest just published an attack on the appointed MATC Board, and Republican Senator Alberta Darling introduced a bill to change MATC governance. Their hope is that elections will provide them the opportunity to gain control of MATC just as they want to move away from elections in order to control the MPS Board.
Governance changes will not improve academic performance or close the racial achievement gap. Nor will politically motivated sound bites.
If the Mayor and Governor are sincere about their desire to improve the academic performance of Milwaukee children they should abandon their ill conceived governance proposal and focus on helping our beleaguered school system get the resources it needs to meet the challenges of educating a largely economically and educationally disadvantaged student body.
If we want to improve student achievement we need to empower students, parents and teachers, not disenfranchise them.
Charlie Dee is a professor of history and English at Milwaukee Area Technical College and the Executive Vice President of AFT Local 212
Michael Rosen is a professor of economics at MATC and the President of AFT Local 212
The proposal to dissolve the Milwaukee Public School Board and replace it with Mayoral control will not lead to improved student achievement because it does not correctly identify the problems facing MPS nor does it offer any educational solutions to those problems.
There are numerous reasons to oppose this, some that are very obvious.
• Citizens of Milwaukee just voted for a board with three new members, and that board selected a new Board Chair, Michael Bonds. This board should be given a chance to make necessary reforms in MPS.
• The proposal is not an educational plan. Takeover proponents have not proposed even one idea as to what they would do differently to improve the schools. They have ONLY proposed that the Mayor be allowed to take over the governance of them.
• Milwaukee's Mayor Tom Barrett has no qualifications, expertise or experience that would indicate a capacity to increase student achievement in Milwaukee.
The mayor has cited only two specific reasons for why he should be in charge of MPS: gaining increased federal dollars and the closing the “racial achievement gap” in Milwaukee.
He and the supporters of this take-over claim that the Obama administration will only consider Milwaukee for Race to the Top money if the mayor is in charge of the public schools. But Congresswoman Gwen Moore has put to rest that argument by revealing that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan specifically told her that mayoral control is in no way a precondition to receiving federal money.
Milwaukee certainly has a racial achievement gap in education. But it also has a racial income gap, racial unemployment gap, racial teen pregnancy gap, racial neighborhood crime gap, and racial home lending gap. Yet Mayor Barrett has done little to solve those in his five years in office. Why would anyone think he can turn the education gap around with no plan but much power?
Then, on September 4, the mayor offered his first analysis of the racial gap in education in his “Barrett Report,” and, incredibly enough, Barrett blamed the gap on too many students going to the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC)! Barrett claimed as evidence of the “the Black-White workforce gap” and “the lack of workforce skills” the fact that twice as many MPS grads go “to MATC as compared to UW-Milwaukee.”
It is reprehensible that Mayor Barrett would so demean MATC and our students. At MATC, we close the workforce gap; we don’t increase it. This shows conclusively that Barrett shouldn’t be trusted to solve this gap by taking over MPS because he doesn’t have a clue about what the causes are.
Just as disturbing are the political forces that are pushing this change in governance for MPS. Put simply, they are enemies of public education that have lost the control they once had over the MPS. They now view a change in governance as the best way to get back in power.
Foremost among those pushing governance changes are the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJ-S) editorial board and Tim Sheehy, President of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce (MMAC). In the shadows lurks the right wing Bradley Foundation and its various tentacles, the Wisconsin Public Research Institute and Wisconsin Interest Magazine.
The Journal-Sentinel (MJ-S), Bradley Foundation and the MMAC have been major champions of the school voucher movement for twenty years, a movement that has drained many millions of dollars from the MPS without producing the promised educational improvements in its own schools or gains in MPS that were supposed to result from the “free market competition” of voucher schools.
The MJ-S, Bradley Foundation and Sheehy have either endorsed or financed pro-privatization candidates for the school board. For much of the past 16 years, their candidates had a majority on the MPS Board. They are the ones who hired the current MPS Superintendant, William Adrekopolous, and labeled any board member who tried to hold Adrekopolous accountable “as anti-reform.” They also promoted the hugely expensive Neighborhood Schools Initiative that has been a failure by every measure.
So the forces most vigorously pushing this governance change have a miserable but expensive track record when it comes to educational reform.
But they have very clear political agendas. Put simply, they don’t like the majority of the members of the Milwaukee School Board democratically elected by the citizens of Milwaukee. Keep in mind, the MJ-S and the MMAC made no critique of MPS governance when the candidates they endorsed, selected or funded were the elected majority of the MPS Board. When Bruce Thompson, Ken Johnson, Joe Danneker and Jeff Spence held the board chair, the MJ-S and the MMAC thought the governance system was working just fine.
So it is clear that their support for a governance change is not a principled stand – one predicated on a genuine researched-based belief that governance changes would result in delivering more effective education. Rather, it is a stand of sheer political opportunism: they haven’t been able to get their candidates elected democratically, so they want to change the rules of the game.
Further evidence of this opportunism is the fact that three of these forces, the MJ-S, Sheehy and the Bradley Foundation through its propaganda organ, Wisconsin Interest, joined by a cadre of Republican legislators, have called for a change in governance for MATC. Only in this case, they want to move from a board appointed by elected officials to a board elected by the public. Obviously, this is exactly the opposite from the change they want for MPS.
The only consistency in their position on elected versus appointed boards at MPS and MATC is that Sheehy and the MMAC, with editorial and reportorial support from the MJ-S, have tried and failed to get people hand-picked by Sheehy appointed to the MATC Board. Right on cue, Wisconsin Interest just published an attack on the appointed MATC Board, and Republican Senator Alberta Darling introduced a bill to change MATC governance. Their hope is that elections will provide them the opportunity to gain control of MATC just as they want to move away from elections in order to control the MPS Board.
Governance changes will not improve academic performance or close the racial achievement gap. Nor will politically motivated sound bites.
If the Mayor and Governor are sincere about their desire to improve the academic performance of Milwaukee children they should abandon their ill conceived governance proposal and focus on helping our beleaguered school system get the resources it needs to meet the challenges of educating a largely economically and educationally disadvantaged student body.
If we want to improve student achievement we need to empower students, parents and teachers, not disenfranchise them.
Charlie Dee is a professor of history and English at Milwaukee Area Technical College and the Executive Vice President of AFT Local 212
Michael Rosen is a professor of economics at MATC and the President of AFT Local 212
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Will MPS live up to its promise?
In response to advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced yesterday that all previously closed schools and childcare centers were free to reopen.
MPS spokesperson Roseann St. Aubin said that all classrooms will be equipped with hand sanitizer and tissues so that students, teachers and staff can follow good health practices. That's as it should be although I remain skeptical about the administration's following through on this.
As anyone who works in the Milwaukee public schools know, bathrooms are routinely without toilet paper and hand soap. Conscientious teachers, staff and parents often purchase these items for their schools. But that really isn't their responsibility.
Crucial to teaching children good hygiene, providing MPS students with a healthy learning environment, and protecting students, faculty and staff from diseases is providing them with these basic sanitary products.
As public attention to this latest health scare wanes it will be interesting to see if MPS lives up to its promises.
MPS spokesperson Roseann St. Aubin said that all classrooms will be equipped with hand sanitizer and tissues so that students, teachers and staff can follow good health practices. That's as it should be although I remain skeptical about the administration's following through on this.
As anyone who works in the Milwaukee public schools know, bathrooms are routinely without toilet paper and hand soap. Conscientious teachers, staff and parents often purchase these items for their schools. But that really isn't their responsibility.
Crucial to teaching children good hygiene, providing MPS students with a healthy learning environment, and protecting students, faculty and staff from diseases is providing them with these basic sanitary products.
As public attention to this latest health scare wanes it will be interesting to see if MPS lives up to its promises.
Monday, February 2, 2009
School Group Admits it was behind Milwaukee School Board Election Push Poll
The group “Advocates for Student Achievement” (ASA) admitted at its Monday breakfast meeting co-sponsored by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce (MMAC) that it was behind a recent “push poll” in Milwaukee School Board districts with contested elections.
ASA spokesman, Anne Curley, asserted that ASA had not asked any question aimed at discrediting school board members. She said those questions were from the ASA political action committee. But she acknowledged in a question from the audience that all of the questions were in the very same poll undermining its claim to scientific objectivity.
Curley also said that ASA was releasing only some of the questions and responses in the poll.
The Parker Group conducted the push poll, a technique used to plant negative ideas about candidates in voters’ minds while posing as a neutral poll.
In the district represented by MPS Board Chair Peter Blewett, a “question” alleged that Blewett had approved of School Board Director Charlene Hardin’s trip to Philadelphia, an allegation that is untrue. (For more on this push poll see this column by the Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice.)
Spokesperson for ASA also admitted in answers to questions from the audience, that it asked no questions in the poll about the state funding formula’s impact on MPS education.
While ASA claims its poll was intended to identify public perception of issues in MPS, it was clearly intended to persuade voters that the current school board is the problem and to promote the election of ASA supported candidates.
The group’s agenda is clearly revealed because it did not ask about the flawed state funding formula, the costly and unaccountable Voucher Program, the failed Neighborhood School Initiative, or even what voters like about the MPS.
None of the results of this poll can be taken seriously if some of the questions were “push” questions.
Milwaukee School Board President, Peter Blewett, condemned the push poll two weeks ago when constituents contacted him about it.
“These push polls are classic sleazy campaign tricks,” Blewett stated. “I have never used them. I want a campaign that focuses on how MPS can prepare our students for challenging world of work or higher education. Voters have a right to hear about how candidates plan to improve MPS. Secretly-funded sleaze campaigns debase the democratic process and insult voters’ intelligence,” Blewett added.
Blewett said, “I have no idea whether my opponent or some group supporting her paid for this push poll because the callers from the Parker Group will not clearly identify who paid except, in one case to answer, ‘The school board,’ which of course is a lie.” Blewett added, “I hope my opponent had nothing to do with these dirty tricks, and that she will immediately call for any group associated with her to desist from these and any other sleazy tactics.”
If ASA really believed in transparency, it would release all the the questions in the poll so public can see that the poll was designed to get the answers it received.
An additional issue at the event that was held at the Italian Community Center was that the group allowed three candidates for the Milwaukee School Board to speak, but did not allow candidate, Larry Miller, to address the audience.
ASA spokesman, Anne Curley, asserted that ASA had not asked any question aimed at discrediting school board members. She said those questions were from the ASA political action committee. But she acknowledged in a question from the audience that all of the questions were in the very same poll undermining its claim to scientific objectivity.
Curley also said that ASA was releasing only some of the questions and responses in the poll.
The Parker Group conducted the push poll, a technique used to plant negative ideas about candidates in voters’ minds while posing as a neutral poll.
In the district represented by MPS Board Chair Peter Blewett, a “question” alleged that Blewett had approved of School Board Director Charlene Hardin’s trip to Philadelphia, an allegation that is untrue. (For more on this push poll see this column by the Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice.)
Spokesperson for ASA also admitted in answers to questions from the audience, that it asked no questions in the poll about the state funding formula’s impact on MPS education.
While ASA claims its poll was intended to identify public perception of issues in MPS, it was clearly intended to persuade voters that the current school board is the problem and to promote the election of ASA supported candidates.
The group’s agenda is clearly revealed because it did not ask about the flawed state funding formula, the costly and unaccountable Voucher Program, the failed Neighborhood School Initiative, or even what voters like about the MPS.
None of the results of this poll can be taken seriously if some of the questions were “push” questions.
Milwaukee School Board President, Peter Blewett, condemned the push poll two weeks ago when constituents contacted him about it.
“These push polls are classic sleazy campaign tricks,” Blewett stated. “I have never used them. I want a campaign that focuses on how MPS can prepare our students for challenging world of work or higher education. Voters have a right to hear about how candidates plan to improve MPS. Secretly-funded sleaze campaigns debase the democratic process and insult voters’ intelligence,” Blewett added.
Blewett said, “I have no idea whether my opponent or some group supporting her paid for this push poll because the callers from the Parker Group will not clearly identify who paid except, in one case to answer, ‘The school board,’ which of course is a lie.” Blewett added, “I hope my opponent had nothing to do with these dirty tricks, and that she will immediately call for any group associated with her to desist from these and any other sleazy tactics.”
If ASA really believed in transparency, it would release all the the questions in the poll so public can see that the poll was designed to get the answers it received.
An additional issue at the event that was held at the Italian Community Center was that the group allowed three candidates for the Milwaukee School Board to speak, but did not allow candidate, Larry Miller, to address the audience.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Milwaukee Public School Board President Peter Blewett blasts sleazy campaign tactics
Milwaukee School Board President Peter Blewett today condemned the use of “push polling” against him in his campaign for re-election to the Milwaukee School Board.
Blewett explained that numerous supporters in his district have received “push poll” calls this week from the Parker Group of Birmingham , Alabama . These calls start off with straight-forward questions, and then ask voters “push questions,” stating that Blewett authorized Board Member Charlene Hardin to attend a personal trip with Board funds.
Blewett stated for the record, “I did not authorize Director Charlene Hardin’s trip to Philadelphia .” As President, all Board member travel is supposed to come across his desk, but the Philadelphia trip was approved by the MPS administration without Blewett’s knowledge, he explained. “The entire trip is under investigation now, an investigation that I hope is completed very soon,” Blewett added. “If the investigation concludes that Director Hardin broke the public trust by using taxpayer money for personal reasons, as the media has reported, then the Board has already acted to censure her. If reports are true, I have also called for her to repay the funds to the district,” Blewett said.
“These push polls are classic sleazy campaign tricks,” Blewett stated. “I have never used them. I want a campaign that focuses on how MPS can prepare our students for the challenging world of work or higher education. Voters have a right to hear about how candidates plan to improve MPS. Secretly-funded sleaze campaigns debase the democratic process and insult voters’ intelligence,” Blewett added.
Blewett said, “I have no idea whether my opponent or some group supporting her paid for this push poll because the callers from the Parker Group will not clearly identify who paid except, in one case to answer, ‘The school board,’ which of course is a lie.” Blewett added, “I hope my opponent had nothing to do with these dirty tricks, and that she will immediately call for any group associated with her to desist from these and any other sleazy tactics.”
The Parker Group is a political and corporate telemarketing operation that is most notorious for engaging in “race-matched calling” where its African American employees are given one script to call black voters while its white employees call white voters with a different script, Blewett explained. In 1999, a federal court of appeals found the Parker Group guilty of racial discrimination in employment against an African-American employee because she was only permitted to telephone black voters.
Blewett explained that numerous supporters in his district have received “push poll” calls this week from the Parker Group of Birmingham , Alabama . These calls start off with straight-forward questions, and then ask voters “push questions,” stating that Blewett authorized Board Member Charlene Hardin to attend a personal trip with Board funds.
Blewett stated for the record, “I did not authorize Director Charlene Hardin’s trip to Philadelphia .” As President, all Board member travel is supposed to come across his desk, but the Philadelphia trip was approved by the MPS administration without Blewett’s knowledge, he explained. “The entire trip is under investigation now, an investigation that I hope is completed very soon,” Blewett added. “If the investigation concludes that Director Hardin broke the public trust by using taxpayer money for personal reasons, as the media has reported, then the Board has already acted to censure her. If reports are true, I have also called for her to repay the funds to the district,” Blewett said.
“These push polls are classic sleazy campaign tricks,” Blewett stated. “I have never used them. I want a campaign that focuses on how MPS can prepare our students for the challenging world of work or higher education. Voters have a right to hear about how candidates plan to improve MPS. Secretly-funded sleaze campaigns debase the democratic process and insult voters’ intelligence,” Blewett added.
Blewett said, “I have no idea whether my opponent or some group supporting her paid for this push poll because the callers from the Parker Group will not clearly identify who paid except, in one case to answer, ‘The school board,’ which of course is a lie.” Blewett added, “I hope my opponent had nothing to do with these dirty tricks, and that she will immediately call for any group associated with her to desist from these and any other sleazy tactics.”
The Parker Group is a political and corporate telemarketing operation that is most notorious for engaging in “race-matched calling” where its African American employees are given one script to call black voters while its white employees call white voters with a different script, Blewett explained. In 1999, a federal court of appeals found the Parker Group guilty of racial discrimination in employment against an African-American employee because she was only permitted to telephone black voters.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Journal Sentinel says disenfranchising voters will help MPS
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently editorialized that the Milwaukee Public School board should be dissolved and replaced by an appointed board.
Peter Blewett, the current MPS board president, wrote in reponse that:
Like all urban school districts, MPS faces serious challenges. But none of the issues stem from the right of Milwaukee's citizens to elect their School Board representatives. ..Rather than disenfranchising the citizens of Milwaukee, all of us - the board, administration, educators, staff, parents, business, community leaders - must work together to ensure that the district's teachers have the necessary training and resources to provide Milwaukee's increasingly marginalized youth with the tools they need to succeed in the 21st century.
Blewett's op ed is linked.
Peter Blewett, the current MPS board president, wrote in reponse that:
Like all urban school districts, MPS faces serious challenges. But none of the issues stem from the right of Milwaukee's citizens to elect their School Board representatives. ..Rather than disenfranchising the citizens of Milwaukee, all of us - the board, administration, educators, staff, parents, business, community leaders - must work together to ensure that the district's teachers have the necessary training and resources to provide Milwaukee's increasingly marginalized youth with the tools they need to succeed in the 21st century.
Blewett's op ed is linked.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Community leaders apply double standard to MPS!
Declining state aid, a $625 million voucher experiment, and growing property taxes led a committee of the MPS Board to suggest dissolving the state's largest school district.
Did the board members who voted to supported this measure consider its impact on MPS' students? Or the teachers and staff who educate the city's children while holding our beleaguered public schools together?
There's a double standard when it comes to the education of Milwaukee's children and MPS.
Poverty has grown in Milwaukee and become more extreme, but no one suggests that we dissolve the city!
In response to increased crime, no one suggests that we dissolve the Milwaukee Police Department. Rather, we invest in more officers and better equipment and technology!
When our professional baseball team that had not won in years threatened to leave, we didn't wave good bye. We built them a billion dollar stadium!
When Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac, Frannie Mae, Lehman Brothers, the American International Group and others threaten to dissolve, we don't let them fail. We bail them out with taxpayers money.
But when it comes to Miwaukee's children, we don't hire more teachers or bail out the district, we threaten them, the adults who care for and work with them, and their schools.
Have we no shame!
Did the board members who voted to supported this measure consider its impact on MPS' students? Or the teachers and staff who educate the city's children while holding our beleaguered public schools together?
There's a double standard when it comes to the education of Milwaukee's children and MPS.
Poverty has grown in Milwaukee and become more extreme, but no one suggests that we dissolve the city!
In response to increased crime, no one suggests that we dissolve the Milwaukee Police Department. Rather, we invest in more officers and better equipment and technology!
When our professional baseball team that had not won in years threatened to leave, we didn't wave good bye. We built them a billion dollar stadium!
When Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac, Frannie Mae, Lehman Brothers, the American International Group and others threaten to dissolve, we don't let them fail. We bail them out with taxpayers money.
But when it comes to Miwaukee's children, we don't hire more teachers or bail out the district, we threaten them, the adults who care for and work with them, and their schools.
Have we no shame!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
MPS responds to voucher study!
The Milwaukee Public School District responded to a study of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program that was featured prominently in a front page Journal Sentinel article and editorial.
The Journal's editors characterized the report as "groundbreaking" and the findings preliminary, but "tantalizing." But they cautioned against drawing any hard and fast conclusions.
The article was entitled "Voucher study finds parity." But MPS argued that there is no parity in how the private school voucher program is funded. Nor is there parity between MPS and the private schools in providing special education. The MPS release is reprinted in its entirely below:
Voucher school study exposes funding flaws, imbalance in special education
The first findings have been released in a study of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program by University of Arkansas researchers in the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP).
What the researchers said about the financial impact of the voucher program – and what they don’t say about special education – is the significant news.
Researchers state that the arrangement for financing voucher schools adversely affects Milwaukee taxpayers.
The State of Wisconsin reimburses just 55% for a voucher student, but provides 73% for an MPS student. "It’s the Milwaukee taxpayer who makes up the difference. Taxpayers in the rest of the state do not share in the cost," explained MPS Superintendent William Andrekopoulos. "This report once again demonstrates that in essence, there is an extra private school tax that is placed on the residents of Milwaukee."
As a result, Milwaukee taxpayers are paying $54 million this year and will likely have to pay $59 million in private school taxes for the 2008-09 school year. "Funding inequities caused by this program are creating a strain on Milwaukee taxpayers, and we are sensitive to this," said MPS Superintendent William Andrekopoulos. "The inequities are also causing tough financial choices for the district."
The reports released this week also appear to underestimate the significant differences between MPS and the voucher schools in the area of special education.
Eighteen percent of students (17,300 students) in Milwaukee Public Schools receive special services through Individual Education Plans (IEPs) while MPS data shows that less than 2.5% of voucher school students have Service Plans for students with identified special needs. Service Plans for special needs, private school students are the equivalent of IEPs for students in public schools.
As the lead educational agency for the City of Milwaukee, MPS is required to maintain records for students with special needs in private schools. Current records show that there are 209 active service plans for private school students and another 241 private school students who are eligible for Service Plans but who have opted not to receive services. While there may be students in private schools who have not been formally identified through the Service Plan process, it is likely reasonable to assume that students with the need for more significant assistance are accounted for in this data.
This significant element of MPS student population (the special needs students) is not recognized fully in the study, according to Superintendent Andrekopoulos, who says that it should be. "We’re happy that thousands of families choose us first for special education services and we do a great job with their children in our schools," said Andrekopoulos. "However, special needs students require additional resources, and we’ve had to shift funds to meet these needs. As the enrollments rise in voucher schools, we’ve seen the number of regular education students decrease in MPS while our numbers of higher-cost students in special education have gone up.
This trend is real and it’s a costly one."
The Superintendent said that any long-term view of the voucher program should chart the numbers of special education children in the city, and it should track how their educational needs are met.
For additional information, contact Roseann St. Aubin, MPS Communications Director, at (414) 475-8237.
The Journal's editors characterized the report as "groundbreaking" and the findings preliminary, but "tantalizing." But they cautioned against drawing any hard and fast conclusions.
The article was entitled "Voucher study finds parity." But MPS argued that there is no parity in how the private school voucher program is funded. Nor is there parity between MPS and the private schools in providing special education. The MPS release is reprinted in its entirely below:
Voucher school study exposes funding flaws, imbalance in special education
The first findings have been released in a study of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program by University of Arkansas researchers in the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP).
What the researchers said about the financial impact of the voucher program – and what they don’t say about special education – is the significant news.
Researchers state that the arrangement for financing voucher schools adversely affects Milwaukee taxpayers.
The State of Wisconsin reimburses just 55% for a voucher student, but provides 73% for an MPS student. "It’s the Milwaukee taxpayer who makes up the difference. Taxpayers in the rest of the state do not share in the cost," explained MPS Superintendent William Andrekopoulos. "This report once again demonstrates that in essence, there is an extra private school tax that is placed on the residents of Milwaukee."
As a result, Milwaukee taxpayers are paying $54 million this year and will likely have to pay $59 million in private school taxes for the 2008-09 school year. "Funding inequities caused by this program are creating a strain on Milwaukee taxpayers, and we are sensitive to this," said MPS Superintendent William Andrekopoulos. "The inequities are also causing tough financial choices for the district."
The reports released this week also appear to underestimate the significant differences between MPS and the voucher schools in the area of special education.
Eighteen percent of students (17,300 students) in Milwaukee Public Schools receive special services through Individual Education Plans (IEPs) while MPS data shows that less than 2.5% of voucher school students have Service Plans for students with identified special needs. Service Plans for special needs, private school students are the equivalent of IEPs for students in public schools.
As the lead educational agency for the City of Milwaukee, MPS is required to maintain records for students with special needs in private schools. Current records show that there are 209 active service plans for private school students and another 241 private school students who are eligible for Service Plans but who have opted not to receive services. While there may be students in private schools who have not been formally identified through the Service Plan process, it is likely reasonable to assume that students with the need for more significant assistance are accounted for in this data.
This significant element of MPS student population (the special needs students) is not recognized fully in the study, according to Superintendent Andrekopoulos, who says that it should be. "We’re happy that thousands of families choose us first for special education services and we do a great job with their children in our schools," said Andrekopoulos. "However, special needs students require additional resources, and we’ve had to shift funds to meet these needs. As the enrollments rise in voucher schools, we’ve seen the number of regular education students decrease in MPS while our numbers of higher-cost students in special education have gone up.
This trend is real and it’s a costly one."
The Superintendent said that any long-term view of the voucher program should chart the numbers of special education children in the city, and it should track how their educational needs are met.
For additional information, contact Roseann St. Aubin, MPS Communications Director, at (414) 475-8237.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Super Bowl XLII: woodstock for the rich and shameless
It's Super Bowl Sunday.
Thirty second advertising spots cost more than $2.7 milion.
That's not close to the $10 billion we spend in Iraq every month. But it would sure help struggling urban school districts like MPS and the Racine Unified buy books, restore classes in art, music and gym that keep kids interested in school, and reduce unacceptably high pupil teacher ratios. Or it would help Wisconsin's Universities and tech colleges keep tuition, which has been rising like gas prices, affordable.
My favorite sports writer and friend, Dave Zirin writes:
Before it is anything else, before it’s even a football game, the Super Bowl is first and foremost a two week entertainment festival for the rich and shameless: a corporate Woodstock with suits and sports cars subbing for ponchos and patchouli. Less free love and drugs, more hookers and scotch.
One headline preceding the big game read "Phoenix Faces Super Bowl Parking Woe: Where to Put Gulfstreams?" As the article stated, "The Arizona host committee expects 800 to 1,000 private jets, or more, to use the airports before Sunday's game. That will be at least double the number when nearby Tempe was the site of the Super Bowl in 1996.”
Giants co-owner Steve Tisch spoke about the pugilistic plutocrats at the airport. “’When that game's over and a lot of people who've flown on private planes want to go home and everybody feels that they're entitled to be the first to take off, that's when it gets interesting. A lot of people are saying to their pilots to tell the tower, “Do you know who I've got on my plane?'''
What a terrifically charming slice of life. Is now an appropriate time to tell Mr. Tisch that 21.2% of children in Arizona live below the poverty line? Or 40% of Native Americans? Can he hear me over the jets?
The thought of corporate execs swinging their egos to get their planes out of an airport hangar is a perfect snapshot for the excess that’s smothered the game. The Super Bowl has become a place to see and be seen. Q ratings matter more than quarterbacks. And spectacle has triumphed over sport.
Thirty second advertising spots cost more than $2.7 milion.
That's not close to the $10 billion we spend in Iraq every month. But it would sure help struggling urban school districts like MPS and the Racine Unified buy books, restore classes in art, music and gym that keep kids interested in school, and reduce unacceptably high pupil teacher ratios. Or it would help Wisconsin's Universities and tech colleges keep tuition, which has been rising like gas prices, affordable.
My favorite sports writer and friend, Dave Zirin writes:
Before it is anything else, before it’s even a football game, the Super Bowl is first and foremost a two week entertainment festival for the rich and shameless: a corporate Woodstock with suits and sports cars subbing for ponchos and patchouli. Less free love and drugs, more hookers and scotch.
One headline preceding the big game read "Phoenix Faces Super Bowl Parking Woe: Where to Put Gulfstreams?" As the article stated, "The Arizona host committee expects 800 to 1,000 private jets, or more, to use the airports before Sunday's game. That will be at least double the number when nearby Tempe was the site of the Super Bowl in 1996.”
Giants co-owner Steve Tisch spoke about the pugilistic plutocrats at the airport. “’When that game's over and a lot of people who've flown on private planes want to go home and everybody feels that they're entitled to be the first to take off, that's when it gets interesting. A lot of people are saying to their pilots to tell the tower, “Do you know who I've got on my plane?'''
What a terrifically charming slice of life. Is now an appropriate time to tell Mr. Tisch that 21.2% of children in Arizona live below the poverty line? Or 40% of Native Americans? Can he hear me over the jets?
The thought of corporate execs swinging their egos to get their planes out of an airport hangar is a perfect snapshot for the excess that’s smothered the game. The Super Bowl has become a place to see and be seen. Q ratings matter more than quarterbacks. And spectacle has triumphed over sport.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)