Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Madison school district has two referendum questions on the November ballot.  The first is an operations referendum that seeks the voters’ approval for the school district to exceed the state-imposed revenue limits by a total of $33 million over … Continue reading →

At a March 20 meeting of Downtown Rotary, Madison school superintendent Jen Cheatham told a powerful story about her journey toward leading for equity.  She also made some news by observing that the upcoming school board election “will demonstrate the … Continue reading →

Here is a red-hot take.  I am going to say something positive about David Blaska’s run for school board.  I appreciate that he seems to be the only School Board candidate bringing up and asking questions about measurable student achievement … Continue reading →

The nomination papers are in and the races are set for Madison School Board spring elections.   Three seats are up for grabs and ten (!) candidates signed up.  There will be primaries for all three seats and probably some pretty … Continue reading →

[Note: This post combines three previous blog posts.] One thing I have learned during my nine years on the Madison School Board is that white families’ attitudes toward race strongly shape their orientations toward our public schools. The promise of … Continue reading →

The first part of this post drew from amicus briefs filed with the Supreme Court to explain how truly diverse classrooms benefit students’ academic achievement, interpersonal skills, workplace preparation, and civic engagement. The second part of the post looked at … Continue reading →

In the heat of the current School Board campaigns, there has been a lot of misinformation about the School Board’s 6-1 vote in January to approve the application of the Isthmus Montessori Academy (IMA) to become a charter school within … Continue reading →

Last summer, in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the United States Supreme Court affirmed previous rulings and held that colleges have a compelling interest in promoting the racial diversity of their student bodies.  The Court made clear that … Continue reading →

On January 30, the Madison School Board will consider a proposal from Isthmus Montessori Academy (IMA) to establish a new charter school within the Madison school district. As the name suggests, the school would offer a Montessori curriculum. A key … Continue reading →