Will the Supreme Court decision affect RUSD?

The Supreme Court released their long-awaited decision on 2 separate school integration cases. The question of the day is this – Does this affect RUSD and their voluntary desegregation plan in any way?

While many will tell you that the 2 school districts (Seattle and Louisville) face issues that RUSD does not, I beg to differ. You see, we have magnet and charter schools that DO use race as a factor in determining enrollment.

A couple of years ago, a neighbor of mine tried to enroll her son at one of the district’s charter schools. She was told outright that her child was both the wrong color and sex – they simply had already fulfilled their quota of young white males.

I value diversity, but not more than I value parental choice. My children have been fortunate enough to attend RUSD magnet schools for most of their lives. I believe that these programs should exist, and I think that the original concept of magnet schools is the best way to achieve diversity because it is voluntary – not mandated.

I feel true diversity is easier to nourish and develop when it is voluntary. There are many suburban parents that WILL send their children to an inner-city school if they perceive that the educational opportunity is a better one than the school in their neighborhood. However, no parent, whether they are black, white, green or purple want to be told that their opportunities are limited based on their skin color.

Which leads me to the next issue – will the recent Supreme Court decision have any effect on the bussing/neighborhood school/redistricting issue the RUSD board is supposed to tackle in the 2007-2008 school year?

Where our tax dollars go (or don’t go!)

Anyone not living under a rock knows that RUSD spends a lot of money on state-mandated programs. Take the state mandate on providing Gifted and Talented programming:

S. 118.35, Wis. Stats. Programs for gifted and talented pupils.

1. In this section, "gifted and talented pupils" means pupils enrolled in public schools who give evidence of high performance capability in intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, or specific academic areas and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided in a regular school program in order to fully develop such capabilities.
2. The state superintendent shall by rule establish guidelines for the identification of gifted and talented pupils.
3. Each school board shall:
a. Ensure that all gifted and talented pupils enrolled in the school district have access to a program for gifted and talented pupils.

In conjunction with this statute, schools districts MUST provide access, without charge for tuition, to programs not offered at the district’s schools. This program is called Youth Options; it allows the children (mostly high school age) access to advanced course work at area colleges and universities.

Here is a list of classes approved recently (by the RUSD) board) for one student for the 2007 Fall semester:

Gateway Technical College Perm Techniques 502-302
Gateway Technical College Shampoo Treatment 502-301
Gateway Technical College Facials 502-318
Gateway Technical College Womens' Haircutting 502-331
Gateway Technical College Chemical Straightening 502-303

While I wholeheartedly approve of students being able to take Advanced Calculus, Russian or other classes not offered by our schools, having the taxpayer picking up what seems to be an entire first semester of a cosmetology degree leaves me a little confused.

Is this what the DPI deems as programs for the “Gifted and Talented”?

Haircut 100 was an awesome 80’s band, but somehow I do not think that most people are aware they are paying for classes such as Haircut 100 at Gateway with their tax dollars.

If the intent of the above statute was to provide programming for the Gifted and Talented student, is the example above taking advantange of the opportunities available to the students?

Keep in mind that the STAR program (the Gifted and Talented program for the elementary schools) is a program in name only; there is not enough money to adequately fund this program.

My question is this, does the district not have enough money for the truly gifted and talented elementary children because of this costly mandate of the Youth Options program???

Mt Pleasant ignores recommendation of park referendum

Dontcha just love it when politicians want to ignore the will of their constituents?

Okay...I'm moving to Houston and setting my house on fire

RUSD wants input from the outlying communities

Caledonia Unplugged is reporting that the Community Development Authority, the Village Board and the Wisconsin Taxpayer’s Alliance will be meeting to determine a scope of services for the proposed feasibility study. In case you’ve been under a rock for the last few months – this is a study that will examine if the Village of Caledonia can sustain an independent school district.

The RUSD Board of Education’s Legislative Committee has met twice with leaders from the outlying suburbs to address the issues that have been brought to the surface with the proposed study.

Dr. Hicks has asked the Village Trustees what the school district can do (specifically!!) to address the needs of the suburbanites. I don’t care what side of the fence you’re on- having Caledonia pack up and leave will be extremely difficult and definitely not a good public relations move for RUSD. I have no official opinion on the issue until I see the cold hard facts of the study – but I definitely think a study is in order!!

So back to the original question - what can RUSD (specifically) do to make Caledonia and the other villages stop the process of looking for alternatives for RUSD?

Racine community reaction to reopening of Winslow building

I have read the online comments about the reopening of the former Winslow building with much interest this morning. I thought I would share a few insights – first of all deciding to close that building was a difficult one. The closing of the building was due in part to the district needing an immediate increase to their cash flow. Because of the lopsidedness of the schools’ enrollments, this school was very much underutilized. If you partner that with the decaying facility, Winslow was the school that drew the short straw.

At the time of the closing, Administration did not state it would be closed forever; they suggested once the facility plan needs were addressed and the redistricting done, Winslow (and Caddy Vista) COULD be reopened. I guess we assumed that the school would be reopened for elementary school kids. (I guess you should never ASSUME anything.) The lack of bathroom facilities has made the Winslow building not an attractive choice for the expanded 4-K program.

Secondly, everyone is complaining that the district needs to address the growing problem of drop-outs and children with behavior issues. According to the JT story, the Mack Achievement Center has outgrown its facilities. When the district finally begins to addresses this problem, there is a prevailing NIMBY attitude. Would you just rather have these “children” roam the streets, or would you rather they stay in their "home school" ? The big high schools cannot serve this students as well as a smaller environment can.

I think that bashing Unified for every decision has become the norm for this community. I have a litany of gripes with some of the decisions made in the past – the decision to transform the Winslow building to a school for at-risk students is just not one of them.

Tribute to our Military Fathers

Kind of puts the whole annual "what should I get Dad for Father's Day" debate in perspective, doesn't it?

Happy Father's Day ( a week early) to all the daddies out there!

Principal arrested for kissing feet

Oh, if only this was our biggest concern in our schools….

Park issue may go to referendum

I have a question, if the Racine County Board is advising the Village of Mt. Pleasant to hold an advisory referendum on the Stuart-McBride Park issue; do you think they will advise Caledonia to hold a referendum the next time the Tabor Woods issue comes up?

No more RUSD board grandstanding, please!

In the past when there is discussion regarding RUSD board member debate, my alliances have usually been with the very vocal minority of the board. However, I cautiously approve of the referral made by Dr. Warner last night to limit the number of times a board member can debate an issue. You see, the board meetings have been a political pissing match lately; limiting the public grandstanding of board members might actually allow the board time to make some REAL decisions that might ACTUALLY benefit the children of this district.

I am NOT suggesting that the board should not allow dissenting views or public debate – but there has to be an alternative to what has become the status quo on Monday nights. Board meetings, where NOTHING is accomplished, should NOT take over 4 hours to happen! A board member should be able to make his/her point after a couple of times around the table. Mr. Nielsen is a shining example of this; last night he provided a short, but POWERFUL reason for his no vote on accepting the EL-12 Monitoring Report (Learning Environment/Treatment of Students) as compliant.

I am sure that are many that think that approving this measure are certain of the “slippery slope” scenario where there will soon be a time when all future debate/dissent is silenced. I think that argument is a baseless one – at least I hope so. The children of this district deserve better leadership than what we have been accustomed; the board cannot continue on the path they are on – if they do, NOTHING will ever be accomplished!

For those of you who think I have gone completely crazy, I double-dog-dare you – No, I triple-dog-dare you – to attend at least one board meeting in its entirety. You will then understand why such a measure is so desperately needed.

Interesting news from MPS

There is interesting news from MPS this morning… The MPS Board voted to create a new position - a Policy Analyst. Michael Bonds, the board member who proposed creating the position, said the analyst would help ensure that the board receives "objective information in a timely manner."

I haven’t quite figured out if this is a good idea or not. On one hand, having a policy analyst on hand may have prevented the latest brouhaha over the PBCG contract here in eastern Racine County. On the other hand, I believe that adding a whole other layer of administration is a waste of tax payer dollars. I won’t even begin to get into the possible problems the likely micromanagement will cause.

Shouldn’t elected school board members just do the job they were elected to do?

Does spending more guarantee good test results?

Please allow me to preface these charts with a couple of comments.

1. I dislike using the WKCE as the measure of success as it only a snapshot in time and does not reflect the progress made throughout the year in the classroom. With that said, the state does need a tool for measurement and the WCKE is the only game in town.

2. I realize that RUSD faces challenges that many districts do not, but frankly I am tired of that excuse. Saying a poor child cannot learn is ignorant, and in some cases bigoted.











It is clear that RUSD (in the past) spent more than some districts and have far less (in test scores) to show for it.


My question is this - since the referendum for June 12th has been cancelled (therefore less money for the district for the upcoming school year) what sort of impact do you think we will see next year at this time?