Let's Get Ready to Bunglllllllllllllllllllle!!

In one corner, the MPS School Board. Weighing in at . . . well, bloated. Let's just leave it at that. In the other corner, Mayor Barrett. Weighing in at . . . tall. Very tall.

I'm on the fence about the Mayor taking over the school board. On the one hand, you have the board president putting forth all sorts of initiatives to help the district save money and make the schools competitive . . . and the board votes them down.

On the other hand . . . well, that's the problem. I don't know what's in the other hand. The big issue for me is other than all the caterwauling the Mayor, and the Governor (now suddenly you're concerned about Milwaukee?) have been doing about MPS, lately, there's no mention of a plan. Not specifically, anyway.

As I have a daughter in MPS, I have a vested interest in this. I can't say as I give a rat's tail who runs the district, as long as quality education is provided in a stimulating and safe environment. It's appalling to me that the board would spend time and resources on initiatives for dental hygiene, yet allow quality teachers to be eliminated from school positions. That's screwy.

Having said that, however, the issue of accountability is important. Would a mayor be more accountable than a school board? What about accessibility? Is the mayor too busy with his/her many responsibilities to address concerns when called upon? These are just a few of the questions that need to be answered.

Lastly, MPS has some good schools. I think the bad schools tend to get much of the attention and drag down the entire system. But, let's be honest. MPS cannot provide quality education when it's forced to relieve teachers largely due to inappropriate spending and over sight by the board. I don't want this to become a "punishment" issue. But, the board seems unwilling to take even the simplest of measures to improve. Maybe it is time for change.

Hanging Hardin

Bob Donovan issued a media advisory asking the DA to probe Hardin's vacati . . . uh, conference.

Not exactly going unnoticed, Charlene.

Hardly Hangin' Hardin

Every now and then, the JournalSentinel gets it right:

The Milwaukee School Board member should reimburse the school district for the costs of a conference on school safety that she apparently barely attended.

Of particular note:

Unless she can prove otherwise, Hardin should reimburse the district for the cost of the trip. And the School Board should revamp its policy so that board members can't take money from a school without approval of the entire board.

BTW, I don't think using "and" to start that particular sentence was a good idea. It's really a new thought. "additionally" would have been better. I could be wrong, though.

Hardin in it for the swag

A story in the JSonline reports that Milwaukee School Board member, Charlene Hardin, was a no show at a conference held in Philadelphia last month. This comes after the report that millions that have been wasted on the neighborhood initiatives program. What's more, while Hardin apparently had no interest in the conference, she DID have an interest in the swag.

At first, Hardin complained loudly that the staff had run out of conference bags, which contained zoo passes, city information and discounts for various items, Ricci said.

“Then she proceeded to go into the vendors’ area, get some plastic bags from them, help herself to a ton of food and cookies and candy and all that stuff from the snack tray, and proceeded to walk out the door again, making another big stink about the thing, and left,” Ricci said, estimating that the pair were there for all of five minutes.

Now, this is one account. I emailed the school board to see if they'd provide a different story. I'll post what I find out. Something tells me I won't be surprised by anything.

The article.