isthmusweek2
Isthmus Week 2
1. What qualities do you want to see in the new superintendent?
There is a photograph, on my web site of Superintendent Don Hafeman helping me move into Lincoln as Madison’s first elementary-school computer teacher. While carrying my boxes into the lab, he noticed Lincoln’s highly respected custodian, Joe Guegel. He went up to Joe, who was on his hands and knees scrubbing the lab’s carpet, shook his hand and thanked him for all the work he had done to help set up the new paired school. Joe beamed with gratitude.
I would tell the new Superintendent that it is essential that he know each school, their staff, their students, and their parents. I want the uniqueness of our city to be considered in every decision made. I want the good and decent people of my profession to be given the highest respect.
I will support his every endeavor to work together with teachers and parents. I hope that he will hire principals and administrators of the highest caliber who are also willing to go out into the schools and meet with teachers and parents.
Knowledge of the history of our district should be a priority – those programs that have succeeded and those in need of improvement. I do not want a radical revolution, but rather a carefully studied evolution directing us into the future. We need a person open to new ideas, but respectful of what we have already accomplished.
Above all, considering the financial constraints, the daily criticism of our schools, and the thankless task of being in the front line of attack from all sides, our new Superintendent had better have an awfully thick skin and, at the same time, have some very good answers to some very difficult questions.
2. Charter schools are hailed for offering the sort of educational variety and specialty instruction that some parents and students want, while critics worry their programs are untested and divert resources that would otherwise benefit the majority of students. Do you support the board’s cautious approach to authorizing new charter schools, believe that the board should be even more cautious, or feel that the board should be more willing to open new charter schools?
I am open to all options that will help our students learn, particularly those who are struggling or who are not being engaged.
The recent discussion by the Performance and Achievement Committee was a very useful reminder of the many ways the District can diversify school organization and programs offered in order to enhance engagement and achievement. They have been considering many things, including magnet schools, embedded programs, “strands,” alternative programs and working on ways evaluate proposals for all. This approach recognizes that none of these categories of “educational options” is in itself good or bad. “Choice” isn’t a fix for anything if the choices being created and funded aren’t good choices.
This isn’t caution; it is common sense. The Board is responsible for using the district’s resources in a manner that best serves all children. I take that seriously. All practices and proposals need to be scrutinized for learning, equity, costs and more. This includes those that seek to expand choices.
Unfortunately, we are a District in financial crisis and this reality may keep us from being as innovative as we would like to be in the near future. In an ideal world MMSD would and should be exploring new ways of reaching all of our students. Fortunately, we are also a district that is doing very well preparing the vast majority of our students. We always need to do better and do well for more students, but we are not a district in an educational crisis.
3. Recount a moment—large or small—where a teacher did something that changed the life of one of your children.
My family and I came to Madison in 1969. We had lived on both the east and west coasts, but when the time came for us to settle down, we knew exactly where we wanted to raise and educate our children. Madison schools played a major role in our decision to come here and we have never regretted it.
My husband and I will always be grateful to almost all of the teachers at Leopold, Cherokee and West for the profound effect they had on our children. From academics to sports, from clubs to preparations for citizenship, from humor to commitment, respect and humaneness, MMSD teachers invariably and unselfishly gave of themselves. These are fond memories and a superb education that will last Barbara and Jon a lifetime.
