The Milwaukee School Board surprisingly rejected a proposal Thursday that would support a feasibility study leading to a new school model to reverse the district’s standing as the worse district in the country for Black children.
The proposal, introduced by Director Aisha Carr, had been approved bythe board’s student achievement committee days before.
But during a meeting that drew the largest Black audience in recent memory, all but two directors rejected the proposal, which may be long remembered not only because of subject matter but a verbal exchange between Carrand the head of the teachers union.
One observer said the verbal confrontation reminded him of a similar exchange between union president Amy Mitzialko and former Director MichaelBonds which ended with Bonds telling her “to go to hell.”
Carr has floated the proposal since last year. It would call for a study to beconducted free of charge by Harvard University, with the aim of closing theacademic achievement gap between Black and White students.
Last fall, a National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reportrevealed Milwaukee public schools system was the worse in the nation forBlack children.
A state Department of Public Instruction annual report card provided afurther indictment of MPS, showing less than 14% of Black students wereproficient in reading and half of that percentage in math.
The Carr proposal would analyze existing paradigms with the specific goalof improving reading and math proficiency rates.
The toxic exchanges between Mitzialko and Carr shocked many in attendance, prompting one report to lament the union president was disrespectful,having verbally attacked Director Carr in an “enraged, volatile manner, yelling fallacies and inaccurate information to evoke fear and discourage supportof the proposal.”
Carr said in a statement following the meeting, “the failures of Black children and Black communities are profitable! This study was my attempt torighteously serve my constituents and send a message to people throughoutthe city, letting them know that I stand with them and share their disappointment too.
“It was also my attempt to bring innovative changes to the district giventhe urgent need for more improved academic and social outcomes. I am appalled that my colleagues voted against this proposal instead of accepting myoffer to collaborate and engage in this work collectively.
“Shame on Directors Ericka Siemsen, Marva Herndon, Megan O’Halloran,Jilly Gokalgandhi, and board President Bob Peterson for ignoring the voicesand cries of Black students, teachers, and families.”
She declared that the vote against the resolution and the quick exit fromthe stage of board members “to avoid public accountability is reflective ofthe harsh and prevalent realities of institutional racism, and the void of equityand equality in a (district) that serves an (overwhelmingly minority studentpopulation).”
“I also urge taxpayers to ignore the racist and slanderous tactics of AmyMitzialko because anyone or any entity who will fight so hard to maintainthe social and academic failures of Black students and teachers doesn’t deserve the right to represent any body of people, especially our most vulnerablepopulation — children.
“This is a ‘Call-To-Action’ to every concerned community member whocares about the sustainability of our public schools, children, teachers, families, and communities. Those who are sick and tired of being sick and tiredand demand urgent change in our public education system must show up, demand immediate changes, and elect a board of leaders accountable to childrenand not politics.”
Director Carr will host a citywide town hall meeting at Washington HighSchool on Monday, April 3, at 5:30 PM. The public is invited to learn about her MPS “Call-to-action”