Three slices of this week’s education pie being served around here:

Slice one: It’s one thing if Milwaukee School Board members want to go all night talking about the matters in front of them – it might not be a very good way to do business, but it only affects Board members, some MPS administrators, and a handful of others. It’s another thing when they have public hearings that go deep into the night. On Tuesday night, a Board committee considered fifteen requests to open new charter schools, renew contracts with existing charter schools, or close existing charter schools. The 6:30 p.m. meeting didn’t end until around 1 a.m. The committee was still taking up new requests after 11:30 p.m. There were people from out of town who waited for more than five hours while entirely different business was considered. Hundreds of people were present, including parents and students, and many endured lengthy waits before the item they cared about was brought up. This is a chronic problem. It’s rude. It discourages public participation. And it could be changed so easily – how about spreading discussions across several evenings? How about issuing a schedule with set times (7p.m. for this item, 7:30 for that item, etc.), and making an effort to stick to it?  If you’re not going to take up something for hours, it would be far more respectful of people to allow them to spend their time better.

Slice two: This hasn’t been the most satisfying time for people who are eager to change the status quo in education in Wisconsin.

The state’s Race to the Top bid lost out in the first round of federal decision-making,  the proposal for mayoral control of Milwaukee schools went nowhere in the Legislature, the New Leaders for New Schools alternative principal training program isn’t taking in any new candidates in Milwaukee – that’s just a start on the list. So it’s interesting to see that Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America, will be the graduation speaker at Marquette University on May 23, and Arne Duncan, the controversial Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama, will speak at one of four commencement ceremonies at UW-Madison in May 15. Maybe putting these two powerful and prominent advocates of change in such prominent roles shows there are still people in Wisconsin who want to listen to such voices.

Slice three: I was at a luncheon Wednesday hosted by St. Marcus Lutheran School, a 370-student school in the voucher program with a demanding, no-excuses commitment to seeing students succeed. Henry Tyson, the principal, presented five principles for what he believes would be a course for better education in Milwaukee.  A summary:

1)      “Change the dialogue in Milwaukee.” Regardless of whether a school is part of Milwaukee Public Schools, an independent charter school, or a private (generally religious) school in the voucher program, the focus should be on quality. It’s easy to understand the reasons for the political debates, especially about the voucher program, but it’s time to talk quality.

2)      “Be optimistic.” Solutions exist. There are schools in every sector in Milwaukee that are doing top-quality work. People should support them and push for spreading their success.

3)      “Expand and replicate great schools.” Tyson focused on seven schools. He said they had a combined enrollment of 1,900 a decade ago. They now have 6,100. That’s good, but a lot more is needed in terms of expanding those schools and bringing other schools to the same level. One big issue is facilities. Tyson decried “the absurdity of it all” that MPS has numerous empty school buildings that it won’t allow to be used by schools that are not part of MPS.

4)      “Close bad schools.” The good news, he said, is that this is being done fairly often, including the closing of many weak voucher and charter schools and the closing of an increasing number of schools in MPS with low achievement.

5)      “Engage. Get involved.” Tyson said people need to get involved in both the broader issues and in specific schools. “We really need a strong MPS,” he said. He said citizen involvement can have a major impact at all levels.

The seven schools Tyson focused on were Milwaukee College Prep (charter), Reagan High School (MPS), Bruce Guadalupe School (charter), the Hope Schools (voucher), Messmer Schools (voucher), St. Anthony School (voucher), and his own school.

Some of Tyson’s specific ideas are, to say the least, highly controversial politically – funding voucher, charter, and MPS students equally, for example. It’s not going to happen. But his five main points are worth anyone’s consideration. What if we really made quality the top priority citywide and launched into it with optimistic, can-do energy? That would be a really significant development.