Alan J. Borsuk – Page 115 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Will MPS Get Squeezed Extra Hard?

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:February 14, 2011
Post category:Education & Law Labor & Employment Law Milwaukee Public Schools

We’re entering uncharted territory when it comes to school issues statewide. I think it was clear from pretty far back that Gov. Scott Walker and Republican leaders in the Legislature were going to push for state employees and for teachers across the state (who are not state employees, but the state can influence their job situations) to pay significant shares of their health insurance and pension payments. But I was caught off guard by the move to take away almost all the unions’ bargaining role, as Walker proposed last week.

This is going to be a tumultuous and momentous spring and summer when it comes to education issues statewide. I wonder what all will be different when it comes time to open schools in September.

Permit me to venture into one aspect of what lies ahead that I specifically wonder about:

Walker proposed that public employees pay 5.8% of their salaries toward their pensions and 12% of the cost of their health insurance coverage. While I wonder how that’s going to play out across the state, I especially wonder how it will play out in Milwaukee Public Schools.

Chisholm: Revise Truth-in-Sentencing, Support “Smart” Use of Alternatives to Hold Down Costs and Fight Crime

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:February 11, 2011
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Public Speakers at Marquette Uncategorized Wisconsin Criminal Law & Process

Crime can continue to go down in Milwaukee and spending on criminal justice can be controlled successfully, but only if steps are taken to give local judges, prosecutors, police and others involved in criminal justice tools, incentives and support in doing so, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said in a speech Friday at Marquette University Law School.

In what he described as a major policy statement, Chisholm called for modifying the state’s truth-in-sentencing law and maintaining support of programs that assess the risks and needs of people charged with crimes so that fewer end up in prison and more end up on paths that lead away from re-offending.

“Both sides of the political spectrum must acknowledge that talking tough on crime has reached its limits,” Chisholm said. “Being smart on crime is the solution.”

(The text of Chisholm’s comments can be read here and a video of his speech and a question and answer session following it can be viewed here.)

Chisholm said such “smarter” efforts are paying off in Milwaukee, but are in danger of being undermined by major cuts in federal anti-crime programs and in state aid to criminal justice work.

WEAC and MTEA: This Is War (I Expect)

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:February 9, 2011
Post category:Education & Law Milwaukee Public Schools

The decision by the state’s largest teachers organization, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), to alter its stands on teacher evaluation and advocate breaking from the traditional method of paying teachers was not such a huge surprise for those who had been following statements from union leaders in recent months. The educational and political landscapes have changed, and the union wants to play a role in big decisions coming soon.

But the WEAC stand in favor of breaking up Milwaukee Public Schools into “smaller, more manageable districts” caught people (count me in) off guard. It’s just not something to which the union had shown previous inclination. And the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, WEAC’s largest affiliate, strongly opposes such ideas.

There were clear indications in the way things happened this week that the gap between leaders of WEAC and the MTEA is now wide and sharp, and communication among them is not friendly.