Milwaukee – Page 36 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Milwaukee Succeeds Will Show Progress Soon, Three Co-chairs Say

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:October 3, 2013
Post category:Education & Law Milwaukee Milwaukee Public Schools Public Speakers at Marquette

It won’t be long before the needle on Milwaukee education outcomes starts moving for the better in ways that can be measured.

The three co-chairs of Milwaukee Succeeds, the broad-based effort to improve the educational outcomes of Milwaukee children, gave that encouraging assessment Thursday during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” session before a full house of more than 200 people in the Appellate Courtroom of Eckstein Hall.

“I think we’re going to see success much sooner than we thought because we’re going to start to implement things,” said Jackie Herd-Barber, a retired engineer who is involved in a wide array of civic efforts.

Mike Lovell, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said that Milwaukee Succeeds has brought together large numbers of people from many of the important sectors and organizations in the area and they have been preparing fresh efforts around important goals. “A year from now, when we measure, the needle is going to be moved just because there are so many people involved,” Lovell said.

And John Schlifske, CEO of Northwestern Mutual, said, “I think you’re going to start seeing some meaningful outcomes, that we’re going to start implementing things that will start moving the needle.”

The New Orleans Miracle: A Blueprint for Milwaukee?

Post author:Charles Szafir
Post published:September 27, 2013
Post category:Education & Law Milwaukee Milwaukee Public Schools Public

Recently, I had the good fortune of attending a presentation by Patrick Dobard, Superintendent of the Louisiana Recovery School District. It focused on the Louisiana Recovery School District program and how it helped to transform the poor, failing New Orleans schools – decimated by Hurricane Katrina – into one of the highest performing districts in the state. Given its success, it may serve as a blueprint for reforming the struggling Milwaukee Public School system.

In 2003, tired of having some of the worst schools in the country, the Louisiana state legislature created the Recovery School District. This was a special school district that would contain underperforming or failing schools throughout the state. A public school in Louisiana would be put in the Recovery District if it was underperforming for four consecutive years. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the state legislature put the majority of New Orleans’ schools in the Recovery District. The District’s superintendent, Dobard, is appointed by the state.

The concept of the Recovery School District is actually relatively simple – a superintendent is given wide-ranging powers with the goal of improving education in the District. The superintendent, with relative ease, can close schools, merge schools together, and turn traditional public schools into charter schools. For their part, parents and children in the Recovery District have more freedom to decide where to attend school.

The policy rationale behind the Recovery District is that school accountability, reduced red tape, and parental empowerment will appropriately incentivize educators to perform.

Marcoux Offers Rapid Fire of Big Thoughts on Milwaukee’s Future

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:September 24, 2013
Post category:Milwaukee Public Speakers at Marquette

“If we’re a city on the move, we’ve got to think big.”

Rocky Marcoux, commissioner of the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development, said that — and did his best to demonstrate that – in an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Eckstein Hall on Tuesday. His excitement about big ideas for Milwaukee’s future was strong enough to get him literally getting out of his chair at one point and talking throughout the hour-long session with speed and enthusiasm.

What kind of big thoughts?

Perhaps the one that was freshest was his suggestion that construction of a new sports and entertainment complex should be tied to improving life along W. Wisconsin Ave. from the Milwaukee River west. Emphasizing that he was not speaking for Mayor Tom Barrett or the Common Council and not taking a formal position, Marcoux said Wisconsin Ave. is an important asset for the city that needs help, and the closer a new arena is to that area, the more likely it would be to trigger other good developments for downtown. This would suggest locating an arena south of the vacant Park East land north of Juneau Ave. that has been suggested by others. Marcoux said perhaps the site could be several blocks to the south, where the Milwaukee Arena and Milwaukee Theatre stand now, with some or all of the block occupied by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel included. That would be from N. Third to N. Sixth Streets and from Kilbourn Ave. to State St.