Speakers at Marquette – Page 99 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

April 12: The Voices of MPS Leadership Experience

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:April 5, 2010
Post category:Education & Law Marquette Law School Speakers at Marquette

Who knows better the challenges and problems of heading up the Milwaukee Public Schools system than the people who have done it previously?

While former MPS superintendents have generally adhered to a policy of not speaking up on what their successors ought to do, four people who have held the top post in the system will appear together at Marquette University Law School on Monday, April 12, to share their thoughts.

The four are Robert Peterkin, superintendent from 1988 to 1991 and a professor at Harvard since then; Howard Fuller, superintendent from 1991 to 1995 and head of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette since then; Barbara Horton, acting superintendent in 1999 and now head of a charter school in Milwaukee; and Spence Korte, superintendent from 1999 to 2002, now retired.

Peterkin has headed Harvard’s program to train urban superintendents in recent years and has rarely spoken publicly about Milwaukee issues. While Fuller has been one of the nation’s most prominent voices for school choice programs, he has been cautious about speaking about MPS. Korte has also generally avoided the spotlight since retiring from MPS. Horton has the unusual distinction of having also been a member of the Milwaukee School Board for five years.

Neumann the Outsider

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:April 5, 2010
Post category:Speakers at Marquette

Mark Neumann is not Lee Dreyfus, but if Neumann is going to be elected governor of Wisconsin this year, it’s going to be by capitalizing on much of the appeal that Dreyfus had in 1978 as a Republican who was glad to say that he was not versed in the ways of Madison’s state capitol.

Neumann invoked his standing as a businessman who is not a professional politician often in an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” session at Marquette University Law School last week.

Neumann is regarded widely as the underdog in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, with Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker the favorite. The winner is expected to face Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the only major candidate for the Democratic nomination, in the November final election.

In answering questions from the audience and from Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy, Neumann did not take much issue with Walker on policy. Both strongly oppose the high-speed rail project proposed for Chicago to Milwaukee to Madison, both have strongly criticized the new national health insurance law, and both advocate holding down taxes and cutting state regulatory requirements on businesses.

Scott Walker: Break Up MPS

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:March 11, 2010
Post category:Milwaukee Milwaukee Public Schools Speakers at Marquette

The Milwaukee Public Schools system should be replaced with ten to twelve smaller school districts, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker said Thursday in an “On the Issues” session at Marquette Law School.

Asked by host Mike Gousha, the Law School’s Distinguished Fellow in Law and Public Policy, what he would do about problems facing MPS, Walker said, “I’d legally eliminate it and start all over. . . . Wipe it out, start over again, legally redefine the school district.”

Walker, Milwaukee County Executive since 2002, said his two children attend schools in Wauwatosa and a district of that size or smaller is better managed, can better focus on students, and can benefit from more of a sense of community supporting it. The existing MPS structure is too big, and it is too difficult to make effective improvements, he said.