The Milwaukee Public Schools, teachers and parents celebrated a victory over a vindictive legislative cabal that hoped to start the privatization of the public schools. Their marks on the state report card (another fraudulent measure of schools) improved so much that its schools were safe from the takeover.
It’s a huge victory for MPS and the many public school advocates—including Schools and Communities United, the teachers’ union and MPS parents—who pushed back on the takeover.
MPS had been targeted for a takeover via the Abele-controlled Opportunity Schools and Partnership Program (OSPP), inserted into the state budget last year by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield). The OSPP had no legislative hearings, was the subject of zero official forums in Milwaukee, lacked adequate funding and wasn’t requested by anyone in Milwaukee who truly understands the challenges urban schools face. Rather, the OSPP takeover was imposed on MPS by suburban lawmakers and agreed to by a county executive who lacks a college degree and has no experience in education policy. It was simply a way to privatize public assets and deprive Milwaukeeans—primarily black and brown Milwaukeeans—the right to vote for school representatives.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Parents are essential and when the work is coordinated with teachers, whether organized as a union or not, so much the better.
The tragedy is that the market-based anti-public school “innovators” are determined to keep test scores in place in order to claim there is a demand for “high quality seats” that charters can provide, with no persuasive evidence for that.
In anywise, when I hear the phrase “high quality seats” I think of the original Barcelona Chairs, polished stainless steel, leather cushions–great to look at as sculpture–but miserable as seating.
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Laura,
That term “high quality seat” always makes me laugh.
Where can I go to buy a high-quality seat?
There are so many failing charters that they don’t know either.
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I feel I need to correct the record here a little bit. County Executive Abele does not want to take over MPS. He was handed this mandate from the state legislature and Governor Walker. He originally selected Demaen Means, the superintendent of Mequon Public Schools to oversee the process. Dr. Means, an African American, would not have received any pay. He is an MPS graduate and is pro public schools. He often refers to the reality of the connection between poverty and low test scores. Abele’s and Mean’s plan was to create improvement schools in the district, closely modeled on the community schools design, and staffed by MPS personnel. That plan fell apart very quickly with resistance from the Union ( I am a lifetime member) and threats from the Republican dominated state government against Dr. Means and Executive Abele that they would be subject to some kind of sanctions because their plan was not in compliance with the law. Dr. Means resigned under pressure, and things went back to the drawing board. This latest news about a year’s reprieve is wonderful. We are not, however, out of the woods yet. Darling and Kooyenga will not let this go. It is amazing to me that two suburban legislators insist on imposing their idea of what education should look like in the city of Milwaukee. At least we have a little breathing room.
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