Education Reform Now

Testimony of Katy Venskus
Wisconsin State Director, Education Reform Now
Senate Bill 405
Senate Committee on Education
January 5, 2009  

Mr. Chairman and Members-

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am here on behalf of the more than two dozen organizational and individual members of the Education Reform Now Coalition, many of whom have signed this letter in support of Senate Bill 405, The Milwaukee TEACH Act. I also represent Democrats for Education Reform Wisconsin.

Education Reform Now came together to support a governance change for the Milwaukee Public Schools, specifically Senate Bill 405 for a very simple reason:

Milwaukee has both an obligation to and a vested interest in each and every one of its children. Every parent in Milwaukee should be able to send their child off to school each day confident in the knowledge that that school has the ability to prepare their son or daughter for the life that lies ahead of them. The Milwaukee Public Schools are failing by any objective measure of these two standards.

It is our belief that Senate Bill 405 represents the single best opportunity available to begin the process of real lasting, reform of the Milwaukee Public Schools.

Everyone in this room is aware of the statistics. Sadly, in some ways I think some of us have become numb to the true impact of these numbers, we've heard them so often.

More than 70% of MPS 10th Graders are not proficient in math.

60% of those same 10th graders are not proficient in reading.

If you stop and think about it those numbers are staggering...ONLY 1 in 4 10th grade students in MPS can complete basic math problems.

Given these outcomes it is not surprising that fewer than 40% of these students will ever go on to ANY institution of higher education, and when they do 80% of them require remedial learning programs to catch up with the rest of their college or technical school class.

I realize we have all heard this information too many times for it to be shocking, but this information should shock us.

This kind of failure should propel us all to act and act swiftly. In the face of this kind of failure, we must be guided by a single principle:

Improving student achievement is our goal - every decision we make must be guided by that objective, and that objective alone.

It is our belief that Senate Bill 405 is guided by that objective. By crafting legislation that creates clear, undeniable accountability for the performance of schools and students, this bill takes a fractured, inefficient structure and realigns it to support a single driving district mission to improve student outcomes.

Specifically, the Mayor needs the ability to recruit and retain a top notch Superintendent to lead the district. That leader must lay out an aggressive, effective plan of action to turn our schools around, and they must have the authority to implement that plan.

This responsibility and authority is most important in the worst schools. In failing schools, the Superintendent MUST have the ability to intervene decisively. They must be able to reconstitute school leadership and staff if necessary.

This new structure will also streamline many administrative processes and create a more cohesive efficient education infrastructure within the MPS. In a time of scarce public resources this kind of efficiency will ensure that we are maximizing the dollars directed to the classrooms. In addition, students who transfer between schools will benefit from more uniform curricula and methods.

The governance model proposed in Senate Bill 405 is not unproven. Mayoral governance has demonstrated real results in other cities where it has been adopted. I do not stand here to argue that this is a magic pill to cure all of our education ills, but the current structure has been unable or unwilling to cure itself. The time has come for a new course of action:

Consider the following:

In Boston where the Mayor has been responsible for the schools since 1993:

1. Student Achievement has increased EVERY year since 1993
2. Gains for low-income students have been the most dramatic - from 2003 to 2006 these student saw a 20% jump in math proficiency

In Cleveland where the Mayor has been responsible for the schools since 1997:

1. From 2004-2006 10 grade reading proficiency increased 29% in math there was a 38% jump.

In New York where the Mayor has been responsible for the schools since 2002:

1. The New York City Schools have NARROWED their black/white achievement gap by 12.5% in math and 6% in reading.
2. On the New York State Assessment, NYC students meeting or exceeding standards in math increased 37%. In reading NYC student performance increased by 18.3%

While each of these cities and schools systems has seen success and failure under mayoral governance, it is clear that mayoral accountability when executed by a top notch educational leader has positive results.

The members of Education Reform Now understand that change of this magnitude is always difficult, and we applaud the efforts of Senator Taylor, Representative Colon and others for working so diligently to find a compromise. This legislation strikes that difficult balance of preserving an elected school board to be direct link between the district and parents and the community, while creating the accountability and authority necessary to start this District down the long and arduous road to reform.

I thank them for their leadership, and this Committee for its consideration. I have distributed a letter signed by many of our members for your review.