The Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel – Alan j. Borsuk
“What a day I had on Wednesday. I talked with or listened to significant, interesting people who, I believe, each want to see things get better for children in Milwaukee, in Wisconsin and nationwide. But the differences in what they said! I felt like I was getting thrown from side to side in a roller coaster. How do I sort it all out? First there was Todd Ziebarth, one of the leading charter school advocates in the country. Specifically, he’s senior vice president for state advocacy and support for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and he’s involved in trying to get the Legislature to allow more independent charter schools in Wisconsin and to provide more money to those schools. Some of the best schools in Milwaukee are independent charters, Ziebarth said, and he’s right. Later Wednesday, I got a news release from a reputable research organization known as CREDO at Stanford University, which found that students in independent charter schools in Milwaukee were making more progress overall than students in Milwaukee Public Schools. Why aren’t there more green lights to create such schools? Ziebarth asked. Good question. Then, in the afternoon, I got a call encouraging me to take an interest in a statement signed by the leaders of more than 30 government and nongovernment bodies involved in Milwaukee’s complex education scene. A lot of them aren’t known for cooperating with one another, and this was an encouraging example of working together, initiated by the Milwaukee Succeeds campaign.”(more)