Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Baseball Hall of Fame Shuts Out Worthy Veterans

The Veterans Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame elected nobody for the third straight year time. (thanks Mike)  Not Gil Hodges, not Minnie Minoso, not Jim Kaat, not Tony Oliva, not Roger Maris and not Maury Wills,  Not even Ron Santo, who came closest, but fell 5 votes short.

We've ranted about this many times before.

In brief:  Feh.

- Barry Orton

Two Educators Reflect on Eisen's Essay

Last week, Marc Eisen wrote about the challenges of educating our children. My Life and Times With the Madison Public Schools

The danger Madison faces is too starkly pitting the needs of the kids who have fallen behind against the needs of the high achievers. It will make things even worse if middle-class families feel their kids are suffering.

Milwaukee's ruined school system is a testament to middle-class abandonment...

I asked two prominent educators to comment.  The first response is from my cousin, Audrey Soglin, who, after twenty five years teaching in the Evanston, Illinois elementary schools is now the Executive Director of the Consortium for Educational Change in Illinois.

Audrey's response:

I think we have learned and the research supports that kids need a balanced literacy approach.  The "whole language vs. phonics" wars should really be put to rest. It is an old fight.  Kids don't learn the same way so a variety of instructional methods should be available.  It is not unusual for districts to offer both direct instruction to identified students and reading recovery to others.  The problems that kids have are different so the instructional interventions should be different as well. In terms of kids in heterogeneous classrooms receiving instruction - all kids need to be taught at their level. The challenge for teachers in diverse reading and math classrooms is to figure out how to meet those very different needs.  It is difficult but not impossible.

The author seems to be saying that we should be segregating our classrooms and our schools.  If you look at the scores of low-income students in low income schools-where the demographics are 90% low income, 90% African American or Hispanic - the scores are generally low.  It is not like segregating the kids will automatically raise the scores. 

I think he is concerned that the bright kids are challenged, presented with a rigorous curriculum and held to high expectations, which is what all kids need. I guess he is saying that it is not possible to have this kind of education these days because of the types of students in public schools now. The kind of kids and this "politically correct"  curriculum that he refers to is the reason why the quality of education has suffered.  I would say that this is a pretty simplistic viewpoint.  There are a lot of things that effect the achievement of schools.  He identifies some things that we know are important: effective leadership, a rigorous curriculum that has enough "stretch", best practices around instructional strategies.  But there are a lot of other things that need to be addressed: what kind of professional development is provided by the district or by the school?   Are the new teachers mentored effectively?  Do the teachers and principals receive the kind of data they need to effectively guide instruction for all kids in diverse classrooms?  Do the teachers have time to collaborate with each other, to review the data, and learn from each other to improve? Just to name a few. 

I think the author is feeling challenged and frustrated by the relatively rapid change in demographics Madison experienced.  And that is exactly what the schools face as well.  My guess is that the change of demographics is presenting challenges that are probably taxing the entire city in different ways.

Audrey suggested I run this by Char Gearing, Director of Teaching and Learning at the Wisconsin Education Association Council.  Char's response follows:

I think Audrey has captured very well the relationship between demographic and ethnicity changes and the needs of the classroom.

I would caution that all of us in our role as parents have data about learning, the learning of our children, but that does not equal valid data for classroom or school wide decision-making.  Our children each have different learning styles and have a different set of life experiences (emotional context) that they bring to the learning targets and topics.  It reinforces the important concept that learning is personal and individual, hence the need for balanced approaches to literacy, numeracy and other areas of learning.

All children enter and exit puberty differently too.  Some have amplified emotions, but still enjoy and succeed in middle school.  Others are overwhelmed by both the physical changes and by emotions, especially feelings of anxiety, inferiority and unworthiness.  The family relationships are a dynamic outside of the school’s direct influence.  For example, (a child) sunk lower and lower academically during 8^th grade and then into high school.  ...disinterested and bored, but in reality, she was underperforming in response to her feelings of insecurity.  . (That can be the work of Mom and Dad to fix.)

... What I am saying is there is complexity to a child’s success or failure... 

I agree that we must not let liberalism or progressivism cloud our judgment as we look at the evidence of what works in instruction.  We need a menu of research-based interventions and instructional strategies to draw from.  The sooner we embrace education as a science upheld by research, and practiced by intuitive and caring teachers, the more effective and respected our professional work will become.  We also need to be realistic about the emotional needs of teen-age learners.  Adolescent learners do not learn at their best in classrooms with 30 and more students.  They need more individual attention than that class size will allow.  They need to be known by their teacher and that is difficult when a teacher interacts with 150 different students each day.  Research is clear that student engagement or the student feeling important to adults in the school can counteract truancy and dropping out.

As for learning being personal, we can differentiate if the numbers are smaller; if we have grade level, or course topic, common planning time to work as a team on differentiation strategies for different kinds of learners; and if we have opportunity to share and replicate instructional success across a team.

My appreciation to both Audrey and Charlene, They both gave me a perspective that is classic and yet refreshing.

McBride Gets Milwaukee and 'Tosa Right

For a clear, sharp view of Milwaukee, suburbs, race and class:

Our enduring racism is the problem, not a mall

The incidents in Wauwatosa present a challenge but also an opportunity to begin a discussion that our seven-county region has never had. Wauwatosa's current openness is a stark reversal from its history of restrictive covenants and sundown laws. How Milwaukee's oldest suburb deals with change can be an example to other communities that are, or will be, facing change, too.

Across our region, we must ensure that all of our children are educated and that everyone of working age has a job. All residents and business, political and religious leaders must join the effort to address common issues of race, poverty and crime.

Cieslewicz' Focus On Growth Management Over Poverty and Crime Will Lead to Further Middle Class Flight

If the Isthmus report on the latest mayoral debate is accurate, the consequences of a continued Cieslewicz rule at City Hall is saddening:

In conclusion, each candidate is asked about the biggest issue facing the city. Allen says poverty and crime; the mayor says managing growth. He closes with with dig at the challenger: "It's one thing to talk about poverty; it's another thing to have actually done something about it for the last four years."

If something significant is not done about poverty, the only growth management anyone needs to worry about is the accelerated middle class flight to the suburbs.  Considering the most significant action in growth management is on the county level, poverty and crime are where mayors can have real impact.  Time management is also an issue - the allocation of staff resources to support trolleys as opposed to combating poverty, working with the schools, confronting discrimination, and making sure there is public transportation for folks without cars.

• Over 42% of Madison Public School children are living below the poverty line. The numbers are higher at the lower grades, an ominous trend.
• Madison, which once had a violent crime rate one third the national average, is now approaching the national average.
• Hospital expansions and condo development are great, especially for commuters and retirees. Ask someone In Kennedy Heights what it means to them. (Some of the hospitals made a commitment to job development but they cannot do it alone.)
• Budget additions to some poverty programs is not the muscle or commitment needed to deal with this issue. Imagine if there was a staff commitment to fighting poverty on the level on trolleys. For a comparison, look at the number of meetings, the hours of meetings, the staff time, the consultant dollars, and the involvement of the mayor in both issues.

Concern with growth management without success in handling crime (quality of life), economic & social development leads to faster suburbanization. Jane Jacobs, Andres Duany and others have addressed that issue for decades.

On January 28, I wrote:  (My opinions remain the same.)

In judging a candidate's commitment to battling poverty, I look not at the rhetoric but at the effectiveness of their position:

• There must be be acknowledgment that poverty is a major problem in Madison and that Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians are not receiving equal benefit of Madison's educational and employment opportunities.
• There must be a commitment to involving the private sector in job development and training.
• A claim to be the candidate furthest to the left does not cut it.
• A commitment to support low income housing is not sufficient.

These are the issues that Mayors deal with. If Mayor Cieslewicz really wants to focus on growth management issues, he should run for County Executive, and/or make tough demands on his friends in the legislature, who could introduce some land use controls with bite.

McGee's 'Jew Cops' and Al Gore's Thugs

The post earlier this week on the confusion as whether Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee said Jew cops (he did not) or Jude cops (he did) brought back memories of a moment at the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago in 1996.

Al Gore was speaking and making reference to the National Rifle Association.  A year earlier in a letter to the NRA membership, Wayne LaPierre, their executive vice-president referred to law enforcement as "jack-booted thugs."

The Vice-President was quoting LaPierre and his words were transcribed on the screen for the hearing impaired.

It came out as "jack-Buddhist thugs."

A nicely turned phrase.

Boots and Sabers 99.9% Correct

Owen Robinson posted: Republicans Push For New Taxing Entity,

A few Republicans are circulating this very bad bill in Madison. This is enabling legislation that would allow any county in the state of Wisconsin to adopt by resolution or by referendum a local park district.

Key to his analysis is this:

The only thing that creating a separate district does is save elected municipal officials from making the hard choices.

and this:

Is it a good idea?

In general, I oppose the whole concept.  Managing parks, police, fire departments, road maintenance, and all of the other traditional functions of municipal governments should be subject to prioritization.  The notion that we should segment off certain functions to wall them off the demands of other functions is not a good idea. 

Let me just add my two cents. In this day and age we need fewer units of government, not more.

I do not concur with Owen's gratuitous slap at Democrats and call to the Republican 'no tax' mantra, but he is absolutely correct on this one. If you need more resources then raise taxes. Owen might say "no" to that.

But we agree that the philosophical underpinnings of our democracy and pluralistic society are found in sharing resources.

Chad Vader Creators Take Lightsaber to Tom Still's Assertions About Cutting Funding For Local Cable Access

Tom Still published a piece Tuesday in WisOpinion arguing against continuing to fund local access TV channels, and cited the success of the creators of Chad Vader, Madison's Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan of Blame Society Productions, as justification for his position against local cable franchises, which just happens to exactly mirror at&t's legislative efforts.  Yonda and Sloan have enjoyed so much local (Isthmus, Cap Times) and national press (Good Morning America, VH1) that they hardly need any little additional hype from WaxingAmerica.

Still, who is the head of the Wisconsin Technology Council, wrote:

The Legislature is considering a proposal to allow AT&T, the world’s largest telecommunications company, to enter the subscription television market, improve its Internet services and provide computer-linked telephone service. That would essentially set up competition between AT&T and cable companies, the largest of which in Wisconsin are Time Warner Cable and Charter.

...But opening up the market won’t be that simple. Wisconsin municipalities, which have collected fees from cable companies for years, want to make sure they secure a similar arrangement with AT&T. Those same municipalities want AT&T to pony up money to support local public, education and government television channels – collectively known as “local access” channels.

That brings us back to Chad Vader and YouTube, which may be the public access channel of the 21st century. At a time when a couple of filmmakers in Madison can create a series that gets 7 million hits on the Internet, is it really necessary to subsidize public access television channels?

...Granted, local access television can be a vital part of community democracy, but it’s no longer the only game in town. The Internet, with blogs, podcasts, YouTube and more, is changing that landscape a lot faster than local regulators can regulate.

As members of the Legislature consider state “video franchising,” they should keep the big picture in mind. The Internet is changing the telecom world. Governments need to create regulatory frameworks that anticipate change; that expect new technologies. They should not be clinging to regulatory frameworks that lock them into a specific technology, because such an approach will ultimately impede progress.

“Chad Vader” may be Darth’s incompetent brother, but he’s also a symbol of a new video world.

As far as I knew, those "Chad Vader guys" started on local access, and still have a show. So I asked them what they thought of Still's argument.

Sloan wrote me:

To take the success of two internet entrepreneurs and use that to make a case for gutting funding for public access stations is pretty shortsighted and frankly, dumb. (emphasis Waxing America) Public access stations strengthen communities and provide amateurs with the resources and the basic skills to learn film and television production, neither of which has anything to do with the Internet.  You can't be a successful filmmaker without networking and interacting with real live people and that is something that sitting in front of a web cam will never provide.  The Internet revolution is amazing and it will change the world, but public access stations are still crucial in giving the community the resources to make the most of that revolution.

Yonda added:

I think public access stations are more important than ever before--because of the internet. 

Public access is what made Chad Vader possible.  I never would have started making videos if I hadn't had a public access station in Eau Claire, WI where I could get equipment, receive instruction on how to use it, and make connections and collaborate with other like-minded individuals.  In fact if I hadn't been able to make my public access show I probably never would've teamed up with Matt in 2001 because he wouldn't have seen the show and met with me about collaborating.  I did all my videos, including early internet videos, through public access in Eau Claire (1993-1996) and in Madison (1996-2004).  In 2004, I started to be able to afford most of my own equipment because of money I'd saved up. 

I'd say that Youtube, rather than being a replacement to Public Access, is made possible by Public Access stations around the country that offer a place for struggling video-makers to get a start and make videos in the first place, especially now that the internet has made video-making even more popular. ... I know for sure if funding had been pulled from our public access station at any point in my video making career Chad Vader would never have existed. (emphasis WaxingAmerica)

So, in fact, Still's "symbol of the new video world" wouldn't ever have existed without local cable access.  Chad Vader is a good argument for the exact opposite of at&t's position that "the Internet makes local access unnecessary." (Facts matter, Tom; gotta check 'em.)

Still also wrote:

...In Gainesville, Fla., late last year, both the Gainesville City Commission and the Alachua County Commissioners declined to create a local access channel because they didn’t think it was needed. They cited the growth of the Internet and its rapidly expanding array of video choices.

In fact, the City of Gainesville has had an active government access channel for many years, and an active educational access channel as well. The City and County did decide last year against creating a local public access channel, but that would have been Gainesville's third access channel.  They are now considering creating a third access channel for the County to program.  That's hardly "declined to create a local access channel because they didn’t think it was needed."  (Context matters too, Tom. Gotta provide it, otherwise you're distorting the facts.)

These are the kind of factually-light arguments and distortions that are behind at&t's efforts to establish "less burdensome" control of video services using public rights-of-way. Local access channels provide real value to their communities, and, in fact, "can be a vital part of community democracy," whether it's providing coverage of City Council and school board meetings, or the high school basketball games, or locally-grown comedy. And, as the real story of Chad Vader proves, they are also nice little economic and professional development organizations. Let's not brush them aside just to make things a little cheaper and easier for at&t, which is, as Tom Still accurately states, "the world’s largest telecommunications company."

More to come as at&t prepares a bill for its friends in the legislature to introduce and ram through.

- Barry Orton

 

Why We Love Milwaukee

Why we love Milwaukee.  From Tim Cuprsin's Inside TV & Radio, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

HE SAID WHAT? Ald. Michael McGee frequently says outrageous and inflammatory things. But his comments weren't nearly as outrageous as Charlie Sykes claimed Wednesday on his annual "Insight 2007" broadcast on WTMJ-AM (620).

Playing a tape of a McGee news conference about recall efforts against him, Sykes claimed that the alderman was blaming "Jew cops" for being part of the attempts to remove him from office.

What McGee actually said was "Jude cops," referring to police accused of beating Frank Jude Jr. in 2004.

WTMJ general manager Jon Schweitzer admitted that Sykes had screwed up.

"We are aware that a mistake was made, and Charlie intends on dealing with this on his show tomorrow," Schweitzer said Wednesday.

One of the members of Sykes' morning discussion, public relations executive Jeff Fleming, of the Zizzo Group, said he hadn't heard the original comments by McGee, and couldn't quite make out the words in the audio that Sykes played Wednesday morning.

"I can understand how Michael McGee's comments could be understood as anti-Semitic. But in hindsight, it would have made more sense for him to have made comments about the Jude cops."

Can we save them from themselves?

And a thanks to Jim Rowen, The Political Environment for the heads-up.

The WMC-Annette Ziegler Platform

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) is going all out to elect Annette Ziegler to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. There is no question that Ziegler will do whatever the WMC wants if she gets the the Supreme Court.  WMC assures us of that.

Here is a portion of the legislative agenda for WMC from the last session. It gives an excellent perspective as to what Ziegler will be doing if she is elected.

    SB 58. A bill that would have essentially absolved manufacturers of any liability for defective products that caused injury or death if the company showed that it complied with existing government regulations.  Federal regulations have been seriously weakened under several Republican administrations, so complying with existing consumer and worker safety and health regulations is no assurance of protection.  It also would give any manufacturer automatic immunity from legal action if the defective product was on the market for 15 years.  Machinery used in industry, by farmers and on construction sites is often used far longer than that.

                                 Here is what WMC said: a WMC-backed bill that will protect product manufacturers from lawsuits where damages arise from an open and obvious characteristic of a product, or result from product misuse, alteration, or modification. The bill also limits application of joint and several liability in product liability cases so that a manufacturer is responsible only for their proportionate share of any damage award.

    SB 447. This legislation creates a new legal standard for punitive damage awards for workers who are severely injured or killed on the job as a result of extreme corporate recklessness.  Workers would need to prove that the corporation intended the accident to happen, which is an unreasonable standard, rarely possible to achieve.  Currently, an injured party can show that the corporation acted with “intentional disregard” for workers’ safety.

            Here is what WMC said, making the bill sound innocuous: The Legislature passed this WMC-backed bill requiring a showing of intent to cause harm before punitive damages can be awarded in a tort suit.

    AB 4. This bill gives preferential state tax breaks for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that are tied to catastrophic health plans with substantial deductibles.  HSAs already receive federal tax-free status; the issue is whether that status should be granted by the state to encourage HSAs and catastrophic plans.  Health experts predict that, if employers promote this health care option, younger and healthier employees will opt to “take their chances” with catastrophic coverage, but older workers and those with families or health problems will need better, comprehensive coverage.  The pool of people who remain in the traditional plans will be those with higher medical costs and the premiums for such coverage will soar due to the lack of a broad, mixed risk pool.  This will further undermine comprehensive, employment-based health coverage.

        Here is what WMC said: Unfortunately, Governor Doyle vetoed the health savings account provision...

    Assembly Bill 287: Locomotive Crews  This bill would improve the safety of rail workers and the public.  It requires that two crew members be present in the cab of the lead control locomotive at all times that the train or locomotive is in motion, except for the purpose of switching.

                Here is what WMC said: Such a requirement would have increased freight rail shipping costs for Wisconsin businesses, with no discernable safety benefit.

    Assembly Joint Resolution 77: Taxpayer Protection Amendment/TABOR  This proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution is similar to the failed “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” (TABOR) constitutional experiment in Colorado. It places rigid revenue limits on how much the state, counties, cities, villages, public schools and technical colleges can collect each year.  Individuals have the unprecedented right to sue any of these governmental units if they dispute how the limits are applied.  Limits can be exceeded only by referendum.  One version of TPA/TABOR would have placed permanent limits on the bargaining rights of local government employees in our State Constitution. The so-called Taxpayer Protection Amendment (TPA) will take responsibility away from local elected representatives, create a potential litigation nightmare for communities, and cripple the ability of all levels of government to provide vital public services.   This tax gimmick promoted by some Republicans would greatly damage the quality of life in our state.

                Here is what WMC said: The Legislature considered various resolutions that would begin the process of amending the Wisconsin Constitution to limit state and local government spending and/or taxes. WMC strongly supported passage of a taxpayer protection amendment on first consideration during the spring floor period. While no single version of an amendment passed both houses of the Legislature, the votes on such a measure are historic and the fight limit taxes and spending will begin again next session.

Who Is Annette Ziegler And Why Are So Many People Googling Her?

The position of Waxing America on Annette Ziegler is clear. We don't like her.

Here re Wal-Mart and here re Folkbum's rant.

In the last two days Waxing America received an extraordinary number of hits. So we did some checking and we are getting many of these hits from people Googling Annette Ziegler (we rank 4th) and wisconsin supreme court candidates (we rank 2nd).

OK. So what gives? Why is her name being Googled so much? Why are the readers showing up at Waxing America. I don't know enough about search engines and influencing outcomes.  Anyone have a clue as to what is going on? Are all the people getting robocalled by her campaign and its friends then Googling to see who she is?