Despite her condescension toward a student’s message sent to this website about staff layoffs at our school district, a review of Whitewater District Administrator Steinhaus’s own compensation shows that the student — not Steinhaus — has the better argument. It’s quite a match-up — Fancy administrator and Doctor of Education, Leslie Steinhaus versus Decent, all-American,…
29 search results for "steinhaus"
School District
Dr. Steinhaus’s Glass House
by JOHN ADAMS •
District Administrators in glass houses… On Monday, I posted a letter from a student who felt that staff cuts should not have been made without reductions in administrative compensation. Dr. Steinhaus now complains that the administration has not received a pay increase, as the student suggested. She’s foolish to highlight the issue. Too funny, really,…
Boosterism, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Daily Bread, Economy, Foxconn, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Marketing, Misplaced Priorities, Poverty, Recession
Daily Bread for 9.5.22: The Grandiose
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Labor Day in Whitewater will be party sunny with high of 74. Sunrise is 6:24 AM and sunset 7:21 PM for 12h 56m 42s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 69.5% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1942, the Japanese high command orders withdrawal at Milne Bay, the first major…
City, Daily Bread, Government Spending, Local Government, Politics, School District
Daily Bread for 8.25.22: Speech, Factions, and Persuasion Over the Referendums
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will see morning rain and scattered afternoon thundershowers with a high of 79. Sunrise is 6:13 AM and sunset 7:40 PM for 13h 27m 17s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 3.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1609, Galileo demonstrates his first telescope to…
Education, School District
Hiring a District Administrator
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Over the next few days, Whitewater’s school board will interview candidates for district administrator. For the district, these last several years have been relatively tranquil if fiscally difficult. I’ve observed that, as against other districts, we have been fortunate to avoid the labor-management tension that has plagued too many districts. (‘One or more’ would be…
City, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, School District, University
Whitewater’s Mentoring Gap
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Looking back ten years (or nine in the case of UW-Whitewater), one finds at the helm of Whitewater’s public institutions leaders who so very much embodied Old Whitewater: Steinhaus, Brunner, Coan, Telfer (beginning in ’07). They were the perfect representatives of Old Whitewater, where Old Whitewater is an attitude, not an age: narrow, grandiose, mediocre, producing…
City, Local Government
Bad Policy’s Like Low-Level Radiation Exposure
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
It’s seldom true that a single misstep ruins an official. With the exception of criminal conduct, most mistakes are ones from which a politician or bureaucrat can recover. And yet, and yet, some mistakes take their toll. They do so, however, with a cumulative effect – one after another debilitates as does cumulative radiation exposure. …
Open Government, School District
The Whitewater Schools’ Recent Budget Cuts
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I wrote last week about proposed budget cuts in the Whitewater Unified School District. (See, The Whitewater Schools’ Budget Cuts.) Since that post, the WUSD School Board met Monday, and following that contentious meeting made modifications to proposed cuts on Wednesday afternoon. (At each stage of this process, proposed cuts have been in the aggregate…
City, School District
Innovation in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s so much talk about innovation in Whitewater, but an example of it will be found in an old institution, not a new building. It’s not a center, but a school district, that holds innovative promise for our city. Here’s why: A Solid Record. Looking at the last two years, one sees quickly that the…
School District
Whitewater Schools’ Coin Flip
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s really no surprise that with a bad state economy, practical limits on academic compensation, and uncertain school finances throughout Wisconsin, that an internal search would seem like a good idea. The Whitewater Schools haven’t done something bold, they’ve done something cautious, in looking for an internal replacement for Dr. Suzanne Zentner. Zentner was a…
School District
Zentner and Afterward
by JOHN ADAMS •
Nearing the end of her two-year contractual tenure, Whitewater Schools’ Administrator Dr. Suzanne Zentner has tendered her resignation, for employment in Arizona. One wishes her the best; she’ll do well. Sadly, Zentner’s departure creates significant risks for Whitewater. Although I thought her early months as administrator went poorly, she’s proved to be a significant asset…
Innovation Center/Tech Park
Whitewater Innovation Center’s Second Tenant: As Unsuitable as the First
by JOHN ADAMS •
I am one of the few people who bothers to read the Weekly Report of Whitewater, Wisconsin’s City Manager, Kevin Brunner. Read it I do, and in the August 13th edition, one sees this announcement about a second tenant for the under-construction Innovation Center: Construction on Schedule for Whitewater Innovation Center; Another Tenant to Lease…
City
Review: Predictions for Whitewater, Wisconsin for 2009
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here is my early January 2009 post with predictions for the year. How did I do? Results below the post…. Here’s my local, amateur version, in honor of former columnist [the late] William Safire’s long-standing tradition, of offering annual predictions. The list for 2009: 1. In 2009, the University will win the following number of…
Daily Bread, Inbox Reader Mail
Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 12-3-09 (Reader Mail Edition)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I awoke to a light dusting of snow on the lawn this morning; it’s the second time, by my count, that there has been any snow this season. Today’s won’t last long; Whitewater will have to wait for appreciable accumulation. At my home, the House of Dissenting Opinion, my Internet connection is down, so it’s…