Some contrasts are so clear that, on seeing them, one can tell immediately what matters and what does not: Number of homeless students in Whitewater School District reaches ‘crisis level’: The number of homeless students in [Dr. Lanora] Heim’s district last school year was more than double what it was three years ago—going from…
Education
Education, Elections, School District
Local Elections 2019: School Board (Part 2 of 4)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
The Whitewater area – the city proper and smaller townships nearby – are jointly part of a unified public school district. These last years have been difficult for Wisconsin educational funding, for the rural economies in this part of the state, and surely for Whitewater in both matters. The district has recently completed both a…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Education, Innovation Center/Tech Park, State Capitalism, Trump, WEDC
Ignorant Policymakers Will Produce Ignorant Policies
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Rep. Justin Amash, who is as close to a libertarian as any Republican in Congress, offered this observation about Wilbur Ross, Trump’s Secretary of Commerce: It’s amazing that Wilbur Ross was nominated and confirmed to be secretary of anything. He’s shown over many years that he doesn’t understand basic economics, and to describe him as…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, CDA, Charity, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Dogs, Economy, Education, Federal Government, Foxconn, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Police, Politics, School District, State Capitalism, State Government, University, UW System, WEDC, Wisconsin
The Broad Outlines of 2019
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
For many years, I would begin the year with predictions for the twelve months ahead. Events since 2016 have made predictions harder, but one can still discern some short-term developments for the city. These prospects, of course, form an online of topics to ponder, and about which to write (often requiring that one return to the…
CDA, City, Conflicts of Interest, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Education, Local Government, Marketing, Mendacity, Politics, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Tony Evers, WEDC, Wisconsin
Redefining Reality
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Tony Evers, State Superintendent of Public Instruction and candidate for governor, has a new video about a political effort to redefine reality. The video is about Scott Walker, but it might as easily have been about any number of local politicians in Whitewater or other small Wisconsin towns, with tax breaks for out-of-towners and cronies…
Education, Kakistocracy, Law, Trump, Unfit
Trump Nominee Non-Committal on School Integration
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Alternative title: Why We Resist and Oppose. WATCH: During her confirmation hearing this morning (yes, this morning – in 2018), judicial nominee Wendy Vitter refused to say whether she agreed with the result in Brown v. Board of Education. #UnfitToJudge pic.twitter.com/RWroh0XUIC — The Leadership Conference (@civilrightsorg) April 11, 2018 Consider the remarks of Wendy Vitter,…
Culture, Education, University
UW-Whitewater’s Org Chart, 2017 Verison
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
UW-Whitewater has a 2017 organization chart, one I’ve embedded at the end of this post. 1. Big for Small. It’s not a big institution, but it is a big institution for a small town like Whitewater. There’s no institutional or organizational hierarchy in Whitewater half so large. 2. The key issues aren’t structural. Without question,…
Education, Government Spending
Milton’s School Referendum (and How to Fix Milton’s Mess)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The Milton School District held a school construction referendum last night, the second within the last year. The 2016 construction referendum was for $87 million, the 2017 referendum was for $69.9 million. In fact, the 2016 referendum for the larger amount (with a different electorate, to be sure) was closer than the 2017 referendum for…
Education, University, UW System, Wisconsin
Whitewater, Rock, and the UW System
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
There’s a UW System plan to pair some two-year colleges with some four-year universities. Reporting on the plan first broke Tuesday night, and since that evening there’s been more information about the proposal (to be considered formally in November, and if adopted to be begun in July 2018). For the principal Wisconsin stories on the…
City, Culture, Education, School District
A Brighter Outlook for Whitewater High
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Whitewater High School has the advantage of a new principal and assistant principal. I’ve written before that I’ve no particular advice for Messrs. Lovenberg and O’Shaughnessy. See For Your Consideration, Dr. Jonas Salk. (Indeed, in that post I offered only a question, but – to be sure – one that implied how very much their efforts…
Education, School District
A Worthy Achievement for Whitewater: A National Blue Ribbon School
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
One sometimes hears good news, but occasionally, through others’ hard work, one fortunately hears the very best news. Today, for Whitewater, there’s the very best news: National Blue Ribbon Honors Announced for 342 Schools U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today recognized 342 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2017. The recognition is based on a…
America, Culture, Education, Politics, School District
The Erosion of Political Norms (Part 3 in a Series)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
America, Economics, Economy, Education, Labor, Newspapers
A Telling Comparison
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
People in small towns, nearly everywhere in this country, have access to national programming & news on television and online. As easily as one could subscribe online to something like the Janesville Gazette, one could subscribe to the Chicago Tribune or Washington Post. Imagine, then, a choice between editorials in the Gazette and the Post…
City, Economics, Economy, Education, Immigration, Trump
Anti-Immigration Measures, Wrong Yet Again
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Embed from Getty Images An anti-immigration position is for economics something like a flat-earth position would be for natural science: one may hold it only through either ignorance or disorder. (The ignorance would have to be profound, as even the weakest grasp of economics would incline a rational person to acknowledge the benefits of a…