Whitewater, and many other public schools, this spring find themselves cutting local budgets, and reducing employment to do so. Neither state reductions to collective bargaining nor successful local spending referenda in Whitewater and other communities were able to offset the need for subsequent cuts. A few remarks on policy and politics: 1. The Center Fails…
School District
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Education, Good Ideas, School District, Science/Nature
Science Night in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Diet Coke & Mentos from John Adams on Vimeo. Last night was Science Night in Whitewater, and many hundreds from the city turned out to see dozens of displays and exhibits. My family had a fine time, and I’d say that Science Night (held periodically but infrequently) is one of our favorite public events in…
Education, Government Spending, School District
Lead Substantively, Support Fiscally
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update, 3.19.14. Someone’s asked if the Common Core discussion at Monday’s school board meeting doesn’t undercut my argument about the need to lead every presentation with a substantive (academics, athletics, art) discussion. On the contrary, I had it in mind, and it bolsters my contention. A discussion of curriculum at a board meeting, but…
Education, Good Ideas, School District
Rube Goldberg Machines
by JOHN ADAMS •
School District
Truths that the Whitewater Schools’ Composite Stats Don’t Show
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin, like too much of America, now pushes at each turn for measurement, quantification, and numerical assessment of student performance. There should be measures – I merely have my doubts that displaying a top-line score describes meaningfully Wisconsin’s or Whitewater’s academic performance. (Truly, the craze for measurement strikes me as half-clever person’s attempt to sound…
Charity, Education, School District
Welcome, New Teachers
by JOHN ADAMS •
Welcome to Whitewater, Wisconsin. I’m sure our city will be better for your presence. In these weeks and months ahead, so very many helpful people will offer advice and guidance to you. A few others, unhelpfully, will draw close and whisper ever so softly about how you should think, feel, and act to be a…
America, Law, Liberty, Local Government, School District, Wisconsin
How Many Rights for Whitewater?
by JOHN ADAMS •
How many rights do Whitewater’s residents possess? It’s a simple question, and there’s a simple answer: They possess all the rights of residency or citizenship, respectively, of Americans and Wisconsinites elsewhere. One may express this plainly: All of America, and all of Wisconsin, for all of Whitewater. There is no local practice, no old custom,…
School District
Candidate Searches for Our Schools
by JOHN ADAMS •
The inevitable and happy risk of having talented employees is that other employers will notice them, and make competitive offers to them. That’s what’s happened for Whitewater Middle School principal Dan Foster, who is returning to Waterford Union, this time to be its high school principal. He’s paid a required early-departure penalty, and one wishes…
School District
A Handbook
by JOHN ADAMS •
Among the agenda items discussed at last night’s school board meeting was the appointment of board members to a committee to prepare an employee handbook for the district (agenda item 13c). Two were appointed. A handbook, of course, has a much greater significance in districts that will, overtime, be without public-employee collective bargaining. (Here I…
School District
The Janesville Schools’ Cautionary Tale for Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Down in Janesville, there’s been a debate about whether to adopt a more detailed dress code. They’ve spent more than one school board meeting on the subject. Just about any other discussion within that district, in that struggling city, would be more useful than an over-analysis of what teachers, administrators, and other employees should wear…
School District
Whitewater Schools’ 2012 Community Survey
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Whitewater Unified School District website, one will find a community survey for residents of the district. The survey comes from a popular service called SurveyMonkey, and is well worth taking. It’s easy to fill out, offers places for comments if one would like, and is a simple and efficient way for the…
School District, Technology
Technology Support in the Whitewater Schools
by JOHN ADAMS •
At the 8.27.12 board meeting for the Whitewater Schools, there was a presentation from Charlie Barr, Technology Coordinator, on the possibility adding a full-time technology supervisor to the few interns now working for him. The discussion took place from approx. 38:35 to 1:12:40 during the board meeting. I well understand the need for due diligence…
Politics, School District
Local Implications of the Recall Results for the Whitewater Unified School District
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Friday, I asked three questions about the implications of the June recall election, and yesterday I wrote about the first of them (implications for the newly redistricted 43rd Assembly district). Today, I’ll look at what the numbers say about the electorate within the Whitewater Unified School District. A map of the district appears immediately…
City, Politics, School District
Task List: Local Implications of the Gubernatorial Election
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are dozens of possibilities for what the recall election means for Wisconsin, but I’m curious about three local implications, that I’ll write about after looking at precinct-by-precinct gubernatorial results. (Quick admission: in January, I thought Gov. Walker would lose a close recall election. That prediction was considerably off – he won comfortably. The advantage…