Tonight, there are big meetings on both. I’ve thought a a lot about what is more important and it just seems so clear. The School Board budget.
I might just be fatigued by the Edgewater, or determined that the real issues (Landmarks & height/mass/volume and TIF) are being ignored and I’m waiting for them to come up or like some UDC members decided close enough if you don’t make me sit through another ridiculous meeting. Or maybe I’m just disgusted at this point, about the process, the time suck and the other important issues (library, downtown plan, zoning code rewrite, etc) that have been put on hold for this one project and 100 hotel rooms it is not clear we need and could adversely impact the Monona Terrace. Or maybe it was a combination of the Housing Diversity Committee meeting last week and discussions with school board activists in the past few weeks, but the school board budget is going to have a much, much bigger impact on the city than a hotel and some faux public space. And sadly, the Edgewater TIF will contribute to the school budget woes.
Anyways, if you are contemplating what to do tonight, here’s your options:
School Board Budget Hearing
Monday, March 22, 6 p.m. at the UW Space Place in Villager Mall – 2300 S. Park St.
Budget info here.
Plan Commission
5:30 PM ROOM 201 City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
– Edgewater zoning, waterfront setback and the 1965 Ordinance changes.
At the Housing Diversity Committee the other day, there was a good discussion about how housing policy impacts the schools and what to do about. Many members walked away very excited about the possibility of having the city change their planning efforts to be centered around elementary school areas instead of neighborhoods. Their thinking was the a mix of housing opportunities in these areas would help better integrate our schools for better learning to help close the achievement gap and to hopefully prevent the middle class flight from Madison Schools. My concern was we can plan all we want, but if the developers don’t want to do what is in the plans, what is the point?
I’ve learned a lot about schools in the last few weeks as I’ve been looking at their budget, but I haven’t learned enough. My conclusion is that the bottom line comes down to, we have to deal with a problem handed us by the state, which could end up putting $300 per household on the property taxes, without referendum, they have the taxing authority to do this. And I guess after listening to the choices of what to cut, I’m willing to write a check. I think there are some things that can be done to cut that price down, but in the end, we can’t cut the maintenance staff at the schools and we can’t remove all the support services and training and coaching for teachers cuz without that their jobs get even harder as they struggle to make sure every kid gets what they need and it will push our schools backwards from some of the good progress that has been happening. I can’t see cutting low income waivers for MSCR programs cuz that will just put more pressure on neighborhood programs. I don’t think they’ll even consider closing schools. And there are lots of other bad choices that might be nice sounding short term solutions, but have very negative long term effects.
In the end, the future of the city and the future of the schools are tied together. What the school board decides affects the quality of life in neighborhoods throughout the city. And in the end, we are talking about our kids, our future. I can’t see how we would not invest in that at this point. And when you put it all in perspective, it seems so much more important than the silly hotel. These school jobs seem more important, this seems like it would have an economic impact and it certainly seems like it will affect the quality of life throughout the city.
Having said all that, I really hope people show up to the Plan Commission as well. I guess I’d suggest for those trying to get them both in, to show up at 6:00 at Space Place, fill out your registration form urging the board keep our schools strong and tell them to “Invest in our Future” or something like that, Stand in Support of our schools with some of the initial speakers and then go back to plan commission because they will likely have other issues to take care of before they get to the Edgwater and you know that the developer will likely talk for a half hour and then there will be quite a bit of testimony. So you have time. And I think the city and the schools and our kids need your time. Hope to see you there. If you can’t show up, at least join the facebook page and email the school board members at board@madison.k12.wi.us and ask them to stand up for schools and you will stand behind them.
