The fate of the Madison Preparatory Academy will be decided when the Madison Metropolitan School District School Board votes in December. Over the last several months, there has been much debate about whether or not Madison Prep can serve as one of the ways to address decades old issues of low graduation rates for African American and Latino students and a widening achievement gap between African American students and their White counterparts in the MMSD. So far, the discussions have been mostly healthy between supporters and non-supporters, but as we get closer to December's vote, I expect that the debate will heat up.
I have made no secret that I have been a supporter of the idea of Madison Prep. I think that there has to be more ways to address the achievement gap and dropout issue in addition to what the MMSD is currently doing. I don't believe that Madison Prep is the sole answer or solution, rather a starting point from which both the MMSD, Madison Prep and others can work together, learn from and take best practices from each other.
I have had a number of discussions with those who oppose Madison Prep via callers on my radio show, emails, tweets and Facebook. While I agree that there are still some legitimate questions that need to be answered about Madison Prep (financial, governance, structure to name a few), a lot of the questions seems to be centered around Kaleem Caire (CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison), about his motives and his associations when it comes to education. Some see him as a part of a larger effort by right wing organizations such as the Bradley Foundation to destroy the public school system. I'm not going to speak for Caire, because he is more than capable of answering those questions himself. But allow me to say a few words about some of the other issues, because I think that it's worthy of discussion. I have already written some of what I'm about to write here to a few people already because we were discussing Madison Prep, but I thought that I would repeat some of it in this blog, because I feel that it needs to be said:
First of all, fair or not, right or wrong, there are folks in this community, both of color and some whites, that feel that the white liberal establishment in Madison believes that they and they alone should decide how education is taught to students of color, regardless of the 48% graduation rate for African American students, the achievement gap, and the incarceration rates (because it's all connected). So Caire and the Urban League step forward and present an idea to help address these issues. And while it's met with caution and skepticism by some who also have legitimate questions about cost and how it would work, unfortunately it's felt that others have the attitude of "who does this black man think he is, telling US how we should educate students or how our way isn't the only way or best way? I've been teaching kids for 25 years! He's not a teacher!" In addition, they also feel that it isn't just a Kaleem Caire issue; it's ANY black man or woman in Madison that would have presented this idea. But if it were the Goodman Foundation or any other organization or person(s) that this community cherishes, it would have been seen much differently. Whether you agree with that or not, it's unfortunate that some feel this way, but this is what happens when you don't have open and honest discussions about race and ethnicity.
Second, folks who question Kaleem Caire's beliefs and associations have sent me various links to right wing organizations that have contributed greatly to the charter school system, including some folks that Caire has worked with in the past. They feel that these organizations have played a major role in the permanent underclass status of many Americans of color. They also feel that even though Caire may not share these organizations opinions or beliefs in most issues, he still sleeping with the enemy, so to speak. Again, those questions are for Caire to answer, which I'm certain that he's capable of. But let me also say the following: There's been a lot of talk about Gov. Scott Walker, the Koch Brothers, The Walton Family Foundation, The Bradley Foundation and other Republican/Tea Party/right wing organizations destroying public education, disenfranchising voters, etc.... I'm certainly not fond of any group or person(s) who contribute to the permanent underclass in this country. But the fact of the matter is, the left in this community doesn't have a whole lot of leg to stand on either. Take a look around this community: high incarceration rates, low graduation rates and high unemployment for African Americans, especially males. A dearth of minority owned businesses and people of color in management and executive positions in area businesses. Very few minority representation in local print, radio and television media. Very few in high ranking public sector positions. Can't keep black owned nightclubs open because the city allows knuckleheads and thugs who don't even patronize the establishments hang around outside and cause havoc and then turn around and blame it on the owners. That's just to name a few. All of this has gone on in "liberal, inclusive, diverse, progressive" Madison for years, with virtually no Republican in sight. The Mayor's office, Common Council, County Board (mostly), County Executive - all Democrats. You may not like Caire's "associations," but let's not pretend that the liberals in this city haven't been part of the problem either.
Frankly, I'm tired of watching young people of color going in and out of the criminal justice system. I'm tired of watching students of color fall further and further behind when it comes to education, only to be constantly told that the blame lies solely on the parents. There's enough blame to go around. But unfortunately, most of the so called liberals and progressives in Madison who criticize Madison Prep don't want to talk about any of that. They'd rather talk about the Koch Brothers or who Kaleem Caire was in an organization with, while ignoring the elephant in the room. and it's a crying shame.
