Intercepts
A listening post monitoring public education and teachers’ unions.

Trying to get ahead of a new legislative reality in the state, the Wisconsin Education Association Council announced a plan for three “bold reforms:” a statewide teacher evaluation system, a performance pay project, and the breakup of the 85,000-student Milwaukee public school district.

There will be a lot of commentary inside and outside of Wisconsin about the plan and what it will mean for public education. But you come here to learn what it will mean for the teachers’ union, and the answer is, “trouble ahead.”

The state union has often had strained relationships with its largest locals, but this goes beyond squabbling over internal issues and enters the world of public policy. The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association has already posted its response to the WEAC proposal on its web site:

The first time WEAC provided MTEA leaders with any information about their proposals was through a phone call Monday. WEAC had already informed legislators of its proposals.

MTEA President Mike Langyel told WEAC that our union absolutely opposed breaking up our district and asked WEAC to cancel the news conference. WEAC refused.

BRs and EA Chairpersons will be briefed at their monthly meeting tomorrow, February 9.

We will continue to provide MTEA leaders and members with more information as soon as possible.

WEAC doesn’t envision district deconsolidation until 2015, which means this is the most likely reform to fall by the wayside. But the hard feelings within the union won’t fade away as easily.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 at 11:11 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.