I admit it. I was surprised when Elmbrook's $62 million dollar referendum passed last April 1st. Usually, it takes 3 referendum tries before one will pass.

In my opinion, Elmbrook's referendum broke ranks and passed on the second try because of 3 reasons. One, it was held during a spring election (lower voter turnout) rather than a November presidential election (higher voter turnout), and two, there was virtually no get out the vote campaign from those opposed. (The third reason I call the secret weapon*, the HSST.  Voters really trusted that HSST committee theoretically made up of both "No and Yes" voters. But this third reason does not apply to this posting.)

Some might say, well, our 2007 referendum failed by a very high percentage. That one was also held in a lower voter turnout spring election too. True, but those opposed to that $108 million 2007 referendum leafleted nearly the entire Elmbrook school district with information as to why it was not a good plan. That did not happen in spring of 2008.

Why wasn't there an organized opposition? Fatigue. Those who worked hard to defeat the 2007 referendum were still too burned out from the last go round to muster much of a fight.

Why am I talking about this water over the dam now? Because Germantown's school board is sending their voters this coming November the very same referendum their residents defeated last April 1st! (H/T Jay Weber @ 7:35 am)

The Journal Sentinel's Mike Nichols wrote, Germantown School Board bucks voters. In that article, he reports how the Germantown board isn't even bothering to reduce and refine their April 2008 $16.5 million referendum. They are just sending the very same thing to voters again this fall.

"School boards do this sort of thing frequently. A referendum fails so they wait a little while, cut a little bit out and try again. And again. And again. Until the "no' voters get tired, or move.

"Germantown is taking it a step further. It's not waiting a little while, and it is not cutting.

Considering there are only so many pro referendum votes out there and there will be a larger voter turnout this November, it is hard to believe it will pass. Evidentially, the same thing happened in Hartford last November and this spring. Voters there defeated the referendum both times.

It seems unlikely Germantown's referendum will pass in November, but there aught to be a law against this!

Taxpayers need and deserve a break from this constant whining for more money from their school districts.

Jay Weber suggested this morning that a state law be made that would prohibit a school district from throwing referendum after referendum at their taxpayer base. A 2 to 3 year moratorium between referendums at least would be welcome. (He has mentioned this before.)

If districts knew they would have to wait for 2 years before they came at their taxpayers again, maybe, just maybe, they would present a more thought out and practical plan. Elmbrook's 2008 plan was not well thought out. For one, they budgeted for HVAC improvements before all of the condition reports were known.

While Elmbrook taxpayers know what they are in for now for the next 20 years (theoretically, we are nearly to the end of our referendums our district tells us), keep in mind many referendums are partially financed through the state. Remember Elmbrook paid for some of Janesville's referendum?

For our referendum, Elmbrook residents must pay “dollar for dollar” of all expenses. But according to Bob Borch, “They (Janesville) accounted for receiving 25% of every dollar needed to pay back the bonds as coming from state aid, this lowering the cost to the taxpayer for their borrowing.”

School districts should be prohibited from bombarding their taxpayers with repeated referendums. It would give taxpayers a breather in between referendum pleas, and that would be a breath of fresh air!

 

* The secret weapon, the HSST, made up of "No and Yes" voters, I think this was the main reason Elmbrook got voters to bite on their 2nd referendum try. Many people cited the reason they voted yes this time was that they trusted the opinion of that group's assessment of our needs. Many voters, for example, did not know they were voting for air conditioning both schools, including the gyms, or that the team started with the premise that new gymnasiums would be included. Members of the 2007 opposition expressed quiet doubts that the 3 No voters included on the HSST team were really No voters.

Links:

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna

 

 

Although I was pleased with the results from last night, it is clear from some comments at yesterday's common council meeting that those who were pro referendum really do not get it why we were not.

Last night I attended Brookfield's Common Council meeting and spoke up for keeping our fire stations where they were. I also said we were grossly understaffed and would need more stations in the future. Their new plan will not allow for additional stations to be added to serve the southeast side. Interestingly, for all the rhetoric over safety at the high schools, not one parent nor Dr. Gibson showed up to plea for keeping East's 1 minute EMS/fire response time to the high school.

Later during the discussion, Alderman Reddin slammed me for speaking out for the safety of East High School students when, according to him, I had spent the last 2 months saying we should do nothing for the high schools. That is his opinion and he is entitled to it. (You may watch the meeting to hear his exact comments on the cable broadcast. Alderman Nelson made a similar comment.)

I have a thick skin, I know not everyone agrees with me. BUT they obviously have not understood my position on the high schools at all.

I fear the board and administration will not "get it" either. Those who wanted this referendum will chalk up the NO vote to mean we are all against education. I don't believe that is true at all. We are against wasteful spending and poor stewardship. There is a BIG difference between the two.

PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE AGAINST WASTEFUL SPENDING AND POOR STEWARDSHIP TOO. WE MUST BE BETTER ORGANIZED FOR THE NEXT REFERENDUM.

WE ALSO NEED TO STAY INVOLVED WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD AND ATTEND THE BUDGET HEARING & ANNUAL MEETING ON JUNE 25TH 7PM, (location to be determined). LAST YEAR THEY APPROVED THE $2.5 MILLION DEFEASANCE, WE NEED TO ALL BE THERE!


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One of my regular readers sent me this today. I think if fits in well with the latest vote yes postcard.

"Today's the big day! Will our community whimsically vote to add more debt to our already outstanding sum of $2,798.66* for every man, woman and child in the Elmbrook school district? (YIKES) Or will we Just Say No!"

The way you vote for this referendum today will speak volumes to your children about what is important in life.

If you are trying to teach them to be fiscally responsible, manage their money well, and live within their means, a Yes vote will not reinforce those ideas.

If you are trying to teach them to be good stewards, a Yes vote will reinforce the idea that you don't need to be responsible with "the little" to be entrusted with more.

If you are trying to teach your children to be considerate of others and respect their elders, a Yes vote again will not reinforce those ideals. Most seniors already have a hard time deciding on whether to eat or buy prescriptions. This referendum will bring them to tougher decisions.

Will your vote today teach your children to be ruled by wants and emotions and value only the shiny and new or will it teach them to base their decisions on facts and the reality of budgets.

Lastly, IF you had to bring a check to the polling place today, made out for the entire amount of the referendum and dated so that the district could take out their yearly allotment in order to cast a YES vote, would you still vote yes?

Today is MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TUESDAY! Go vote! Besides 2 no votes on the referendums, I am writing in Jon Wolff against Bob Ziegler and Cindy Kilkenny against Glen Allgaier.

Please attend the Public Comment session at Brookfield's City hall tonight at 7:45 pm. This will be your final opportunity to speak out against the moving of 2 fire stations to the west. East High School will lose its 1 minute response time.

Post WW2 era buildings = modern construction

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*Source:
Wold Printing Services, Chicago, Il - online muni's
School District of Elmbrook, Waukesha County, Wisconsin Taxable General Obligation Refunding Bonds, posted 01/20/2005: $9,780,000 bonds w/ maturity 2006-2024
"direct, overlapping and underlying bonded indebtedness per capita: $2,798.66"

Certainly every parent wants to know their children are safe while at school. The district knows this too and makes it one of their reasons to vote for the referendum.

On Elmbrook’s “Fact” sheet #1, it states: “While it is now standard equipment in most high schools, neither Brookfield Central nor Brookfield East has a closed circuit security television system for monitoring activity in the hallways, common areas, or parking lots and for monitoring access to over 60 outside doors at each school.”

There is one BIG FACT missing from this sheet. The FACT that next year, the cameras will be installed regardless of referendum passage. Principal LaBonte told us this little known fact when I toured Central last month.

Here is another FACT you may be interested in. Other area schools have been in the process of getting their cameras installed for a few years now, working their way, school by school through their districts--without a referendum.

Time to dispel another fallacy: These cameras are not to protect against Stranger Danger or terrorist intrusion. I think when most people hear the words security system or closed circuit security cameras they immediately conjure up the image of the security checkpoint at the Pentagon!

THIS is NOT what these cameras are for. These cameras are primarily to monitor STUDENT activity, not STRANGER activity.

A recent Brookfieldnow article stated, “In a time when many high schools around the nation have dealt with incidents of school violence, a closed-circuit security television system is necessary to monitor activity in the hallways, common areas and parking lots, according to principals.”

Remember that most high school violence is caused by students, not strangers. The cameras record motion in the hallways or wherever they are mounted, and that information is stored for future use. As a rule, it is not monitored continually during the day as we would think of a closed circuit television system. It is only there if there is an incident, they can see who was involved.

While on the mechanical tour of Central, the guide told us that one of the stairways in the 3 story addition was seldom used. I asked why, since I had heard the other stairways were so crowded. He hesitated, then said, they were too isolated and things happened in the stairwells.

Whether we are talking hanky-panky or bullying or drug deals, I don’t know. I do know going back to the concept of a hall monitor might help. In any event, this is not a STRANGER problem; it is a STUDENT problem.

The real question is: Why has Elmbrook neglected this “need” until now?

Could it be the same reason they have neglected other standard maintenance issues? They are trying to present a needier picture of our high schools than there really is, and in the case of security cameras, they will be installed next year—even without the referendum.

ONLY 5 MORE DAYS UNTIL MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TUESDAY!

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In all the ACT benchmark hoopla last week, I neglected to point out a little detail.

Did you notice that Brookfield Central, the school that the Elmbrook School District maligns and makes disparaging remarks about in regards to its condition, outscored Brookfield East on the 2006 ACT scores?

Does that fact make you at least question the premise that the district and Vote Yes gang continually perpetuate, that the lack of facility amenities adversely affect learning?

The ACT scores certainly do not bear out their assumptions. Elmbrook ranks in the top ten, and Central last year beat East.

If you look at all of the scores from the past 5 years, you see that the two schools are pretty much tied neck and neck. Check out “Fact sheet #23”. East is said to be much better than Central, yet the students obviously learn at both schools.

Dr. Joe Schroeder, Assistant Superintendent for the School District of Elmbrook, submitted a letter to Brookfieldnow. Seems that Stefanie Scott selectively reported only parts of his report before the School Board on March 13th.

Dr. Schroeder sets the record straight in this letter. He says, “the press, ignoring multiple areas of very positive news of student achievement that preceded the ending” (of his report)... “This produced an incomplete story and a blazing headline that misrepresented the overall themes of the presentation.”

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Now, don’t get too excited here. Nothing has changed with Elmbrook’s ACT scores. They are still in the top 10 scores for public schools.

What is SIGNIFICANT is that Elmbrook’s Dr. Joe Schroeder, Assistant Superintendent, chose this time to address the board about these benchmark ACT scores. Maybe he has done this before. Then the fact that Brookfield NOW reported it is newsworthy.

When you read Stefanie Scott’s article, Benchmarks show less than half of Elmbrook students ready for college, did you wonder how recent “Recently” was, in the article’s second sentence?

I did. So did a reader, who kindly shared these two responses to their inquiries about these benchmark scores.

“ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks were established in 2003.

I hope this helps. If you need any additional information, please don't
hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,

Ed Colby
ACT Media Relations"


“The ACT college benchmarks were established approximately 5 years ago.

Robert L. Ziomek, Ph.D.
Director, Department of Education and
Workforce Research Services
Research and Development Division"

We see that these benchmark scores have been around 4-5 years. So, what is so significant about this “news”?

The fact that Elmbrook Schools was using these old news scores to seemingly alarm the public about our inability to prepare our students for college! To me, their message is that we better replace our present high schools with a pair of quasi-remodeled/new ones in order to compete. That is where the significance lies.

It is important to note that our School District always seems to boast about their top ten ACT scores standing when justifying their expenses. The ACT and other test scores are always pointed to as a mark of achievement at the annual budget meeting. But now that the district wants something—a $108.8 M building referendum—suddenly a standard that came out several years ago is noteworthy?

Yes, we can improve. Private schools often out score us by 2 or more points. (They frequently use old castoff public school buildings too, or in the case of Brookfield Academy, an old bowling alley! That fact rather flies in the face of Elmbrook’s rational that we need new buildings in order to properly educate children.)

But do high ACT scores really indicate anything beyond the fact that we “teach to the test” and have prepared our students well in how to take an ACT test? (There is a strategy and art to taking the ACT. Students can take classes in test taking and even take practice tests.) The show "Frontline", some years ago, investigated the ACT/SAT score inconsistencies with actual college success. This is why many universities give a placement test of their own and then mandate remedial classes for freshmen.

I believe the REAL test or benchmark of how well Elmbrook is doing its job, would be to track how well their graduates do once in college. Average always means some score higher and some lower, but I don’t get a sense from the parents I know, whose children are finished with high school, that their offspring have not been prepared for college. That has not been an idea expressed in letters to the editor or brought up at all. In fact, the anonymous letter posted on my blog stated that they thought their children were very well prepared and were doing well in college.

Success in college cannot be measured solely by an ACT score. So much depends on the maturity of the student and their will to succeed. We all know of perfectly brilliant young people who see their college years as party time and consequently don’t succeed. Contrast them with the students who struggled all through high school but finally met their stride in their college years.

One can always use statistics to argue any point of view. Elmbrook seems to be doing that now. Mark Twain frequently quoted Disraeli in saying, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, @#$%&* lies, and statistics” But if you were still wondering what those benchmarks are, here are some statistics and links to related websites and articles.

Scoring above benchmark predicts 50% of students getting college B or above in that subject.
Scoring lower than benchmark predicts 35% getting college B or above in that subject

The average Elmbrook ACT scores were all above the benchmark with the exception of the science (biology) test, which were short of the benchmark by .1 for Central, and .6 for East.

One reader noted: Please note when reading the data that Elmbrook is maybe half-a-point or a point higher than other school districts (not much of a bragging right, really), while Brookfield Academy scores of 26 - 27 are a good 2 - 3 points above Elmbrook. Now THAT's significant.

ACT 2005 College Readiness Benchmarks

AC

A number of people, including myself, were puzzled about the short Community Watch posting, from yesterday, concerning "Only 41% of Elmbrook students" ready for college.

That little posting got me to wondering. How did other districts fare? Was this a new finding that each community website would be reporting on? NO.

I checked Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Wauwatosa, Waukesha, Greendale, Greenfield, Thiensville, Mequon, Franklin, Brown Deer, and West Allis. None of those CNI NOW sites had any postings or articles on the shortfall in ACT related scores that I could find.

But then, none of those communities are having a $108.8 million dollar referendum this April.


Today, the full article ran, Benchmarks show less than half of Elmbrook students ready for college.

I will reserve judgement about this "news" story until I have time to digest the article.

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This letter was sent to me by an Elmbrook parent.

Our family has had a couple of children recently graduate from an Elmbrook high school. They received exemplary educations and are doing very well in universities. I guess it's remarkable my children are doing so well considering they had to attend a high school in such deplorable physical condition. That's the district's opinion, not mine. Their spin on this referendum really angers me.

Perhaps parents should be suing the district. Elmbrook is clearly, according to their own plethora of fact sheets, running two high schools that are placing students at risk every day. The district doesn't get to have it both ways. Either the schools are worthy of my children or they aren't. And the district keeps telling me over and over again that they are not.

Five years ago I remember watching a teacher struggle to open a window at the high school. She commented that the main office had stopped responding to requests for maintenance for stuff like windows. THAT WAS FIVE YEARS AGO. A couple of years ago an article ran in the Brookfield News about how easy it was to bypass security and enter the high schools. All of the issues were caused by human error. Now we're told that my children are at risk because there are no closed-circuit cameras on the doors.

Another concern is how many people will be milling through the schools during a potential renovation. What about the security of my child then? No one has addressed the thousands of high school students that will have the quality of their education significantly diminished by constant construction. (Of course, the district has shown their real concern for safety by having people mill around the high schools all day long for a million tours.)

I absolutely love the teachers and curriculum at the high schools. I love the students that come from those schools. But, I don't trust Elmbrook School Board President Meg Wartman. I don't trust Superintendent Matt Gibson. I don't trust the administration to be good stewards of my tax dollars on this issue.

I'm going to vote against this referendum.

(Please do not use my name)

Emphasis added

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