www.oshkoshforall.com
@fordm10
@fordm10
As I campaign people are asking me great questions about my positions. I will share my answers to those questions below so the voters of OASD will know where I stand on the issues that matter to them.
No. I am a staunch believer in freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I designed and taught a college course on freedom of speech and expression and had the pleasure of giving invited testimony to a state legislative committee on the issue (You can read it here: https://mikeinoshkosh.wordpress.com/2023/05/04/michael-ford-testimony-to-the-wi-assembly-committee-on-colleges-and-universities-may-3-2023/). Banning books is inconsistent with my commitment to free speech. I think parents, and not the state, can be trusted to regulate their own children’s reading material. If elected, I will of course, adhere to the district’s policies for public complaints about material (see: https://go.boarddocs.com/wi/oshko/Board.nsf/Public?open&id=policies#).
No. My commitment to free speech precludes me from placing limits on who can comment at board meetings. I do think time limits applied equally to all speakers, and expectations that speakers follow the rules of the governing body are appropriate and reasonable, but I do not support limiting who can speak. While I will not always agree with you, I will always listen.
I enjoy writing and I am lucky to be able to share my thoughts in a monthly column in the Oshkosh Herald. I do not get paid by the Herald, nor do I pay to get the space. I began writing the column during my first term as an Oshkosh Common Council member. I have not and will not write any columns as a declared candidate for any elected office, so you will not see any future columns until after the Spring election.
My wife and I choose to send our sons to Vel Phillips and Oshkosh North. We have had great experiences with both schools. The choice works for our family. There are many parents in OASD who choose to send their kids to a specialty school within the district, or a traditional public school outside their neighborhood. There are 509 students living in the OASD district who choose to attend a public district other than OASD via the state’s public school choice program. There are 202 students who lives outside of OASD who use the public school choice program to attend OASD. There are another 826 students living in the district who use the state’s means tested private school voucher program to attend a private school. As a board member I will not stand in the way of anyone making the choice they feel is best for their child.
I will, however, do my best to make OASD as competitive as possible so that we attract more students…both who reside in OASD, and who reside outside of OASD. I have done extensive research on school choice in Wisconsin, including focus groups of parents on what guides their choices. I have found parent decisions are driven by educational quality, facilities and extracurriculars, safety, and their personal interactions with school and district staff. If we focus on making OASD a district that truly views parents as partners, sets clear agreed upon performance goals, gives teachers and school leaders the tools and freedom to succeed, and provides competitive facilities…we will be the preferred choice of parents.
I also support reforming the way in which private school vouchers are funded. Right now, vouchers are funded through an aid reduction offset by the property tax levy. In plain language, this means OASD taxpayers pay the cost of vouchers. It is not an equitable way to fund the program…and both voucher advocates and opponents are in agreement on that conclusion. The Milwaukee voucher program is funded 100% by state General Purpose Revenue, and it makes sense for the statewide program to be funded in a more equitable manner as well. I am optimistic this issue will get fixed. I served as a legislative appointee on the 2021 Act 89 School District and School Financial Information Transparency Advisory Committee where we were tasked with helping DPI create a dashboard that will clearly show where state and local education dollars flow, including to non-public schools. I believe making this information public and easy to understand will create urgency to address the funding challenge.
As you may know if you looked at my resume, I worked for many years as a school choice advocate in Milwaukee. I saw the good, bad, and ugly of school choice and worked everyday to make it a tool for reforming a system where too many low-income and minority pupils were falling behind. My 2017 book, The Consequences of Governances Fragmentation, is a deep dive into how vouchers came to be in Wisconsin, and how we can move past some of the politics of school choice to a more productive conversation about student performance. To that end, I have good working relationships with school choice proponents and opponents, and I am proud of my reputation as a non-ideological credible voice on a critical issue.
Most relevant to my desire to serve on the OASD board, in me you will get a board member with a unique knowledge of education policy and reform in Wisconsin. You will also get a board member who has demonstrated an ability to work across partisan lines on this issue in a constructive and impartial manner. I want OASD to be the preferred choice, and I want all students living in OASD to succeed. That is probably more than you ever you wanted to know about me and school choice, but I am always happy to share more!!
The racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps in OASD are unacceptably high. I know this is not news to anyone serving on the OASD board or working for the district. In 2024 the Black-White achievement gap as measured by English and Math test scores is slightly smaller than the state average in grade 4, but substantially larger than the state average in grade 8 (see: https://wisedash.dpi.wi.gov/Dashboard/dashboard/19964). That is just one metric, but it is an example of a persistent challenge that needs to be prioritized.
If elected I will seek to build on the district’s ongoing work and hold the superintendent accountable for measurable progress. It begins with a commitment to the district’s own non-negotiables, which states “We affirm in our actions that each student can, will, and shall learn.” That means all students must be welcome regardless of race, income, political preferences, religious beliefs, culture, etc. Our public schools need to reflect the society they serve if we are to be the preferred choice for parents.
More Measurables
Specifically, we need to see progress on the district’s equity plan: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uw96OFCu_fNn7qcY0N09M8-Dun010N1e/view. Many of the due dates for goals are coming up or have passed, so I will push to ensure progress is communicated to the public via an easy to digest online dashboard. Many of the goals are phase 1 goals, i.e., they focus on examining policies and identifying deficiencies. Those goals are important and need to be met. However, I will push for us to move to phase 2 goals, which are quantitative measures that can be tracked over time and benchmarked against the board’s priorities and our peer districts. Reporting to stakeholders that policies have been examined is important, but showing stakeholders real-time data trends can increase trust and force course corrections when existing strategies aren’t working.
Most importantly, all of our work in this area must tie back to a few high-level indicators:
· Racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps
· Racial and socioeconomic discipline gaps
· Racial and socioeconomic attendance gaps
· Parental satisfaction gaps: Are identifiable groups of parents (race, gender, political ideology, etc.) dissatisfied with the district)
If we are not making progress on the high-level indicators, we need to change our approach. Data and reporting alone will not address gaps, obviously, but it is the work of a governance body to establish clear expectations with attached metrics that can empower staff and make accountability possible.
Empowering Parents
Parents and guardians are partners in their child’s education. As board members we must listen to them and their lived experience. When I attended Band-O-Rama I was pleased to see a district survey included in the agenda, along with an invitation for parents to provide feedback on what is working and not working in OASD. I will continue to solicit feedback from OASD parents, and work to meet parents where they are at so we actually hear from a cross-section and don’t draw conclusions based off of biased samples.
What could this look like? In 2012 I conducted focus groups in Milwaukee with parents attending public, voucher, and charter schools. The goal was to understand what parents wanted out of their schools and how they made decisions about where to send their children. Parents were very clear they wanted schools that were responsive, welcoming, high-quality, and safe. Small things, like returning phone calls or making information easy to find on a website, mattered a great deal. I think a similar project conducted by researchers at UWO (to be clear not me, it must be people independent of OASD) could yield valuable information on how to make our schools more welcoming for all.
If parents do not feel empowered they will leave the district via open enrollment, private school choice, or by choosing not to live in OASD. For OASD to succeed parents must have a voice.
Partnerships
The achievement gaps in OASD are a function of things inside and outside the classroom. As a school district we must address all we can inside the classroom by empowering teachers, letting data drive decision-making, being honest about where work needs to be done, and providing services that address barriers to learning (like meals and transportation). However, addressing issues outside the classroom requires cooperation between OASD, UWO, the area’s private schools, the City and Towns, County, and non-profit and private community partners. Some of this is already happening (the work of the Boys and Girls Club for example, is incredible), but more is needed.
If elected I will leverage my experience on the Oshkosh Common Council, at UWO, and in the community to align our strategic plans to address community issues that lead to achievement gaps. I favor the collective impact model (see: https://www.uwosh.edu/whitburn-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/211/2024/08/CollectiveImpact8.30.24.pdf) but will work with my colleagues on the OASD board to find the approach that works best for all. The timing for a renewed collaboration is perfect as UWO hires a new Chancellor and the City of Oshkosh hires a new City Manager. We need all hands on deck!
Humility
There are many reasons school districts around the state and country struggle with achievement gaps. Success in one district, or one school, often cannot be replicated. What is good for another district might not be good for OASD. I will never claim to have all the answers. But I will be a tireless advocate for transparency, improved communication, data-driven decision-making, parental rights, and the moral imperative of building a school district that works for all students and families.
I think all OASD students deserve to learn in buildings that have air conditioning, that have access to needed services on site, and that are up-to-date with the latest security measures. Our outcomes are only as good as our teachers, and attracting and retaining high-quality teachers requires quality facilities (and not making them move from building to building all day). The financial future of our district is tied to enrollment, if our facilities do not make us competitive we will lose students to school choice programs, creating a downward fiscal spiral.
All that said, buildings do not teach kids. However, inadequate facilities are a barrier to learning, and decades of deferred maintenance have gotten us to this challenging point. If we do not improve our facilities now, we will likely have to do so in the future at a higher cost. So, I do agree with the current board that we should ask voters via a referendum if they wish to support the facilities plan. I do think OASD has worked to minimize the financial impact of the referendum in ways that are to be commended. I plan to vote yes personally, but my vote is worth no more than anybody else’s! I have no doubt the community is in broad agreement that our kids deserve good facilities, but the outcome will come down to whether folks feel we can afford them as presented.
If the referendum does pass I will work to ensure funds are spent in a transparent fashion and that information on progress is shared with the public so there are no surprises that erode trust in the district. If it fails, I will do my best to find alternative paths to removing barriers to learning.
I am a member of no political party. I have voted for both Republicans and Democrats in the past and have worked across partisan lines throughout my career. Ideologically I am moderate and will consider all viewpoints when making decisions, and will always seek common ground with my colleagues. I am passionate about non-partisan office and will not seek nor accept assistance from any political party during my campaign. I want to earn you vote no matter your political affiliation. You can read more about why I find non-partisan elections important here: https://patimes.org/why-school-board-elections-should-stay-non-partisan/.
My first reaction is thank goodness the zoning issue with South Park Middle School’s location was discovered. Asking OASD taxpayers to approve a plan that couldn’t work would have been a disaster for all. My second reaction is to ask how this mistake happened. I know OASD inquired about the zoning issue and was given the all clear, which is problematic and speaks to a larger issue I will work to address if elected: Intergovernmental cooperation. The actions and policies of OASD, the City of Oshkosh, the Towns, UWO, and the County all impact one another, yet we don’t have strong enough systems of communication. At times we finger point rather than collaborate.
That leads to is mistakes like this one. I am optimistic I am uniquely positioned to achieve greater integrated planning and cooperation between the governing boards of these institutions. With all the turnover of leadership in Oshkosh the timing is right to rethink how we work together. Step one is common data metrics for broader community goals that impact all partners. More to come on that front, but it is essential we have better alignment of our governing bodies in Oshkosh.
My third thought was about the purchased properties near South Park Middle School (and the school itself). My hope is this can be the start of some better collaboration between the City and OASD in a joint effort to utilize this space for much needed housing. Ideally we can redevelop South Park Middle with some historic tax credits obtained by a private developer, and do some in-fill development for the purchased properties.
As to moving the potential new school to the Shapiro site, it seems like a slight improvement honestly with less disruption to students already in school, good space for the new building, and an area that might be a little more friendly (less traffic) for kids walking to school.
I look forward to learning more as more details come forward. Obviously, all of this is still dependent on the choice voters make in April.