Jeremy Caradonna’s Post

How did MPS calculate a $200 million deficit?(its actually a 252M deficit). From the article: “Key to the referendum request is a projection from MPS that it faces a $200 million budget hole. The referendum, if approved, will fill most of that hole. Critics say the district has not revealed a detailed enough explanation of that deficit or a plan for where the referendum funds would go. Compared to districts in the metro area, MPS' revenue limit is lower than Shorewood, Glendale-River Hills, Brown Deer and Greenfield, according to the report. It is higher than Elmbrook, West Allis-West Milwaukee, Whitefish Bay, Mequon-Thiensville and Wauwatosa.” https://lnkd.in/ggxWZxAj

Does another IPS operating referendum this way come? And if so, what will it take to garner more widespread support from charter school advocates and families? That's the question animating my new blog piece. https://lnkd.in/gmCk8k-H

"School district referendums have continued to see a decline in passage rates this April, per data from Wisconsin Policy Forum. "Only 60% of referendums passed statewide, and 10 of 16 passed in central Wisconsin, for a rate of 62.5%." WAOW TV 9 in Wausau covers our latest research findings. Voters across Wisconsin approved 62 of the 103 school district referenda held in this year’s spring elections: the February primary and April general election. If fall 2024 referenda fare similarly, the 60.2% approval rate would be the lowest in an even-numbered year since 2010. This spring also saw a total of 10 referenda held in February and the 93 held in April, the most ballot questions for spring elections since at least 2000.

Exit the WHO: I have submitted a petition to the Clerk of the House of Representatives (“the Clerk”) to start a petition seeking a Citizens Initiated Referendum to terminate our relationship with the World Health Organization (“WHO”) due to the vested interests and undue influence of private funders. Member states & private partners fund WHO. In 2022-23 members states’ assessed contributions made up 13% of the budget, with WHO relying on 87% of voluntary contributions. Please note that the Clerk has the final say on the wording of the petition, and then it must be advertised for up to three months. If accepted, 10% of registered voters must sign the petition supporting the referendum question. There are approximately 3,673,774 registered voters in NZ, so we need at least 367,377 signatures within the statutory 12-month timeframe. There is a $50,000 spending limit on promoting the petition, so I need a lot of volunteers. We have a couple of months to get organised, so I am calling for volunteers for the following roles: 1) Steering Committee. 2)Fundraising Committee. 3)Creative People Committee. 4)General Volunteers. 5)Volunteers who are willing to go out into the community and collect signatures. If you are interested, please contact us at [email protected] and put the type of volunteering in the subject line. If you are volunteering for the roles through 1 to 3, please send a brief bio. Thank you. @c_plushie @nzdsos @RCR_NZ @HopeRising19 @nzfirst @actparty @KimDotcom @theplatform_nz

How have school referenda failed in the last decade across Wisconsin? Months after the latest MPS referendum, Alec Johnson breaks down the biggest school referenda that have passed and failed over the previous decade https://lnkd.in/gsWpb5kD #WisconsinSchools #MPSreferendum #SchoolFunding #PublicSchools #SchoolReform #WisconsinEducation #ReferendumAnalysis

The MPS referendum passes, handing a huge L to Dale Kooyenga and the MMAC One of the closest elections of the night was the referendum for Milwaukee Public Schools. The final margin of victory was just over 2% for the “yes” vote on raising property taxes to help fund the school district to the tune of $252 million.  The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) got heavily involved in the opposition to this referendum, spending well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, an effort led by its new president, former Republican state legislator Dale Kooyenga.  Perhaps this backfired. This effort may have given referendum supporters a rallying cry against the business lobby. Having a Brookfield Republican in Kooyenga be the face of this opposition effort seemed especially off base for a City of Milwaukee referendum, and enlisting the Scott Walker alums at Platform Communications to help sure doesn’t seem to have been effective.  The MMAC going all-in against this effort, while backing gargantuan levels of funding for highway widening and Brewers stadium maintenance, shows just how misguided this organization can often be in its priorities for the region. It’s long past time for the MMAC to take a good look in the mirror to reexamine if it’s really doing what’s best for the future of Milwaukee. And while this is good news for Milwaukee and for MPS that this referendum passed, the conversations the community has had during this campaign, along with the close result, should send a message to the district that people want something more change-minded and less adhering to the status quo. But because so much of the criticism of MPS is of the bad-faith variety — like the “no plan” rhetoric from those opposing the referendum, despite the very real strategic plan adopted a year ago — legitimate criticism many have for the district can be harder to recognize. But it is there. People are not misguided to be expecting better. It has to be about more than just avoiding cuts. Now, hopefully, MPS will have the resources it needs to do better. Because it has to do better.

526 Shame Honorable Members of the Charleston County Council, Consider what has bound us together recently. Working together as a region is a good idea. Check the map. Flooding is coastal, and that includes this region. Where do we put the current and future (it will be higher) compound flooding water? As a region, we will know better at some point, no matter what the county council does not do. We will learn •  If the existing road nets can be traveled at low or high tide, •  If the last mile from our homes to the 526-SIX's concept improvements (a version of Salome's bangles of disappearing road ideas in the referendum still leaves too many marooned, (now you see them in the referendum, now you don't see them in the spending plan), •  if our existing thin net of too few secondary roads are a passable system and •  if there is financial capacity in the county after the county referendum sucks county residents dry of flexible funds for 25 years. The 526-SIX's sales pitch proposals also need more funding for the rest of the vote-getting seduction of the other than the 526 road ideas - transit. No amount was specified for transit in the referendum. Nada. Zilch. Nil. Goose eggs. Come on! Another vote-getting county council gimmick is a come-on. Transit is another empty suit in the referendum. Why should anyone rational person or entity in the region offer up to the county council transit solutions that lack money set aside for that purpose? Sent off on a Hunger Games expedition. Just a single word in the single-question referendum's sales pitch to be decided by the 526-SIX later, who obviously have no use for transit. We have learned that words are what the 526-SIX does not honor. You offer a Hunger Games competition that has no prize. Even the built-in assumed incrementalism of small-scale transit ideas is a big fat zero loser. The county needs bold performances from the county council. Please stop with the false impressions. (I call it b.s.) Even if fully funded and not further reduced by the Mark Clark Extension (526) overruns and access to 526 road raisings, the referendum road concepts are not a TRANSPORTATION PLAN for the county. The county council does not even pretend to design for congestion impacts in the road ideas in the referendum. You know full well that the 526 remains congested after completion. We cannot live in our cars, building roads that do not have enough to reduce congestion. High levels of performance from the county council are essential, going well beyond talking with others. You can listen to your supporters in the business community as they extol the virtues of 526 to the economy, say it is essential and better than sliced bread. They are not surrendering 25 years of anything to build 526. Your constituents are paying for 526. They are going under water, in case you have not noticed. Fred Palm August 11, 2024

In the latest Colleston’s Corner, read updates from the MPS financial scandal, including that MPS administrators knew about the state aid clawback before the referendum vote. https://lnkd.in/gzdrJX9x #MPS #financialscandal #stateaidclawback #administrators #scandal #currentevents

Now, more than ever, it is crucial for organisations to think and design differently. As allies reflecting on the recent anniversary of the Voice to Parliament referendum, we share the responsibility to support justice, truth-telling, and reconciliation. Closing the gaps across organisations and systems requires collective action and honest reflection. This is a challenge for all of us committed to equality and inclusion. Rethinking governance, service design, and support is still needed across sectors. While success metrics and fear of criticism can make organisations resistant to reflection, it is essential for driving authentic action. The future calls for us to work harder for justice across all marginalised communities. Let’s reflect and act: what will we do today to build a better tomorrow? #Reconciliation

Voting for Sinn Féin the Local and European elections is the first step to getting a change of government Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald has said Simon Harris and Fine Gael’s failure to deliver affordable homes has resulted in the collapse of homeownership for a generation in Dublin and across the state. She warned that if Fine Gael are in government for another five years, home ownership will remain outside of their reach and that is why voting for change is so important on Friday. Speaking this week as the party launched their Delivering For Dublin plan at Dublin City Hall, Teachta McDonald said, “Fine Gael’s failure to deliver affordable homes that teachers, nurses, factory and retail workers can actually afford in Dublin has resulted in the collapse of home ownership for so many across our city. “Fine Gael’s failure on housing is clear to see in Dublin. Many people in neighbourhoods right across our capital city are faced with the choice of continuing to live with their parents well into their 30s, paying extortionate rents or feeling forced to emigrate because they can’t see a future for themselves here in Ireland. “Sinn Féin have set out our plan to get to grips with the housing crisis and deliver genuinely affordable homes to buy and rent in Dublin. We have set out how Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies can deliver homes for under €300,000, alongside the delivery of large-scale social housing. This programme will ensure that home ownership is once again affordable for teachers, nurses, factory and retail workers. That is the type of radical, strategic reset that is required to deliver the change Dublin needs. “I am proud of the strong team of candidates that are running for Dublin in this election, 74 local election candidates who are all leaders in their communities and determined to deliver change. They’re joined by 2 strong candidates for Europe, Senator Lynn Boylan and Councillor Daithí Doolan, who bring incredible track records of delivery and will stand up for you and your family in Europe on the issues that matter. “Voting for Sinn Féin the Local and European elections is the first step to getting a change of government, to creating the momentum to elect a government that will sort out the housing crisis. “That is why voting for change in the local elections and European elections is so important on Friday. It is the first step in getting this government out of office.”