Before adjourning last week, the Legislature passed a bill granting new powers to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to intervene in failing school districts. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says the legislation, which Governor Doyle is expected to sign, is a step in the right direction when it comes to addressing the problems in MPS.
However, Barrett says he would have liked the Legislature to go further and he doubts the “last chapter has been written” in efforts to reform MPS.
The Democratic candidate for Governor had originally pushed for legislation that would have allowed Milwaukee’s mayor to take direct control of troubled schools in the city. That proposal faced strong opposition from many Milwaukee Democrats and school officials, and Barrett admits there were too many problems to overcome for it to have passed.
Barrett is not saying if he would continue to push for mayoral control if he’s elected governor. The Mayor says he wants to see how effective the recent reforms are before he’d make a decision on the next step.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:15)
