Debates continue over future of Madison Prep

The debate continues, with meetings and hearings ahead of the upcoming November vote on Madison Prep, a proposed, tuition-free charter school, aimed at closing the achievement gap between white and minority students in Madison.

Under the current plan, Madison Prep would begin enrolling sixth graders next fall. The school plans to educate 60 boys and 60 girls, separately, but at the same location. Each subsequent year, a new batch of sixth grades would enroll, until every grade from 6 to 12 is taught.

According to Laura Deroche-Perez of the Urban League of Greater Madison (ULGM), the goal is to allot at least 50 percent of the seats to students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. In fact, ULGM is heavily marketing the school in low-income neighborhoods, Deroche-Perez said.

The decision to include girls at the school is relatively new. Earlier plans had called for one school for boys, followed by a school for girls within two years. According to ULGM, the achievement gap is wider for boys than girls. 

But the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) expressed worries of compliance with Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. Deroche-Perez said that concern was enough for ULGM to propose teaching boys and girls right away, a plan they were always happy with.

As a result, on August 25, after a meeting between ULGM, the Madison Metropolitan School District and the DPI, the Madison Prep proposal was amended to include female and male students in the school’s first year.

Despite these changes, however, the school continues to be controversial. At a well-attended public hearing on Oct. 3, proponents and opponents of the school continued to debate the proposal.

“These are all important parts of a government process that we have to go through,” Daniel Nerad, Madison schools Superintendent, said. “There was excellent testimony provided by a wide range of community members on the proposal, both in support and opposition.”

Both ULGM and Nerad estimated that more there were more supporters of Madison Prep than detractors at the public hearing.

The biggest issue yet to be cemented is funding. That comes as no surprise to Nerad, given the current climate of cutting funding to educational institutions. Nerad says funding transferring is still being considered for Madison Prep.  Under this system, as students move from existing schools to Madison Prep, funding for some teachers may move with them.

“For example, if you have 25 less kids in third grade [because they are attending Madison Prep], you can transfer funding for a teacher,” Nerad said.

But Nerad’s main concern is to ensure services and programs are not cut, even if staff funding shifts.

Much discussion surrounding hiring focuses on whether Madison Prep will use staff employed by the school district. According to the current plan, the charter school would be an instrumentality of the district, meaning personnel are employed by MMSD.

Both Nerad and Marjorie Passman, school board vice president, expressed support for Madison Prep as an instrumentality school.

“It’s much more part of the school district,” Nerad said. “It can still have its separate board.”

Deroche-Perez said it is “extremely likely” Madison Prep would be using teachers hired by the district.

The superintendant describes a the relationship between the MMSD and the Urban League of Greater Madison as "positive".

“At times we agree and at times we disagree and I don’t think that’s abnormal,” Nerad said.