Madison Media Digest: Budgets, Education, Development

Here’s what we were reading while celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Race to Equity report

City Budget

Madison was awash in city budget intrigue this week. Before Mayor Paul Soglin let the budget pass into law without signing it, he had threatened to veto it and proposed some amendments early last week. The city council rejected Soglin’s changes with some alders saying the late amendments diminished the transparency of the process, a characterization that Soglin disputed. The State Journal says the Council should have worked with Soglin on his amendments. Brenda Konkel agreed that the Council’s resistance was not its finest hour. The Isthmus says the budget clash represented the true start of the 2015 mayoral race.

You can read a roundup of what’s in the budget from Carousel Bayrd. 

Education

Chris Rickert writes that white parents in Madison increasingly take advantage of open enrollment to send their kids to other districts. Nov. 20 was National Parental Involvement Day, and Capital City Hues profiled All Parents on Deck, a group in Madison focused on getting parents involved in their children’s lives. The Madison School Board is considering changing a current referendum to fund the city’s schools from $27 million to $39 million due to strong support. The Cap Times reported that Middleton High School now sends the most students to UW-Madison out of all state high schools. The State Journal calls for greater accountability at private schools receiving public money through school vouchers, a program likely to be expanded in the next legislative session.

Development

The Cap Times took an in-depth look at how the digital divide affects Madison. Madison is looking into providing free Internet to certain areas of the city with low-income families. The state announced four finalists to redevelop the Department of Transportation Building in Hill Farms. Grampa’s Pizza on Willy Street is crowdfunding an expansion plan. A historic building located on Gilman Street that formerly served as the governor’s mansion, called Knapp House, may be sold. Kaleem Caire argues the Madison Sports Hall of Fame needs to include people of color.

Editor's Note: The digest will take a week off for Thanksgiving and return Dec. 8.