Madison Media Digest: Schools, Environment, Police

An active week in the schools, led by a collective bargaining decision, took center stage in Madison Media this week.

Education

The Madison School Board voted unanimously to extend the current contract with  Madison Teachers Inc. Madison’s teachers have been working under an agreement signed prior to the enactment of Act 10, which limited collective bargaining rights for public employee. Once the contract expires, teachers will be subject to restrictions.  School board member  Mary Burke (who has financially supported Madison Commons’ education coverage), who is one of two Democrats seeking to challenge Gov. Scott Walker in the fall, supported the decision. Her actions will be highly scrutinized statewide, writes the State Journal.  In fact, In Business’ Dave Blaska has already criticized the decision.

The School district also named five new principals. The State Journal also looked at an exchange program between Muslim and Jewish schools aimed at fostering understanding. .

Madison property owners will see their support of MATC drop by 46 percent due to new state funding formula.

Environment

The Cap Times' four-part series with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism looked at the future of Lake Kegonsa, which has the worst quality of any of the local lakes. Meanwhile, an attempt to introduce a water-cleaning crustacean to Lake Mendota have attracted a new predator, which has diminished the effectiveness of these efforts.

Ticks are on the increase in Wisconsin, and the state is one of the epicenters of Lyme disease, but ticks carry other diseases. Channel 3000 reports that the harsh winter did nothing to reduce tick populations in the state.. The State Journal also produced a video to help people check pets for tick bites.  

UW graduate Monica Nigon wondered if the way we teach kids about the environment discourages them from engaging with it

Police

In police news, new chief Mike Koval  has asked news outlets to refrain from identifying officers involved in shootings, least until after investigations. The Secretary of the Madison Professional Police officers union weighed in to support the move in the Cap Times. A State Journal story about an officer-involved shooting from this weekend includes no names of officers.

Police also promised that the unveiling of a new armored vehicle is not a sign of a changing philosophy.

--There will be no digest next week, due to Memorial Day.