In January, the day after spring election paperwork was due, Wayne Strong fainted. The health incident nearly derailed his campaign for Seat 7 of the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Board of Education.
But, he said, the fact that suspension rates for African-American students are on the rise in MMSD, propelled him back into the race.
“We’re at 31.5 percent — 31.5 percent. That compares to 2.7 percent for white students. So if you’re an African-American student in the Madison Metropolitan School District right now, you are 15 times more likely to suffer an out of school suspension, then a white student. And that’s simply not right, ” Strong, who is director of workforce development at the Urban League of Greater Madison, told Madison365.
Strong said this number comes after the out of school suspension rates for black students were down in the low teens after the 2013-14 school year. And he fears that Madison could move towards suspension rates like the ones in Racine County, where Strong is originally from, which top 66 percent for black students.
“What’s at the heart of the opportunity gap is kids can’t learn when they’re not in school,” he said. “What I’m going to be proposing over the next three years, if I am blessed and fortunate enough to be elected to this board, I am going to have a goal of a 5 percent reduction every year for the next three years. That will cut the rates of school suspensions for African American students in half — and bring them closer in line to white and Latino students. We have to do that for our kids.”
The general election is set for Tuesday, April 7 where Strong will face off against incumbent Nicki Vander Meulen.
This is Strong’s third run for school board. In 2013, Strong lost by 278 votes to former School Board Member Dean Loumos and in 2014, Michael Flores, a Madison firefighter and paramedic, defeated Strong by a larger margin.
Strong is a former Globe University criminal justice program chair and a longtime Madison police officer and lieutenant. He has coached and mentored hundreds of youth for the South Side Raiders football and cheerleading program.
Both his kids graduated from MMSD schools. His son, who graduated in 2007, has come back to Madison and is one of the few black cross-categorical teachers at Black Hawk Middle School, Strong said.
“What’s at the heart of the opportunity gap is that kids can’t learn when they’re not in school. What I’m going to be proposing over the next three years, if I am blessed and fortunate enough to be elected to this board, is to have a goal of a 5 percent reduction every year for the next three years. That will cut the rates of school suspensions for African American students in half — and bring them closer in line to white and Latino students. We have to do that for our kids.”
He said his top priorities are recruiting teachers of color, addressing the opportunity gap, preparing students for life after high school and supporting safety in schools.
“I’m a big proponent of public safety and I think that if our schools are safe, our communities are safe. Oftentimes what we see happening in our schools is a reflection of what’s happening in our community. And so many of the incidents that we see in the schools are often a result of something that has not happened in school but has happened outside the school and it’s brought back into the school because that’s where kids all meet,” he said.
It is also important, Strong said, that parents and students are engaged every step of the way during the academic careers.
“Without the involvement of parents in our schools, they could not be as successful as they can be. So we need to make sure that we are engaging families, that we’re engaging parents to be active participants in the educational process of their children and involve them in every step of the decision making when it comes to, you know, how we’re going to educate their child. That’s pivotal,” Strong said.
He hopes his message resonates with people, he said, because he knows if MMSD can address the issues that have been impacting black students, it will help the district as a whole.
A. David Dahmer contributed to this story.
