As CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County (BBBS), I have a strong commitment to the kids and students of Madison and the surrounding communities. At BBBS, Our goal is to empower children to reach their full potential through fostering a sense of belonging and commitment to the community. Few institutions are more important for connecting generations of people to our community than our highly diverse Madison public school system. That’s why I’m voting ‘YES’ for the Madison Metropolitan School District’s operations and facilities referenda, because continuing the tradition of strong public schools will help all students, families, teachers, and staff.
The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Board of Education has laid out their goals for the operations referenda. This investment is not simply to sustain current standards, but to shrink opportunity gaps for all students. The Board, Superintendent Dr. Joe Gothard, and district leadership will do this by expanding 4K and early learning programs, growing multilingual education, and making sure that student’s mental and emotional health are taken care of by allocating more funds towards these services. This will have the highest impact on students who live in underserved communities and will help make our schools better able to serve all the needs of our students.
The operations referenda is inseparably linked to the facilities question. How can we expect to support our diverse student population with these investments if their schools are inaccessible to people with different abilities or suffer from distracting heating and cooling issues, all because they were built anywhere from 50 to 100 years ago? By voting ‘YES’ on the facilities referendum, MMSD can replace or build new 4 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, and Malcolm Shabazz City High School. These are the highest-priority school sites across Madison. Transforming their buildings into modern learning spaces will be less expensive over the course of a generation than short-sighted temporary solutions.
Madison is growing, our future is bright, and I’m so excited for where we’re headed. The students of today will be tasked with solving the new challenges of tomorrow and charting their own course. That’s why it’s necessary for Madison’s kids, from all different parts of the city, to be able to graduate from MMSD with the skills that meet the moment and are able to find a sense of belonging and commitment in a Madison that, though ever-changing, remains a strong community. I’m voting ‘YES’ on the Madison public schools operations and facilities referenda because they, together, will help forge this vision of the future.
