Three Madison School Board members will be elected April 5. Two races are essentially decided.
Nichols
Nichelle Nichols, a parent of four Madison Metropolitan School District graduates who has worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, the Urban League of Greater Madison and MMSD, is unopposed in the race to fill Seat 5. She’ll be an exceptional addition to the board.
Muldrow
For Seat 4, board President Ali Janae Muldrow faces only a token write-in challenge from conservative gadfly David Blaska. Muldrow beat him by a landslide two years ago. She’ll do so by an even bigger margin this year. That’s as it should be. Muldrow is a terrific leader for on the board and in the community and deserves reelection.
Janeway
Simkin
The competition is in the race for Seat 3, where two candidates with educational experience and sound agendas, Laura Simkin and Shepherd Janeway (whose name will appear on the ballot as Shepherd Joyner) are in the running. Our endorsement goes to Simkin, whose range of experience is striking and whose vision for the schools is strikingly detailed and strikingly sound.
Simkin’s experience touches so many areas of education that it is fair to say she is uniquely qualified to serve on the School Board. She’s earned a bachelor’s degree in child and family studies from UW-Madison and a master’s in leadership and policy in early care and education from Wheelock College in Boston. She then directed a child care center in Janesville for 14 years, taught preschool classes at the Waisman Early Childhood Program on the UW campus, coordinated services for members of the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association for five years, and in recent years has managed the Satellite Family Child Care System for Reach Dane, which accredits in-home providers serving roughly 450 children.
Simkin has pretty much done it all, and she’s an MMSD parent who son is about to graduate from Madison East High School.
Her role as a parent has given Simkin a great deal of insight into the challenges facing a school district that is struggling to manage the transition from a disruptive period of school closures during the first stages of the coronavirus pandemic into something akin to normalcy. There can be no doubt that this transition has been challenging. Fights in high schools have been common, and police have been called in on a regular basis. Many students have struggled with academic and mental health issues. And historic challenges, such as the racial achievement gap, have been exacerbated by the pandemic and the economic and social instability that has extended from it.
Despite it all, Simkin maintains a deep faith in the potential of public schools in general, and Madison public schools in particular. She is a problem solver who has taken a close look at the schools and is prepared to work with fellow board members to address the most pressing issues facing students, teachers and the community. Regarding the pandemic’s lingering impact on the schools and public education, she says: “The pandemic continues. It has affected, and will continue to negatively affect, learning and educational achievement, staff retention and recruitment, and the mental health of students, families, teachers, and staff. To address those impacts, we must get our children back to in person learning safely and provide effective online options for those who cannot return; hire additional academic support staff to provide small group support for students; invest in more support for early childhood programs; reduce class size by adding more teachers; and provide extended benefits to staff.”
That’s sound thinking, as is her campaign’s response to racial disparities in the schools. “Disparities in educational achievement are created and exacerbated by systems of racial discrimination throughout society. Schools must address gaps in education and schools must work with other institutions to address the bigger issues,” Simkin explains. “MMSD should add staff of color in all positions and add teaching staff of color as an immediate priority; increase support to children ages 0-5 and their families; provide more ways for families of color to be involved in schools; make learning environments smaller; increase access to educational opportunities before and after school and during the summer.”
Some of Simkin’s positions are controversial, including her suggestion that it is time to revisit the board’s decision to remove dedicated police officers from the high schools. She makes this suggestion in the context of a broader proposal to “increase the number of student services staff, including psychologists, social workers, special education staff, and counselors.” She also says, “I am also a realist: the Board of Education voted unanimously to remove (the officers). I will work with my colleagues to do all we can to make schools safe places where teachers can teach and students can learn.”
That’s a reasonable stance, even if we may differ with Simkin on some of the specifics. We have no doubt that she will bring practical experience and a collaborative approach to all the debates on the board, and we her contribution will be significant.
With that said, we’ve also been impressed with Shepherd Janeway, who initially entered the race when a candidate who has since dropped out made insensitive comments about transgender youth. Janeway, a 26-year-old creative writing instructor, is passionate about protecting transgender students, tackling racism and addressing other forms of bias, arguing: “Many in the MMSD community don’t feel heard, especially members of marginalized communities. Compounding this, many don’t feel empowered to use their voice if they feel those in positions of responsibility don’t understand the realities they face.” We appreciate Janeway’s intersectional approach and hope they will remain active in the community and local politics.
Between two caring and engaged candidates, we choose Laura Simkin because of her broad experience and encourage voters to consider her on April 5.
