Mar. 21, 2023 4:50p
(WGTD)----A candidate for Kenosha School Board who’s Black says he’s against teaching Black history as he claims it’s currently being taught. Newcomer Lamar Madison is challenging school board president Yolanda Adams in the Apr. 4th election.
“Black history is a flag that they use to pump all this other garbage into Black history,” said Madison.
Adams said she supported teaching Black history. “I do not have a problem with people telling their story,” she said. “We learn from them.”
Also discussed was a recent proposal from a school board member to tighten the district’s advertising and promotions policy that some said could lead to the banning in classrooms of the Rainbow and Black Lives Matter flags and emblems.
Madison said he fully supported the policy proposal, while Adams signaled she has no problems with classroom displays of the Rainbow and BLM emblems if they make students feel safe.
A question based on a faulty premise that was asked at the student-led forum at Indian Trail was answered anyway by one candidate and then corrected by another.
The candidates were asked how they'd deal with a projected $9.7 million budget deficit. Problem is…the board already filled the gap in a series of votes taken earlier this year and late last year.
Madison answered by saying that the hole would either have to be filled by an increase in state aid or by a referendum authorization to raise taxes beyond levy limits. “You have a third option which no one wants to do,” he said. “You’re going to have to cut very deep to get out of this hole. And cutting deep, getting rid of teachers’ jobs, is not good for anyone.”
Adams responds: “He’s wrong. We balanced the budget. We just did it.”
The tentative closure of Wilson Elementary—and a host of other budget cuts—could conceivably be reversed if the state, in its biennial budget deliberations, would allocate a significant increase in K-through-12 aid.
Last week’s formum at Indian Trail was conducted by the Youth Leadership Cohort working with the Building Our Future organization.
Responding to another question, the two candidates had sharply different views of the role of the Kenosha Education Association, the teachers’ union.
Under Act 10, collective bargaining in public school districts was severely restricted to just base wages.
Still, the KEA provides input to the district on a variety of matters. Adams said that, at a minimum, is how it should be. “I strongly believe that the Kenosha Education Association should be a partner with our district in setting educational policy,” she said.
Madison downplayed the importance of the KEA, saying it actually represented a relatively small percentage of teachers. “If the KEA went away tomorrow, I don’t think any teacher would shed a tear,” he said.
According to the KEA, nearly three-quarters of those who were eligible to vote in the last union certification election did so, and only 40 ‘no’ ballots were cast. Public employee unions are required to hold certification elections annually. In Wisconsin, employees who don’t participate are counted as having voted ‘no.’
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