Why Now?

When I first began following decisions that affect Madison's public schools, our community enjoyed regular media coverage of school board decisions. It was common for both daily papers to have reporters at meetings and committee meetings; the local television stations regularly ran stories about school decisions or interviews with board members. Local radio  reporters regularly showed up at meetings, microphones and tape recorders in hand to capture sound bites or interview members during breaks in coverage. And there were regular lively debates in the Isthmus and madison.com forums and local blogs (School Information System, AMPS).

As we enter 2010, there is far less public information and discussion about our schools and Board of Education decisions. There is a lot of information out there, but it tends to be embedded in the district web site and the nuances of board meeting videos. As a board member, there is a lot more on my mind than can be conveyed in meetings; none of it would make the papers or lend itself to forum posts.

So, I join the world of bloggers to provide basic information and commentary, along with an occasional rant, for those who are interested in the questions that we are asking and the answers that we are (and at times are not) getting.