Mitch, my kid could have ridden in my bicycle trailer across East
Wash for K-2 at Lapham, and then walked the two blocks down quiet
residential streets to Marquette for grades 3-5. Now he's going to
have to be chaperoned through the fifth grade. And although this is
my first child, I'm guessing that 3rd through 5th graders won't
tolerate being towed in a trailer.
As for suggesting what should have been cut instead, how about busing
the kids back and forth across the Isthmus? there was a proposal to
return Marquette to K-5, do the same with Lapham, and have the two
schools share one principal. By some accounts, that could have saved
hundreds of thousands of dollars (which is not that different than
what the district is "saving" by closing Marquette.
That proposal would have resulted in kids at BOTH schools being able
to walk to school (though admittedly some Marquette students would
still have to deal with Willy St, and some Lapham kids would still
have to deal with E Johnson).
But I hardly call that a wash.
I'm more upset over this than anything I can think of, ever. If we
can't have neighborhood schools on the Isthmus, in the most walkable,
bikable neighborhoods in the City, where and when will we have
neighborhood schools? And if our kids grow up being bussed less than
a mile, when and where are they going to learn that you can get
around without a motor vehicle? I'm not giving up on this.
chuck
At 07:06 AM 5/2/2007, Mitchell Nussbaum wrote:
Lapham School and Marquette School are paired right now. Kids on the
north and south sides of the Isthmus attend Lapham from Kindergarten to
second grade, Marquette from third to fifth grade, and then O'Keeffe from
sixth to eighth grade.
There may be other reasons to oppose consolidating Lapham and Marquette,
but from the standpoint of walking to school, the change is basically a
wash; while a kid who lives on Jenifer Street will have to cross E.
Washington Avenue for all six years of grade school (not just for K-2), a
kid on E. Dayton Street will stay in his/her neighborhood until middle
school.
I hesitate to make a constructive suggestion right now, but this might be
a good time to look for creative ways to encourage parents to let
Marquette neighborhood students walk to Lapham; after all, the distance is
not too bad for most kids in the neighborhood, even if the street
crossings are terrifying. Perhaps this would be a good occasion to
introduce the "Walking School Bus"
(http://www.lesstraffic.com/Programs/WB/WB.htm) into Madison.
I'm not happy to see the cuts that were made, but we have to remember that
state law requires these cuts, and the School Board's job is to do the
least amount of harm to the schools while cutting the budget. For the
people who think we should keep Marquette open at all costs, I think it's
fair to ask: what should we cut instead?
Paul T. O'Leary wrote:
> Get ready to wrestle with more deathmobiles if you live anywhere near
> Lapham School. Last night the School Board voted to close Marquette
> Elementary School, and transfer its students to Lapham. This means former
> Marquette students will be crossing E. Washington Ave, and some will be
> crossing BOTH E. Wash and Willy St.
>
> The whole skinny:
> http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/index.php?ntid=131774&ntpid=1
> ---------------
> Paul T. O'Leary
> Desktop Insurgent
> Madison, WI USA
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bikies mailing list
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>
>
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