Apropos the closing of Marquette Elementary:
On the one hand, we have had fatalistic comment (The board had no
choice! The state made them do it! There is nothing that can be done
about it! We'll never make it! It'll never work! We''re all
doooooooooomed!) on the other, we've got a lurker-journalist who
doesn't seem to get the gravity of the situation for *the* keystone
neighborhood of Madison (yup, it would be just another boring
Midwestern college town without the likes of the 6th). To both
commentators I send along a bit of history that might be
enlightening.....
-Mike Barrett
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Statement to Madison School Board, May 7, 2007
My name is Leigh Mollenhoff. I live at 1501 Morrison Street. I no
longer have any children in Madison's schools, though I once had two
who went through Marquette Elementary and Middle School and East
High. I am also a former teacher in the Madison system.
Thirty-eight years ago, in 1969, I chaired the Marquette Neighborhood
Association's School Committee. This committee was part of a
comprehensive plan to turn our neighborhood around. At the time the
Marquette area was rapidly turning into a UW student ghetto.
Speculators were buying up homes, kicking out families, and then
packing in students. By doing this, speculators could easily double
or triple rental income. As you can imagine, these trends actively
discouraged families and other long-term residents from living in our
neighborhood.
Faced by this daunting situation, our generation of 30-something new
homeowners made a fundamental decision: We decided to stay and fight
the blight that gripped our neighborhood. Our Association's strategy
to combat this problem was very simple: make the neighborhood
attractive to families with kids. What we did to make this happen
makes me tired just to think about it.
_We built the multi-million dollar Atwood Avenue by-pass to
take 9,000 commuting cars off our residentially zoned streets.
_We down-zoned our neighborhood and created a whole new
zoning category to thwart speculators' insidious practices. To
reduce zoning density is rarely done in the United States, but we did
it.
_We upgraded our parks and street ends.
_We created a plan that called for replacing rusting railroad
tracks and vacant factories in the rail corridor with an exciting new
central park.
_We started the Alternate Parade of Homes to show the
advantages of older homes and central city living.
_And much more!
But the centerpiece of our strategy was to improve the heart of our
neighborhood, the Marquette Elementary School. It was very clear to
us that if we failed to keep and improve our school, our neighborhood
would soon be ready for the bulldozers, and no long-term residents
would want to stay.
Our initial goal was to improve our schools. So with another member
of the school committee I scheduled a meeting with Douglas Ritchie,
then the Superintendent of Schools, to ask for his help in
accomplishing this goal.
He listened politely and then unceremoniously announced that
improving the school was beside the point. He was going to close the
school so he could create a 900-student middle school. "Besides," he
added, "don't you know that families are moving to Sun Prairie?" We
were stunned. We had a much more serious problem then we thought.
We decided to take our case directly to the school board, then
chaired by Ruth Doyle. We invited the board to meet with our
committee and neighborhood association leaders. They accepted. In
the living room of a freshly restored home on Jenifer Street, we made
our case. A few weeks later Doyle and her fellow board members
stunningly over-rode the recommendation of the school superintendent.
They recognized that our elementary school was essential to our
neighborhood's revitalization. That was why they made a long-term
commitment to us. We were thrilled.
As a result of the improvements I mentioned a moment ago, confidence
in our neighborhood's future has surged. The private sector has
invested millions of dollars in homes and businesses. We have
created a vibrant and diverse community.
And the Marquette Elementary School has been a major beneficiary of
these changes. Child population has grown. We have great teachers.
We have involved parents. Our kids get high test scores. In short,
we have a great school.
And that is a major reason why the Marquette neighborhood is so
attractive to families. Marquette Elementary School is still the
center of our neighborhood. And now you threaten to take our
school-again!
But a serious public policy question still hangs over the Isthmus:
how can we keep it attractive for families with kids? Or do we want
the Isthmus to become an enclave of students and affluent
empty-nesters?
Our neighborhood is in the midst of a remarkable revival, but it is
anything but finished. We still have high rates of absentee owners
and much housing stock that requires capital infusion. Close our
school and you drastically reduce families with kids as the source of
that capital. That's bad for the Isthmus and bad for the city. That
is one of the most important reasons why the Marquette Elementary
School is critical to our continued success, and to the central
city.
Like almost all central city neighborhoods ours is fragile. Our
stability, much less our continued success requires the continuation
of the Marquette Elementary School.
Current leaders of the Marquette Neighborhood Association have
offered recommendations to keep the school open and still save
hundreds of thousands of dollars. Embrace these constructive
proposals! To close a flourishing school for so little and with so
much at stake is short-sighted, fuels dumb growth, and jeopardizes
our neighborhood's reputation as a attractive place for families. I
call on those of you who voted to close Marquette to reconsider your
decision. Our great school should be retained.
Thank you.
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