October, 2005

Just as many of our founding fathers understood the need for an educated populace if our country was to be free, so did the early residents of Madison. Education began here in 1838 when the citizens of the town gathered to form a subscription school. That subscription school was the forerunner of the Madison Metropolitan School District that we know today.

That one room school house, in session for three months, has grown to a school district that encompasses not only the majority of the City of Madison but also all or parts of the Cities of Fitchburg and Monona; the Villages of Shorewood Hills and Maple Bluff and the Towns of Blooming Grove, Burke, Madison, Middleton and Westport. All of the property owners in these areas support the district through their school taxes.

Throughout the district's history our citizens have taken seriously the need for a high quality education for their children. The district has benefited not only from the generosity of our taxpayers but also from the high expectations of our community. The district is regularly recognized for being one of the nation's best public school systems. There have been many successes over the years and a continuing set of challenges to be faced.

The dramatically changing makeup of our student population has made it necessary to take new and varied approaches to both what and how we teach to reach the educational quality for each of our students that our stakeholders rightfully demand. The population changes have inspired us to change the way we support students who are new to our country and/or come from a different language or cultural background.

There are certainly many positive results. The overall ninth grade cohort graduation rate, probably the best measure of success, increased from 83% to 94% in the past ten years. There is a graduation rate increase in every ethnic group. Test scores have increased and other measures of success show evidence of continued improvement. The district has been and continues to be a leader in educating children with disabilities.

While we are proud of the successes, many challenges remain. There is still racial disparity among students who experience school suspension, academic failure and special education placement. Our low income students, both minority and white, still do not achieve academically like their peers who are not economically disadvantaged. Despite progress, our work in mathematics is far from reaching the levels of achievement that ensure everyone has the knowledge and skills to be successful adults.

The overarching challenge is continuing our historical success and overcoming our present and future challenges within the current system of school finance.

The history of the district indicates that it has always been willing to face its problems and work hard to solve them. We continue that tradition by actively reviewing both our successes and failures through on-going system-wide data analysis and problem solving.

Successful cities have successful school districts. We have proudly been one of the cornerstones for this outstanding community.

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