Tony Baez
Tony Baez was a member of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors in Wisconsin, representing District 6. Baez assumed office in 2017. Baez left office on April 26, 2021.
Baez ran for re-election to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors to represent District 6 in Wisconsin. Baez won in the general election on April 4, 2017.
Biography
Baez graduated from Milwaukee Public Schools. His work experience includes being an author, a college administrator at the Milwaukee Area Technical College and Hostos Bilingual College, a professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and an executive director for Centro Hispano Milwaukee. Baez earned a doctoral degree in urban education from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.[1][2]
Elections
2017
Four of the nine seats on the Milwaukee Public Schools Board of School Directors were up for general election on April 4, 2017. In her bid for re-election to District 4, incumbent Annie Woodward defeated challenger Aisha Carr. In District 5, incumbent Larry Miller defeated challenger Kahri Phelps Okoro. District 6 incumbent Tatiana Joseph and District 7 incumbent Claire Zautke did not file to run for re-election, leaving both seats open for newcomers. Tony Baez and Jonatan Zuñiga ran for the District 6 seat, and Joey Balistreri and Paula Phillips ran for the District 7 seat. Baez and Phillips won election to the board.[3][4]
Results
| Milwaukee Public Schools, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Tony Baez |
67.52% | 1,056 |
| Jonatan Zuñiga | 31.91% | 499 |
| Write-in votes | 0.58% | 9 |
| Total Votes | 1,564 | |
| Source: Milwaukee City Election Commission, "April 4, 2017 - Spring Election: Final Official Results," accessed May 2, 2017 | ||
Funding
Baez reported $18,881.00 in contributions and $14,062.08 in expenditures to the City of Milwaukee Election Commission, which left his campaign with $4,818.92 on hand in the election.[5]
Endorsements
Baez was endorsed by the following organizations:[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
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Campaign themes
2017
Baez highlighted the following issues on his campaign website:
| “ | There are several issues that impact our daily lives and our public schools. While there are several more than what's featured here, these are a few of the top priorities I will address in office. Our campaign is about building strong and innovative public schools that attract students rather than drive them away.
Bilingual/dual language education As a national leader on the issue of bilingual and dual language education, my expertise will bring a new perspective and deep knowledge of the need to implement new programs and increase the success of those already in action. I strongly believe that bilingualism is good for everyone. Public dollars for public schools We must work together to find common ground on the need to ensure that public tax dollars go to public schools. We have seen too much be taken away making it difficult for many public schools to succeed. The achievement gap I will work with leaders of our multi-ethnic community to gather input and re-think the idea that our students are failing to perform because they do not achieve higher scores on standardized tests designed by large corporations, and not by our public schools. We need a positive narrative on the capacity of our students to learn, and we need to reject the negative labeling that happens when we accept a "gap" determined by social class, language and culturally biased testing. There are other ways to improve the performance of our students, as research is now proving world-wide. State investment in our school system Working with city and state leaders, I will seek solutions to our greatest funding challenges while encouraging the state to make better investments in our school system. The sale or takeover of public schools is not the answer, and we must work together to find a better path.[13] |
” |
| —Tony Baez (2017)[14] | ||
What was at stake?
2017
Election trends
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
Every Milwaukee Board of School Directors seat up for election in 2017 had a contested race, unlike the district's past two election cycles. In 2015, three of the five seats on the ballot featured uncontested candidates, and in 2013, two of the four seats on the ballot had uncontested candidates.
The 2017 race was guaranteed to add two newcomers to the board due to open seats. Both incumbents who ran for re-election defeated challengers to retain their seats. In 2013 and 2015, all but one incumbent who faced a challenger was defeated. The other incumbents who won additional terms on the board were unopposed.
| School board election trends | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbents running for re-election | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Milwaukee Public Schools | ||||||
| 2017 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 50.00% | 100.00% | 50.0% | |
| 2015 | 1.4 | 60.00% | 80.00% | 75.00% | 40.00% | |
| 2013 | 1.75 | 50.00% | 75.00% | 66.67% | 50.00% | |
| Wisconsin | ||||||
| 2015 | 1.38 | 38.24% | 73.53% | 84.00% | 35.29% | |
| United States | ||||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 70.37% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
Issues in the election
Candidate suspended from district teaching position
District 4 challenger Aisha Carr was suspended from her position as a teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools in March 2017. Carr said the district officially suspended her due to a field trip policy violation, but she said she believed the decision was also politically motivated. Carr said she was considering legal action as she believed she had done nothing wrong.[15][16]
The field trip policy violation was related to a student trip to a youth summit held at city hall. "They talked about racial disparities, mass incarceration, organizing," said Carr, who taught a comparative ethnic studies class for students in grades nine through 12 prior to getting suspended.[16]
The violation occurred when she asked students to meet after school the night before the summit to practice their speeches, according to Carr. "This was not school related, it was practice after school. That's where I was told I went wrong," said Carr.[16] She said it was a procedural error. "I can't tell you how many times teachers do this," Carr said.[15]
Denise Callaway, a spokesperson for the school district, said she could not comment on Carr's suspension as it was a confidential personnel matter. "Generally speaking, suspensions without pay are issued only after a serious violation of board policy or procedure has been substantiated," said Callaway.[15][16]
Carr said she believed that some district officials were unhappy about her campaign for a seat on the school board. Her suspension came after the school board asked the group Leaders for a Better Community, which promoted both Carr and District 6 candidate Jonatan Zuñiga, to take down an online campaign ad that featured the image of Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver. The school board said Driver did not endorse anyone in the election.[15][16][17]
Leaders for a Better Community was started by Sherwin Hughes, a political consultant and radio personality on WNOV, a Milwaukee station. In the past, Hughes supported publicly-funded voucher schools. Both Carr and Zuñiga said they had nothing to do with the ad that featured Driver. They also said they were not advocates of voucher schools. Both candidates were defeated in the election.[15][18]
Issues in the district
Voucher school sues district over transportation costs
St. Joan Antida High School, an all-girls Catholic voucher school that is part of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, filed a lawsuit in federal court in March 2017 against Milwaukee Public Schools over transportation costs. The lawsuit calls for Milwaukee Public Schools to pay for the cost of transportation for St. Joan Antida students, which it says is required by state law.[19][20]
State law requires public school districts to pay for transportation costs of students attending private schools within the district's boundaries if certain criteria are met, according to Brian Pahnke, assistant state superintendent for finance and management in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.[20] The criteria include:
| “ |
|
” |
| —Wisconsin Public Radio (March 23, 2017)[20] | ||
State law also says, “There shall be reasonable uniformity, in the transportation furnished to pupils, whether they attend public or private schools.” The Milwaukee school district's transportation policy dictates that busing must be provided to both public and private schools if students live more than two miles from their schools or if they live more than one mile from public transportation. The policy also includes an exception for citywide schools.[19]
It is that exception that is referenced in St. Joan Antida's lawsuit, which is represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. “If they’re busing citywide high school students who live within a mile of public transportation, then they need to do the same for my girls,” said Paul Gessner, head of St. Joan Antida.[19]
Gessner said transportation was a hardship for a number of his students' families. “Without transportation it definitely impacts the choice of school that parents can select. The very first thing that we get asked is, ‘Is there a bus?’”[21]
Co-chair of Schools and Communities United Ingrid Walker-Henry said it was unreasonable for state law to require a public school to bus private school students. She said public money should be used for public schools. “We have this institution in our city that does educate all children and provides its own transportation, yet, we’re going to continue to take from these children to provide for something private,” said Walker-Henry.[19]
President of School Choice Wisconsin Jim Bender said the lawsuit was not related to a school choice debate. “All families in Milwaukee pay property taxes through home ownership or rent,” said Bender. “State law is clear that all students, regardless of sector, are to be treated equally with transportation services.”[21]
C.J. Szafir, vice president for policy and deputy council of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said the lawsuit was filed in federal court because St. Joan Antida had a constitutional claim. “We believe the constitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law are being violated by Milwaukee Public Schools where they discriminate against children who attend private and religious schools by denying them transportation,” said Szafir.[21]
A spokesperson for Milwaukee Public Schools said the district would not comment on pending litigation.[19]
Study says city violated law to expedite sale of empty school district buildings
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty released a study in March 2017 that said that the city of Milwaukee had violated a law to expedite the sale of unused Milwaukee Public Schools properties. The study showed 40 Milwaukee Public School properties were vacant or underused and said that five of those 40 buildings were for sale, though there was interest from potential buyers for other buildings.[22]
"The City of Milwaukee is acting like state law is optional," said C.J. Szafir, vice president for policy and deputy council of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. The law in question was passed as part of the state's 2015-2017 state budget.[23]
"With a struggling Milwaukee educational system and interest from charter and voucher schools, city officials would rather see them empty than put to good use and filled with kids," said Szafir.[22]
Officials from Milwaukee Public Schools and the Milwaukee Department of City Development said the study was misleading and pointed to errors such as listing one school district property as being at 55 percent capacity when it was at 99.6 percent capacity.[22][24]
"We absolutely assert that the City of Milwaukee is following the law as it was written," said Milwaukee Department of City Development Deputy Commissioner Martha Brown.[22]
Michael Bonds, member of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, said the push to sell the district's buildings was like “asking the Coca-Cola Company to turn over its facilities to Pepsi so Pepsi can expand and compete with the Coca-Cola Company.” His statement alluded to the struggle between public school advocates and school choice advocates in Milwaukee. School choice advocates argue that the school district should sell its unused buildings due to its low graduation rate and failing schools, while public school advocates argue that a number of choice schools perform no better and are not held to the same standards.[22]
Before the law to expedite the sale of buildings went into effect, Milwaukee Public Schools either refused to sell its buildings to voucher schools or asked for additional payments to combat a state funding flaw. If a building was sold to a voucher school and students left the school district to attend it, the district's per-pupil state funds decreased. Because the district was responsible for paying a portion of per-pupil vouchers, the district had to pay more money to voucher schools, even if it had less money coming in. This funding flaw was corrected in the state's 2013-2015 budget, but its repercussions lasted years afterward. When they refused to sell to voucher schools before the 2015 law went into effect, school district officials said they were trying to avoid placing a larger tax burden on the city's residents.[25]
The 2017 study from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty also mentioned the city's tax burden. “You have dwindling enrollment at Milwaukee Public Schools that has led to buildings that just sit empty, costing taxpayers money,” Szafir said. “These empty buildings over the course of the last decade have cost Milwaukee taxpayers well over $10.2 million.”[24]
The 2017 study called on the Wisconsin State Legislature to add penalties if the city does not comply to the law. One suggested penalty was to award attorney's fees “if the aggrieved party prevails,” in a lawsuit related to the law, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Such a penalty could benefit the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty as it represents school choice advocates.[22]
“I know there are those that want financial repercussions for not cooperating,” said Sen. Alberta Darling (R-8), a co-author of the law. “I don’t know how you do that. It’s really hard to have teeth in the legislation because the ball keeps bouncing in different directions.”[24]
District faces possible $50 million budget gap
Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver announced on March 8, 2017, that the district faced a $50 million gap between expenditures and revenue sources in its 2017-2018 budget projections. Driver said the gap was caused in part by a decrease in federal funding and by legacy costs from healthcare benefits for retired employees.[26]
To offset costs, Driver said the district was pursuing donations from philanthropic sources and evaluating programs in order to fund only those that had proven successful. The district received $36 million from philanthropic sources for the 2016-2017 school year, which was more than double what it received the previous year. Driver said she did not anticipate that layoffs would be needed, but she did say that district staff might need to shift positions.[26]
In anticipation of the budget gap, schools across the district were asked to cut budgets by six figures, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The district also moved to shut down underperforming high schools with small enrollments and to reconfigure other schools.[26]
 Sanctuary policy conflicts | |
| Milwaukee Public Schools was one of 15 districts tracked by Ballotpedia that debated sanctuary policies as of October 16, 2017. Learn more about these debates on Ballopedia's coverage of sanctuary jurisdictions » | |
Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver sent a message to district families in February 2017 that promised to protect student information, including immigration status. In the message, Driver called Milwaukee Public Schools a "save haven of learning and support."[27]
"We do not ask for students' immigration status when they enroll," Driver said in the message. "If we become aware of a student's immigration status, we will not share that information with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services."[27]
Driver's message was sent out two days after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued guidance memos on the enforcement of immigration laws and executive orders on immigration issued by President Donald Trump (R). The memos called for more Border Patrol agents and prioritized the removal of individuals convicted or charged with a crime and reinforced prosecutorial discretion. Officials from DHS said that these guidance memos would not impact the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protected minors brought to the U.S. without legal permission.[28][29]
After Driver sent the message, school board members Larry Miller and Tatiana Joseph proposed a resolution to create a district policy that would require staff to not share students' legal status with government agencies. The resolution was passed unanimously on March 30, 2017.[30][31]
2017-2018 school year to start in August
Students attending middle schools and high schools in the Milwaukee school district started the 2017-2018 school year on August 14, 2017, rather than on September 5, 2017, when most of the public schools in the state started. The change to an earlier start time was championed by Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver. She said the district needed to maximize learning time for its students.[32][33][34]
Officials in other school districts in the state expressed their desire to also switch to earlier start times, but due to a state law, they were unable to start before September 1, 2017. The Milwaukee school district had more flexibility in scheduling their school calendars than other districts.[32]
A bill that would have repealed the September 1 start date law was re-introduced in the Wisconsin State Legislature in February 2017. It did not move out of committee before the 2017-2018 school year started on September 5, 2017.[35] A similar bill was introduced in past sessions but was never passed.[36]
School administrators in favor of starting earlier than September said it would give high school students more time in class before they took advanced placement courses in May and that it would help maximize learning for other students as well. Administrators said students were more ready to learn in August than they were in the spring when teachers started seeing declining results.[32]
Officials with the Wisconsin Hotel & Lodging Association, the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin, and other city and county visitor centers, however, said they relied on student workers to close out the season through Labor Day. In 2015, the month of August brought in $130 million more in tourism revenue than the month of June, according to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.[32]
District partners with higher education institutions to increase college readiness
Milwaukee Public Schools partnered with the Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee to create an education initiative called M-Cubed in January 2017. The initiative was created to make sure the three education institutions were teaching subjects in similar ways, according to Milwaukee Area Technical College President Vicki Martin. The initiative also outlined goals to increase college readiness, increase the expectation of continuing to learn after high school, and increase the understanding of the importance of higher education.[37]
"Students have a hard time with math," said Martin. "With our students, as well, they hold off 'til the last semester because they want to avoid it at all costs. So what we realized is that we could together start working on a curriculum early to make sure that we are all aligned."[37]
A third of Milwaukee's high school students do not continue to the 10th grade, according to Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver. "Everybody's who's in the college readiness game knows how important 9th grade is," said Driver. "But again, this is not work that we can figure out by ourselves. We have to have partners that are helping us get our students over those different benchmarks, getting them to the finish line."[37]
See also
External links
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Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Eight candidates vie for four Milwaukee Public Schools board of directors seats," March 19, 2017
- ↑ Tony Baez 6th District School Board Director, "About," accessed March 23, 2017
- ↑ City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "2017 Spring Election Candidates," accessed January 4, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee City Election Commission, "Latest Election Results: April 4, 2017 - Spring Election," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Campaign Finance Reports 2017 Election Cycle," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ Urban Milwaukee, "Press Release: Wisconsin Working Families Party Endorses Candidates for Milwaukee Board of School Directors," January 18, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, "MTEA Endorsements," accessed March 14, 2017
- ↑ Tony Baez 6th District School Board Director, "Endorsements," accessed March 14, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, "Spring Election Endorsed Candidates," March 9, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Gazette, "Endorsements: Milwaukee School Board Candidates," March 23, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, "WIARA Spring Election Endorsements," March 17, 2017
- ↑ Shepherd Express, "Four School Board Seats Up for Election on April 4," March 28, 2017
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Tony Baez 6th District School Board Director, "Issues," accessed March 14, 2017
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "District suspends MPS teacher running for school board," March 16, 2017
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Fox 6 Now, "Policies or politics? MPS teacher threatens legal action following her suspension," March 17, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "MPS asks school board candidate to remove Darienne Driver from campaign materials," March 13, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee City Election Commission, "Latest Election Results: April 4, 2017 - Spring Election," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Fox 6 Now, "St. Joan Antida files lawsuit against MPS arguing public transportation should be paid for by district," March 22, 2017
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Milwaukee Public Radio, "Milwaukee Choice School Sues MPS Over Transportation Costs," March 23, 2017
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Townhall, "Lawsuit: MPS violating constitution by denying bus rides to religious school students," March 23, 2017
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Report accuses Milwaukee of foot-dragging on mandate to sell vacant MPS buildings," March 10, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Watchdog, "Milwaukee finds new way to delay selling empty school buildings," November 2, 2015
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Townhall, "Report says Milwaukee defying state law regarding vacant school buildings," March 14, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Mayor Tom Barrett proposes fee for voucher school to buy MPS building," July 31, 2014
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Milwaukee Public Schools bracing for $50 million-plus budget gap," March 8, 2017
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Milwaukee Public Radio, "MPS Reassures Families: 'We Won't Share Immigrant Status With Federal Officials,'" February 22, 2017
- ↑ Department of Homeland Security, "Executive Orders on Protecting the Homeland," accessed February 22, 2017
- ↑ CNN, "Trump admin sets stage for mass deportations," February 22, 2017
- ↑ WISN, "MPS board wants to declare schools as 'safe havens' from immigration enforcement," February 28, 2017
- ↑ CBS 58, "Milwaukee Public Schools Passes Sanctuary District Resolution," March 30, 2017
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Proposed bill would repeal Sept. 1 school start law," February 3, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "MPS moves more schools to early start," December 16, 2016
- ↑ Milwaukee Public Schools, "2017-18 Early Start Calendar," accessed February 10, 2017
- ↑ Open States, "AB 103," accessed September 5, 2017
- ↑ WXOW.com, "Should local districts decide school start dates?" February 21, 2017
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Wisconsin Public Radio, "New Education Initiative Launches In Milwaukee," January 25, 2017
| Milwaukee Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Milwaukee County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District 4: • Incumbent, Annie Woodward • Aisha Carr District 5: • Incumbent, Larry Miller • Kahri Phelps Okoro District 6: • Tony Baez • Jonatan Zuñiga District 7: • Joey Balistreri • Paula Phillips |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
