Carol Voss represents District 8 – which includes Bay View and most of Milwaukee's southeast side – on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors. She replaces Meagan Holman, who did not seek another term but is, instead, running for a Common Council seat.
The daughter of two teachers, Voss is an MPS parent and a graduate of UW-Madison, with an MS from UWM. She works in the non-profit sector and has been active in the Bay View community, co-founding the Bay View Neighborhood Association and launching the popular Chill on the Hill free summer concert series.
We asked Voss about the election and what comes next for her in her new role as a member of the school board.
OnMilwaukee.com: Congratulations on your electoral success. Were you surprised that you had no competition in the race?
Carol Voss: I was. The last time this seat opened there were I think three candidates and a primary was needed.
OMC: Your seat was not the only one that was unopposed. What do you think accounts for the lack of interest in some of these races?
CV: Running a campaign is intimidating. On a basic level, you need to get hundreds of signatures to be eligible to be a candidate during the cold month of December – a busy time for most people. There's a great passion that is needed, a lot of friends and a tenacity. It's a big job to be a candidate and then to serve.
OMC: What are the most pressing issues you face in your South Side district as you prepare to take your seat on Vliet Street?
CV: I think there are a number of key issues facing the entire district – improving student achievement is the most important. Finding pathways to success for all of our students is critical to preparation of the city's future workforce and growing our future leaders. Ultimately our city's success in many ways depends on the success of MPS.
So, we also need to work to create more high achieving school options for parents. This will attract and retain families in the district who want to live in our city to raise their children. The expansion of Fernwood Montessori in my district is just one example of the demand for MPS schools that are successfully fueled by involved MPS families. There are efforts to grow other successful programs district-wide including language immersion and International Baccalaureate programming.
There is now more of a philosophy of seeking community involvement that is being established by Superintendent Driver to meet need and inform ideas. For example, there were Community Input Sessions soliciting feedback from community stakeholders to inspire innovation and listen to community desires to shape and inform budget priorities.
What’s happened at Bay View High School is an example of the kind of promise that type of effort holds for positive outcomes for students and communities. I'll be encouraging of more of this type of informed approach engaging stakeholders.
OMC: What are your major goals for the next few years?
CV: MPS needs to continue to narrow the achievement gap. Improving attendance is critical. And again, we also need to stabilize and grow enrollment. MPS is making progress, but we have to continue to work hard to get out the good news about what’s happening. There are a lot of great stories to tell for MPS – it's student, teacher and school successes should get more attention in the news. We have a lot of positive community engagement to build upon – we need to help people hear about it!
In the 8th District, I’m excited about what’s happening at Bay View High School and the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) program there. I would like to see more families living in Bay View make Bay View High School their school of choice. That's another focus for me.
OMC: I've gotten the sense that over the past few years especially, school board members often have to put their goals on hold while they battle Madison – or City Hall, which tried to wrest control a few years ago. Do you think you'll be able to make progress on these goals despite the political battles that are looming and already raging?
CV: Yes. We have to focus on those things that are within our control. If we do that work well, I think we’re less likely to be the subject of these kinds of discussions in the future.
OMC: More broadly and perhaps more philosophically, what is your vision for MPS in the coming years? What should it look like in five years?
CV: In five years, I see MPS as the school district of choice for more families. We will offer more high-performing school options for families. More of our high schools will be making improvements. We’ll have a robust and growing feeder pattern between schools so families have some stability knowing where their children go from kindergarten through high school. We’ll have greater parent engagement and we’ll have greater financial stability.
OMC: Can that happen in five years?
CV: I think we’ll be closer to realizing those goals than most people expect. MPS has been making steady progress now and that’s real with data to prove it. A focused approach to solutions has been bringing results. A key point is that MPS is not in this work alone. More and more business and community leaders are coming forward and finding ways they can help MPS to improve outcomes for students. That makes a huge difference.
OMC: A big school district is a complex system, but what do you think is the biggest challenge it faces at the moment? Is it a challenge from within the system or from outside?
CV: Our biggest challenge at the moment is the 2015-16 budget. State funding is down and so is federal funding, but the needs of MPS students continue to grow.
OMC: Finally, what are your thoughts about the make-up of the new board? Do you think there will be a lot of common ground and consensus moving forward?
CV: I do, but not without healthy dialogue and good questions. My natural style is collaborative and I see that in other members, too. My colleagues offer different perspectives that I value and they bring varied expertise to the table.
For me, I am not only a businesswoman and community volunteer, but also a MPS parent who will be contributing these perspectives. The urban education issues are complex and solutions are not easy but communication, expertise and good data can create common ground and understanding to shape decisions.
(Note: Stay tuned for an interview with Wendell Harris, who was also elected to the school board in April.)
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
