Milwaukee Vouchers Assessed
By SYBIL MAIMIN

After his recent trip to Milwaukee to observe that city’s voucher system, New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani characterized the program a huge success and suggested that NYC should replicate it, at least on a limited scale. However, some members of his delegation disagreed with his assessment and met with three members of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors to further assess the issue.

Board of Education member Dr. Sandra Lerner explained that they visited two outstanding voucher schools and spoke with a group of parents whose children receive the funding. They were “talked at” about the virtues of the program and repeatedly heard the code words, “parental choice,” when in fact, the few thousand dollars allocated to each student is not adequate to cover private school tuition. Thus, most Milwaukee voucher schools are faith-based.

Board member Terri Thomson regretted not being shown any public schools. Anti-voucher members of the Milwaukee board were not invited to dialogue with the visitors.

Greg Brooks, the new member to the NY Board went to Milwaukee hoping to find answers to his city’s education problems. Instead, he said that he learned it was “not about education at all, but about politics and money.” He was subjected to “canned language,” especially the phrase ‘poor children have as much right to go to private schools as rich ones.’ He recalled the word “entanglement” being used a lot, as in, “We do not want testing, as that would entangle the state in our business.” Exasperated, Brooks wondered why they would want to become “entangled with state dollars.” NY Board member Dr. Irving Hamer came back reaffirmed in his opposition to vouchers. He cited five reasons: 1) additional resources are not allocated for vouchers, so money must be taken from public schools; 2) there is no accountability—private schools, using tax dollars, are not required to show their records, administer statewide tests or reveal test scores, follow teacher certification standards or release data on attendance; 3) education is meant to serve democracy, not drive the economy; 4) vouchers are a form of deregulation, and deregulation has not been successful; and 5) there is no conclusive research anywhere that supports vouchers.

The Milwaukee Board members who oppose vouchers include Jennifer Morales, who explained that the program is imposed by the state and the Board has no control. “It steals money from us, and we don’t like it,” she said. Peter Blewett denigrated “the myth of school improvement” because of vouchers, explaining that draining money from public schools has meant cuts or elimination of services, programs, and supplies. Charleen Harden, whose district is 75 percent African-American, refuted the notion that vouchers help minorities, saying they are simply a form of “corporate welfare.”

The New York meeting was convened by the NY chapter of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Emergency Campaign Against Vouchers, Educational Priorities Panel and People for the American Way. Noreen Connell of the Educational Priorities Panel explained that Mayor Guiliani has been a long-time proponent of vouchers but does not have public or City Council support on the issue. He arranged the Milwaukee trip to bolster his case.

AJC’s Diane Steinman, who co-chairs the Emergency Plan Against Vouchers, said vouchers have been opposed for decades because they undermine public education, which is essential to our democracy, and pose a threat to separation of church and state.