For once, the city of Milwaukee is doing something right. Forget the voter fraud scandals during the 2004 elections, forget the spreading crime, forget all those hours stuck in traffic while the Marquette Interchange was under construction and FINALLY forget the failing schools. The Milwaukee Public School System is considering one of the largest education reforms in the history of the state of Wisconsin.
We can all agree that the Milwaukee Public School System, to put it lightly, could use some improvements. With only a 45 percent graduation rate and 46 percent truancy rate of its 90,000 students (despite a $1.2 billion budget), most people in Milwaukee, if they can afford it, send their children to private schools or move to the suburbs. With the chapter 220 program, a lucky urban youth can get bused to suburban schools, but that is a small bandage for a gaping wound. These options contribute to the racial divide in Milwaukee, which is widely considered one of the most segregated cities in America. For the most part, white children are sent to either public suburban schools or private schools, and minority children are forced into the failing Milwaukee Public Schools.
In addition to the abysmal graduation rate, the number of homeless children attending MPS schools has increased 67.6 percent in the last three years. Even worse, if MPS wants to maintain the district at its current budget, there will need to be a 10 percent raise in property taxes and massive budget cuts. If city officials refuse to raise property taxes, the school district is expected to go bankrupt in five years.
In years past, little has been done to improve this failing school system. The teachers are barely qualified, the schools are ravaged by gang violence and the few who do graduate have limited options when it comes to higher education. To add to the problems, Teach for America now wants to throw fresh-out-of-college graduates into this black hole. My liberal counterparts might argue that the only solution to this problem is affirmative action, but affirmative action will not solve the core problem of low graduation and high truancy rates. After years of failed policy, the MPS School Board has finally come up with a solution. By a 6-3 vote, the school board voted to examine the possibility of disbanding the Milwaukee Public School System altogether.
The Milwaukee Public Schools are a prime example of the shortcomings of this country's education system. The idea of dissolving the public school system is a remarkable step in the right direction. Some may argue that disbanding the public school system will disenfranchise lower-income families that cannot afford to send their children to private schools or travel across the city to distant schools. The plan that the school board is looking into will essentially convert all current public schools into charter schools, which are still free, but are not subject to the same restrictions and policy that regular public schools are.
By dissolving the school system and turning all schools into charter schools, the school district could save over 20 million dollars a year in busing costs alone. Not only is disbanding the MPS the right thing to do for the welfare of the students enrolled in the MPS System, it is financially savvy and will save families hundreds of dollars a year on property taxes.
The Milwaukee Public School System has failed its students and is a financial drain on not only the city, but the state as well. School officials in Milwaukee have a chance to make history by lifting MPS out of the gutter and turning it into an effective school system once again. Whether it be turning all of the schools private and issuing vouchers for students that cannot afford tuition, or by turning every school into a charter school, I don't know. For the future of the city of Milwaukee, let's hope they take this unique opportunity and run with it.
Kristen Wall is a junior majoring in economics and political science and is the current Vice Chair of the UW-Madison College Republicans. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
