Urban League, United Way detail plans for troubled North Division
Milwaukee’s troubled North Division High School is expected to see a renewed emphasis on college and career readiness, employment services for students and other services as part of an expanded collaboration between Milwaukee Public Schools, the Milwaukee Urban League and United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County.
MPS Superintendent Keith Posley officially welcomed the partners at a news conference Monday, saying, “Thank you for accepting the call” to improve the lives of students and families at North Division.
Urban League President Eve Hall said students and families will have access to the resources and connections through the Urban League, including educational programs and job training.
“We are excited because we know that today we can be a part of changing the narrative” around North Division,” Hall said. “I’m excited ... to make sure that this city knows there are students here who want to learn, who want to have quality lives.”
The enhanced programming at North Division comes with its new designation as a so-called community school, an effort to bolster now 10 targeted MPS schools with additional resources.
It is part of a broader plan by Posley announced in August to reimagine public education in the 53206 ZIP code on the north side, which has the highest rates of unemployment and incarceration of black men in the city. Posley made it clear when he announced that plan that it couldn’t be fully implemented without additional funding.
As part of the collaboration, the Urban League is staffing a full-time liaison at North Division with funding from United Way. Lateff Alston, who worked previously for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and served on Milwaukee’s Teen Safe Sex Task Force, will serve as a point person for students and families.
“Because we’re a community-based organization, we can link them to lots of organizations and resources based on the needs they have,” Hall said.
She said the range of programs that will be available to North is still being developed. She said the Urban League also hopes to create a pipeline into STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math, careers.
“GE Healthcare is on our board. And there’s some possibility that they could extend some support in that area, too,” said Hall, who would like to see North Division get the same kind of community investment that MPS’ Bradley Tech has seen.
“I think North Division could have similar successes if the right people came forward.”
Nicole Angresano, vice president of Community Impact for United Way, called the collaboration an opportunity to put the organization’s equity work into practice.
“It’s one thing to talk about access and equity and having all kids at all good schools,” she said. “But what I know is that the community model actually does that. It actually walks the walk.”
Earlier this year, former superintendent and school choice advocate Howard Fuller, a North Division alumni, proposed moving his charter school, Milwaukee Collegiate Academy, into North Division, but withdrew after blowback from the teachers union and others who saw it as an attempted takeover.
Alumni, many of whom have maintained strong ties with the school, have grown frustrated and divided by the lack of progress. This summer, a group of community members and alumni threw their support behind Fuller, believing he had the political clout and financial connections needed to turn the school around.