Stop accepting the status quo at MPS

Is it time for state intervention of Milwaukee Public Schools? Last week, Wisconsin Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee, led by state Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Dale Kooyenga, approved a motion to turn over the management of failing Milwaukee public schools to an independent commissioner, as well as force the sale of unused and underutilized school buildings to charter and private schools in the choice program.

If this is approved by the Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker, education in Milwaukee may finally be on the cusp of immense reform.

But undercutting local control is not an action policy-makers should pursue without some caution. President Ronald Reagan wisely reminded us that “government is best which remains closest to the people.” Yet, if there was ever a case for state intervention in public schools, it would be the seemingly hopeless situation at Milwaukee Public Schools. Four out of every 10 children at MPS attend a school that is “failing to meet expectations.” At the 50 MPS schools that educate primarily low-income black students, only 8% of children are proficient in reading, according to state testing. With a graduation rate of 60.9%, MPS can be labeled a dropout factory.

MPS’s struggles extend to the mismanagement of its facilities portfolio. MPS and the City of Milwaukee own at least 17 empty school buildings, costing taxpayers over $1.6 million since 2012. On average, they have been vacant for about seven years. Moreover, MPS has 27 schools that are operating at or below 60% capacity.

Most of their empty and underused buildings could be sold or leased at a great benefit to taxpayers and students. But that would require transferring the buildings to successful charter or choice schools, and MPS treats these schools as adversaries, rather than partners in urban education.

For example, St. Marcus Lutheran Schools has offered to purchase two empty school buildings from MPS for at least a million dollars each. Ninety percent of St. Marcus’ students are low-income but 93% of its students graduate from high school. When St. Marcus appealed to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for help, he demanded an additional $1.3 million as a “school choice” tax. Both buildings sit empty today.

MPS’ hostility extends to collaboration. Carmen High School of Science and Technology, a charter school, wanted to partner with Bradley Tech, an MPS school operating well below capacity. It was a perfect match. In the 2013-2014 state report card, Bradley was one of the worst performing schools in the city, while Carmen was ranked as one of the best schools in the entire state, according to U.S. News and World Report. However, the MPS School Board rejected the opportunity to work together with Carmen.

Urban education is not easy, but it is not impossible, as two studies by my organization show. Lutheran and Catholic schools that educate primarily low-income black students with vouchers scored higher on the state reading and math tests than traditional MPS schools. Public charter schools outperformed traditional public schools on yearto-year student growth and closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged children.

State Republicans appear ready to give these schools a greater role in educating Milwaukee schoolchildren. In addition to allowing high-performing choice and charter schools to expand in empty public school buildings, the reform legislation would permit a commissioner appointed by the Milwaukee county executive to take over a small number of failing MPS schools. The commissioner could contract with other school operators, such as charter schools and private schools in the choice program, to run failing MPS schools with greater autonomy, free of union control.

Not surprisingly, the defenders of the status quo are outraged at this concept. MPS Board President Michael Bonds declared that “(the bill) could contribute to the total demise of MPS.” Bob Peterson, president of the Milwaukee teachers union, pathetically proclaimed that this was “a racist attack on the democratic rights of the citizens of Milwaukee.”

The benefits of local control are real, but as Albert Einstein once remarked, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” More than 55,000 students in Milwaukee attend a school graded “D” or “F.” The odds are high that these children, like the hundreds of thousands before them, will be trapped in poverty, unequipped to escape a lifetime of reliance on government benefits and, likely, crime. This status quo is morally unacceptable, economically unsustainable and educationally indefensible. Charles J. Szafir is the education policy director and an associate counsel at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), a nonprofit law and policy center based in Milwaukee.