Wisconsin policymakers and advocates are
debating proposals to close low-performing public schools, largely in
Milwaukee, and replace them with privately run charter schools. In a new
report, Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
Economic Policy Institute research associate Gordon Lafer argues that
these proposals will enrich private charter schools’ corporate backers
while doing little or nothing to help Milwaukee students.
Lafer argues that, because national research shows that charter
schools don’t perform better than public schools, there is no reason to
replace traditional public schools in Milwaukee with private charters.
These proposals will simply divert money from Milwaukee students to
corporations and their investors. Especially troubling is the Rocketship
chain of schools—promoted by Milwaukee’s business community—which uses a
particular blended learning model that allows students to spend a
quarter of the day on computers with no certified teacher to monitor
their activities and, in the remaining classroom time, relies heavily on
test preparation taught by inexperienced educators. This model is not
shaped by what’s best for students, but in large part by what will
generate profits for investors and fuel the company’s ambitious growth
plans.
“To really improve education in Milwaukee, we need to broaden the
curriculum to focus on creativity and critical thinking, not just test
prep,” said Lafer. “Poor children are no less deserving of a quality
education than rich children, and the schools that privileged suburban
parents demand for their children should be the yardstick we use to
measure the adequacy of education in the city.”
The most ambitious proposals for corporate-backed school reform are
skewed against poor cities, while letting corporate-backed charter
schools fail for years before facing any consequences. Such legislation
would lead to the closing of a growing number of public schools and
concentrate the city’s neediest students in a public system without the
resources to serve them—possibly bankrupting the public school district.
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