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These articles reflect the opinion of the author and are not endorsed by the Greater Milwaukee Green Party.

Accountability woes cause first charter school collapse
By Daniel Pryzbyla

While Republican President Bush and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry were squaring off in their first political debate in Miami, the Milwaukee public school board was in heated debate the same evening to revoke its first ever charter school.

Future presidential debates are scheduled and rating polls will continue to rise and fall like the temperature, but the action by the school board to revoke the “non-instrumentality” grade 9-12 Afro Urban Institute’s high school charter and terminate its contract would be their final debate. The “Innovation/School Reform” committee meeting held earlier on September 14, 2004 had reviewed the original request from MPS administration to revoke AUI’s charter. It cited numerous pages of violations of state and federal guidelines, including “education goals, academic performance, general accepted accounting principles and standards, including applicable grant guidelines and financial standards.” Having reached “intensive monitoring” stage, according to a report, the Institute was out of compliance in 26 of 53 “checklist” items.

Officially chartered by the MPS board in October 2002 for a 3-year agreement for its “at risk” projected 240-student population, many of whom were discontent or dropouts from traditional MPS schools, the Institute had been placed on “probation” after its first year. It had gone through 5 principals during the first 2 years. According to MPS documents, a visitation by officials on January 8, 2004 noted that 38 students had signed in on the attendance form, but they could only account for 27. “Yet, the attendance report submitted for that day reflected 162 students present and 8 students absent.” Charter schools receive $7,111 per student. The charter school’s current population is estimated to be about 75 students.

Students and staff pleaded for leniency at the September 14 committee meeting hearing. “I’m very proud of the work we’ve done,” said AUI’s president Elder Franklin Atwater, reported Alan Borsuk in the September 16, 2004 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Don’t slam the door on us. We can do this.” After more debate that lasted into the wee hours of the next morning, committee members finally voted 3-2 in favor giving the school a 3-month “extension” through December to get its school in order.

Frequently, but not always, a committee’s recommendations to the full 9-member school board at its monthly meetings is often approved and voted on accordingly, including possible amendments. At these meetings, there is no further public input or testimony, and any “debate” is now restricted to the full board that is present. However, it is common for any parties of interest to attend these full board meetings to witness final judgment, and AUI supporters did just that on Tuesday, September 30. What they saw in the official agenda on top of “Page iii” in legalese jargon caused worry and confusion. “Notice of motions to discharge: Directors Barbara Horton, Jeff Spence and Joseph Dannecker hereby give notice that a motion will be made to discharge the Committee on Innovation/School Reform from further consideration of a request to revoke the Afro Urban Institute’s charter and to terminate its non-i! nstrumentality charter school district.” A young female AUI supporter asked her friend, “What does that mean?” The friend responded dejectedly, “Trouble.”

The “trouble” she was referring to was the 3 board members – none being members of the “reform” committee – were seeking to overturn the committee’s recommendation for the 3-month extension. Instead, they demanded an “immediate” termination of the charter contract originally requested by Superintendent William Andrekopoulos at the earlier committee meeting and hearings. With one board member not present, the other 8 members would again debate the merits and demerits of the proposed 3-month extension for the Afro Urban Institute’s charter. Like those watching the Bush-Kerry presidential debate on TV, attendees at the school board meeting could only do the same thing, watch the debate – but in person instead.

Unlike the presidential debate in Miami, there were other political, educational and racial undercurrents at the school board meeting debating the AUI charter in the MPS auditorium in Milwaukee. Three of the 4 African American board members - Barbara Horton, Jeff Spence and Ken Johnson – spoke against the charter extension, yet all 3 are firm supporters of Milwaukee voucher and charter schools. Jennifer Morales, a Latina board member, was absent at the board meeting but as a member of the “reform” committee had voted reluctantly in favor of the extension. Board vice-president Charlene Hardin was the lone African American who supported the extension. Board President Peter Blewett, Anglo, an avid supporter of public schools, voted in favor of the extension, as did board member and former MPS principal Thomas Balistreri, an Anglo. Also voting against the extension was Dannecker, a firm supporter of! vouchers and charters; and Lawrence O’Neil, a firm supporter of public schools, both Anglos. The final tally at the board meeting was 5-3 in support of “immediate termination” of the Institute’s charter.

“How could the 3 black members who are for charter schools vote against us?” murmured a young, visibly discontented African American male Institute supporter leaving the auditorium. Obviously one he could have been referring to was board and committee member Johnson. He had stated forthrightly at the committee meeting objecting to the extension. “What does probation mean if probation doesn’t have anything at the end but another probation? What message are we sending out?” He stuck with his same vote. Morales, while hesitantly supporting the extension at the committee meeting, had been quoted by education reporter Borsak, “If you can’t say how many students you have, we have failed at the most basic level of accountability to the public for their money.” Multiplying $7,111 per student does give a vast net difference on the balance sheet between attenda! nce reports of 162 students versus 27 students or the final estimated 75 students. With all the negatives stacked against the charter school, why would president Blewett, a UW-Milwaukee instructor, and former MPS principal Balistreri support an extension? Political maneuvering? Still, it appeared the former MPS “dropouts” now had become the charter school’s “dropouts” too.

The reality is the first ever MPS charter school collapse was likely just the “tip of the iceberg” of the district’s “market place” vision of education – reinforced in July, 2003 with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation bribe of $17 million dollars promoting “small high schools.” While regular MPS high schools are being torn to shreds and other schools emptied to accommodate implementing this experimental charter dreamland based on no empirical education standards or evidence, the administration has yet to give a public report on any educational and economical benefits. Other than the initial media hype with the local Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce actually receiving the $17 million grant to then dole out to the superintendent as needed, there has been no ensuing news coverage of Gates’ Golden Education Eggs either. The “Greatest Sho! w on Earth” simply disappeared, and has not been heard from since.

Now that the “Charter School Contract Review Team” has unearthed its first charter school disaster, it’s about time to do some investigating on the “small high school” initiative front too. Initial concerns aired at the onset were the grant was limited to reconfiguring current high schools, but not for staffing or other ensuing educational needs thereafter. Who would foot the bill, after the other “Bill” left town? MPS administrators were mum on the question. It’s already been partially answered. In his 2 years as district boss, superintendent Andrekopoulos has gutted over 600 teaching positions, in addition to claiming district bankruptcy during the ongoing and late contract negotiations with teachers and staff personnel. Playing the typical corporate stalwart, MPS negotiators abruptly ended talks with the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association at the same time as the AUI charter school decis! ion – forcing the union into arbitration.

Maybe vice-president Charlene Hardin’s outburst supporting AUI’s extension against the superintendent’s proposal at the committee meeting seeking revocation had some authenticity to it. Borsak quoted the angry VP shouting at Andrekopoulos and pounding her fist on the table, accusing the administration of “giving some other schools all the help they need.” Waving her finger, she shouted, “Doggone it. It’s time for you to be held accountable.” But when a school district becomes infiltrated with voucher and charter “market place” zealots, what you see is what you get. Just like the real “market place” – favoritism and accountability are not intended to be fair and equal.

Truth of the matter is the MPS Committee on Innovation/School Reform and school board have been handing out charter school contracts like candy at a birthday party. AUI was merely the first charter to choke on their piece of candy. 

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