Milwaukee Educators Get Boost from Reg Weaver

Milwaukee schools are getting a bum rap, and educators there are doing a wonderful job under trying circumstances.

That was the assessment of NEA Vice President Reg Weaver, who toured Milwaukee schools last year and has met with many of the city's excellent and dedicated teachers and support staff.

Speaking at the WEAC Human Relations Committee's "... And Justice for All" conference in March, Weaver said students today are challenging. But they are not bad, and we should not give up on them, he said.

Supporters of private school voucher programs and other anti-public school initiatives are giving up on the kids who need our help the most, he said. Last year, he appeared at a Milwaukee forum on education, along with many of the city's most powerful people, "and I think I was the only one who was defending public education," he said. "These folks don't care about the education of all children. ... They say they don't want to leave any child behind, which is exactly what vouchers do."

Weaver said he told them he had just toured some Milwaukee schools "and some of the things I saw were fantastic."

He mentioned the tremendous success of the SAGE class-size reduction program, which has allowed teachers to work one-on-one with students who need it the most. "I saw people in schools who care, who are collaborating for kids," he said.

Privatization is not the answer, he said. Neighborhoods in inner cities have been abandoned by the same big business supporters who are advocating private school vouchers. Just look at the lack of banks, hospitals and grocery stores in the inner city, and you get a feel for what impact privatization will have on education, he said.

What we need to do, he said, is invest in our public schools. Eighty-five percent of the wealthiest people in this country send their kids to public schools, Weaver said, because they invest in the public schools in their communities. They make sure they are safe and orderly, that they attract the best teachers, and that they finance a broad curriculum.

"If suburban public schools can be as good as a private school," he said, "why can't an inner city school be as well?"

Weaver said educators must stand up for the poor kids in the inner city who have no voice, even though it means standing up to some very powerful people.

"We must be their salvation," he said.

Some young people today are very difficult to teach, he said, and some talk back to teachers. But for many, school is the safest place for these kids, and the teachers and support staff are the kids' second families.

"You can have a tremendous impact on these kids, and don't ever let anyone tell you you can't," he said.

Weaver said the NEA-WEAC-UniServ-local association family provides the means for us all to work together to help these kids, and to help each other.

"We lobby for better school funding. We stand tall against vouchers, privatization and vicious right-wing attacks on teachers and public education. ...

"Together, we can make a tremendous impact. We have the power to turn the tide."