Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
There appears to be no end the unbridled gall and arrogance that the GOP bluntly manifests when it comes to the Black community in Milwaukee.
Just last week, two self-appointed, white legislators unveiled their plan for arresting poverty in our community.
Under the proposal that’s currently being floated by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield), there would be a number of drastic as well as controversial changes in store for Milwaukee.
For instance, under this misguided proposal, select MPS schools with failing grades would become independent charter schools that could employ non-unionized teachers exclusively, and would be completely autonomous from the Milwaukee School Board.
Moreover, those schools would be overseen by a new local board that would entertain proposals from charter school operators and award five-year contracts to operators that present the most compelling plans.
If this particular provision sounds vaguely familiar – well, it should. This is nothing more than the latest attempt to privatize Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) by wrestling away its local control.
Not surprisingly, the individual that should have had the most to say regarding the plight of public schools in our community, Milwaukee Superintendent – Dr. Darienne Driver, had no input in formalizing these education proposals.
And yet, Sen. Darling had the audacity to characterize these measures as a “partnership with MPS.”
Some of the other contentious provisions of their proposal include:
• Establish zones in which labor unions and private employers would not be able to reach agreements to require workers pay union dues. (Right-to-work zones)
• Allow the formation of for-profit limited liability companies that could operate like nonprofits.
• Convert the approximately $40 million MPS receives each year for school integration efforts within the system to a block grant with no state mandate.
Sen. Darling and Rep. Kooyenga may be trying to dupe the public into believing that they have conjured up some new approach to combatting poverty in the inner city. However, from my vantage point, this approach is nothing new.
In typical Republican fashion, they want to privatize public schools; give corporate/business interests free-reign to exploit the community; and undermine union and collective bargaining rights for workers by establishing right-to-work zones.
Here’s a newsflash: If it looks like a pig, sounds like a pig and smells like pig, it’s definitely a pig; and no amount of lipstick or perfume can alter that fact.
What makes Darling and Kooyenga experts when it comes to our community? Why wasn’t the very community being impacted solicited for their input in formulating this reconstruction plan?
It’s evident to see: the GOP is frozen to its paternalistic approach and mindset in Wisconsin.