I am responding to counter Mike Dean’s article “Only a moron would support school choice.” Dean’s attack on school choice is based on his claim that school choice will create segregation, is only for the well-to-do, is not a benefit to choice students and hurts the education of students of public schools.
The Milwaukee School Choice program casts doubts on Dean’s statements.
Dean claims school choice will lead to segregation of our schools, but data indicates the exact opposite. According to Marquette Professor of Education Howard Fuller, the Milwaukee School Choice Program seems to lead to more integration, not less.
Fuller states, “there are nearly twice as many Milwaukee Public School elementary students in racially isolated schools compared with private elementary schools which accept vouchers. Because of choice, private school enrollment is more racially balanced and ethnically diverse than MPS.”
In fact, of those students receiving vouchers in Milwaukee, 92 percent are minorities.
Dean states “vouchers only subsidize already socio-economically advantaged students who can readily afford these schools with the assistance of a voucher.”
The fact is, only families with an income at or below 175 percent of the poverty line are eligible for a voucher worth up to $5300, and the average family income of choice students is $11,630 (according to a Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau report, 1995).
Although Dean will tell you otherwise, choice schools work. Professor Fuller states, “academic achievement of children in the choice program has improved.”
A Harvard University study in 1997 found that Milwaukee Choice students who had been in the program for a number of years had reading and math scores higher than their public school peers.
Thank you Mr. Dean for your well thought argument. I however, will remain a moron.
Ryan Zinkel
UW-Madison Class of ’99
With a paper open and reading about international affairs, the person sitting next to me felt the need to break my concentration by pointing out to me the weather forecast presented today on the inside page of The Badger Herald. I was somewhat annoyed by his sudden interruption, but when I realized what he was pointing out, I became ecstatic. The weather forecast for Thursday was high of 48, low of 48. I was in euphoria. For one day, I could expect there to be absolutely no change in the climate.
“Just think,” I said to my nosy neighbor, “this means that I can actually decide to wear a coat today, and not feel foolish by lunchtime to have it with me.”
I started to ignore the teacher as I was caught in daydreams of the significance of it all. “What would the weather systems be like to allow this?” I wondered.
Would there be a high-pressure front moving through during the middle portion of the day that would be displaced by warmer air later? What were the meteorologists thinking to allow this to happen? Or maybe it wasn’t the weather at all, but instead indicative of a sudden freeze in time which would allow us to keep going forever in exactly the same weather conditions. Finally we could be without the crazy and erratic changes that we expect in Wisconsin. Think what that would mean for energy conservation. Engineers could finally design heating systems to heat just the right number of degrees to keep our classrooms comfortable. Van Hise might finally not be overheated.
“But what if the weather never changed!?” I wondered.
Would it start to seem too cold? Would students suddenly fall into fits of dread? If I found out the weather were never going to change again, I’m not sure I would leave my house in the morning. And what about the ecosystem? Would the trees ever grow back their leaves? Would native wildlife suddenly die out? Would Madison become a barren wasteland?
And what about the rest of the world? If it were the same temperature all day in Madison, why couldn’t it be the same temperature all day in Manhattan? Or Montgomery? Or Louisville? Would the world suddenly turn into a fruitless desert? If it were raining in some places, would there be gargantuan floods? Was this the first sign that the world was coming to an end?
I cried out from the horror of it all.
David Ruskin
UW sophomore
In the aftermath of the tragic events of Sept. 11, world peace and understanding are more important than ever. Even before these events, Secretary of State Colin Powell proclaimed Nov. 12-16, 2001 as International Education Week, a time to promote and celebrate the benefits of international education and worldwide exchange.
As a Rotary Foundation Scholar in 1987-8, I was able to strengthen my commitment to peace and conflict resolution on an international level. The program provides students with three to six month and one or two year scholarships to study abroad, serving as ambassadors of goodwill in the host country. This time abroad gave me the chance to enrich myself both academically and culturally, and I was able to promote international goodwill throughout the global community.
As the world works to combat hatred and intolerance, I am reminded of what so many of us learn as students abroad ? cultural differences make us unique, but our differences are not what ultimately matter. We can all work together to foster cross-cultural respect, peace and understanding worldwide. I thank Rotary International for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime!
Ariana Cox
Madison, Wis.