A History of Educational Options in Milwaukee Public Schools James Kenneth Nelsen University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations August 2012 From No Choice to Forced Choice to School Choice: A History of Educational Options in Milwaukee Public Schools James Kenneth Nelsen University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Other Education Commons, and the Other History Commons Recommended Citation Nelsen, James Kenneth, "From No Choice to Forced Choice to School Choice: A History of Educational Options in Milwaukee Public Schools" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 12. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/12 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FROM NO CHOICE TO FORCED CHOICE TO SCHOOL CHOICE: A HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS IN MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS by James K. Nelsen A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee December 2012 ABSTRACT FROM NO CHOICE TO FORCED CHOICE TO SCHOOL CHOICE: A HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS IN MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS by James K. Nelsen The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 2012 Under the Supervision of Dr. Amanda I. Seligman Americans cherish freedom and value local control of education. The issue of “school choice,” a movement that supports publicly funded tuition vouchers for students who attend private schools, appeared on the public agenda in the 1980s and has remained a controversial topic into the twenty-first century. Milwaukee had one of the first and most expansive school choice programs in the United States. If one is to understand school choice, one must understand its origin in Milwaukee. Milwaukee moved through three eras of choice—the eras of “no choice,” “forced choice,” and “school choice.” The Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) followed a “comprehensive” model and a traditional neighborhood assignment pattern in the first era. Schools were racially segregated in that era. Lloyd Barbee led the protest movement and legal challenge to end segregation in the 1960s and 1970s, and Superintendent Lee McMurrin and the school board responded by creating a magnet school program that offered students more choices than any other district in the United States. Magnet schools were supposed to racially integrate students ii and provide them with a variety of quality educational options. But the program was difficult to implement and not well received by many parents, either African American or white. Many families wanted to keep their children in neighborhood schools, but if not enough students volunteered to attend an integrated school, then some had to be “forced” to choose one in the second era of school choice. And while many of the magnet schools were excellent, they did not improve education in Milwaukee as a whole. Civic and community leaders tried to remedy low academic achievement in the 1990s by introducing more forms of choice, including charter schools, vouchers to private schools, open enrollment in suburban districts, and neighborhood schools and small schools within MPS. Despite all these choices, education has not improved in Milwaukee. Nonetheless, Milwaukee parents and students have a level of choice, for good or for bad, that is not available in any other school district in the United States. These choices would not be possible if it were not for Milwaukee’s unique urban history. iii © Copyright by James K. Nelsen, 2012 All Rights Reserved iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures . vi List of Tables . vii List of Abbreviations . viii Glossary of Useful Terms . x Acknowledgments . xiii 1. Introduction . 1 Part 1: The Era of No Choice 2. Educational Options Prior to the 1970s . 18 3. Challenging Segregation in Milwaukee, 1963–1967 . 41 4. Planning for Milwaukee’s Magnet Schools, 1967–1976 . 100 Part 2: The Era of Forced Choice 5. Implementing Milwaukee’s Magnet Plan, 1976–1986 . 165 6. The Reaction to Milwaukee’s Magnet Plan, 1976–1986 . 223 7. Rethinking Magnet Schools and Integration, 1987–1995 . 283 Part 3: The Era of School Choice 8. Five More Choices, 1987–2011 . 319 9. Conclusion: Reflections on Choice . 366 Appendices . 372 Bibliography . 383 Curriculum Vitae . 410 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of Composition of Population – Central Area, 1940 . 64 Figure 2. Map of Composition of Population – Central Area, 1950 . 65 Figure 3. Map of Composition of Population – Central Area, 1960 . 66 Figure 4. Map of School District Changes – Central Area, 1943–53 . 66 Figure 5. Map of School District Changes – Central Area, 1953–63 . 67 Figure 6. Map of School District Changes – Central Area, 1943–63 . 68 Figure 7. Milwaukee Senior High School Districts, 1970 . 71 Figure 8. Schools and Building Projects – Central Area, 1943–53–63 . 72 Figure 9. Percent of Census Tract Which Was Black in 1975 . 160 Figure 10. Leagues, 1976 . 161 Figure 11. Option Elementary Schools, 1976 . 162 Figure 12. Map of the Three School Districts Proposed for a New School Desegregation Plan . 170 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. School Board Factions, 1963–79 . 372 Table 2. African American Factions . 375 Table 3. Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (Grades 2, 4–8) and Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (Grades 10, 12), Reading (1966–1994), Percentage Scoring “Average” or “Above Average/High” . .. 376 Table 4. Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (Grades 2, 4–8) and Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (Grades 10, 12), Mathematics (1966–1998), Percentage Scoring “Average” or “Above Average/High” . 377 Table 5. Milwaukee Magnet Schools with Grade 5 Students, 2009–10 . 378 Table 6. Milwaukee Magnet Schools with Grade 8 Students, 2009–10 . 379 Table 7. Milwaukee Magnet Schools with Grade 10 Students, 2009–10 . 379 Table 8. Elementary School Value-Added Data, 2009–10 . 380 Table 9. Milwaukee Middle School Value-Added Data, 2009–10 . 380 Table 10. Milwaukee High School Value-Added Data, 2006–07 . 381 Table 11. Milwaukee Elementary School Climate Data, 2009–10 . 381 Table 12. Milwaukee Middle School Climate Data, 2009–10 . 382 Table 13. Milwaukee High School Climate Data, 2009–10 . 382 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AED—Academy for Educational Development AP—Advanced Placement BUILD—Build Unity, Integrity, Leadership, and Dignity C/100—Committee of 100 CORE—Congress of Racial Equality FHA—Federal Housing Administration ICS—Independent Community Schools K–8—a school that enrolls students in grades kindergarten though grade 8 LEAPS—Law, Education, and Public Service (a school inside Washington High School) MATC—Milwaukee Area Technical College MIRC—Milwaukee Integration Research Center MPS—Milwaukee Public Schools MTEA—Milwaukee Teachers Education Association MUSIC—Milwaukee United School Integration Committee NAACP—National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons NAEP—National Assessment of Educational Progress NALC—Negro American Labor Council NEA—National Education Association NNNPC—Near Northside Non-Partisan Conference NSI—Neighborhood Schools Initiative PTA—Parent Teacher Association, sometimes PTSA (includes students) SPCA—Sherman Park Community Association viii Triple O—Organization of Organizations UCAG—United Community Action Group UWM—the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee VA—Veteran’s Administration ix GLOSSARY OF USEFUL TERMS Advanced Placement (AP)—a program in the United States sponsored by the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) that offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college; participating colleges grant credit to students who obtained high enough scores on the exams to qualify alternative school—a school that uses nontraditional teaching methods to provide educational services to “at-risk” students; often characterized by small size and close relationships between students and teachers at-risk students—students who are “at risk” of failing academically for one or more reasons, such as behavior problems, truancy, poverty, or family problems compensatory education—supplementary programs or services designed to help children who are cognitively or economically impaired reach their full potential; oftentimes associated with corrective measures following a lawsuit distributive education—education that includes both classroom education and on-the-job training feeder school—a school that provides a significant number of graduates to a specific school fundamental education—education that emphasizes a “back-to-basics” approach; stresses reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies; popular in the 1970s and 1980s gifted and talented—elementary school program for students with high intelligence, academic ability, achievement, and creativity; it is usually a flexible program that meets a wide variety of needs junior high school—usually, a school that contains grades seven to nine that organizes teachers into academic departments, unlike in a middle school intact busing—the process by which students who were assigned to an overcrowded elementary school boarded a bus at their school with their teacher and were bused “intact” to a different school International Baccalaureate (IB)—a program based in Geneva, Switzerland, that allows high school students to complete a series of rigorous courses and exams and earn college credits while in high school magnet school—a public elementary and secondary public

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