Yes, they all should be ridiculed as well.

Where do you live?

You seem to have this idea that just because a school contains the word "Academy" or "Preparatory" that it is locked away behind giant iron gates hung on stone walls covered in ivy with a hedge maze in the courtyard.

This is MILWAUKEE. Have you ever been to Milwaukee?

The city is poor, and whites are a minority. Private "academies" are not about learning which side of the plate your crab fork goes on, or what angle to hold your pinky at while drinking tea. In Milwaukee, private schools are a haven from hooligans and disruptive students that distract students who WANT to learn from accomplishing that goal. They are a place where discipline matters and education is the goal, rather than just simply managing the students. They usually have uniforms (provided by the school is nearly all cases) and if you hit strike three, you're out. Problem children are not a problem for very long; and as a result, the other 20+ kids in the class get more time to actually learn.

There are private schools who are struggling to maintain their enrollment because there aren't enough people with enough money to pay the tuition. When vouchers are handed out, it is a MAD HOUSE of people trying to win the lottery for their kid to get out of the public system.

Give those parents, and every other parent, a CHOICE. Not just a chance at some lottery, and if your number doesn't come up, all they get is a, "Sorry lady, better luck next year."

Is the culture a big part of the problem in Milwaukee? Yes. Lack of wealth/income? yes.

Well guess what, we're not going to be able to immediately solve those issues, so in the meantime, why not let the parents who want out of the system get out? Or should we just throw those kids to the wolves because it would be "unfair" to the others? That's a stupid reason to be against it.

So you do something as parents to make the current schools better. You attend not just the Christmas Concert, or other big events. You get involved on a daily basis with your kids & their friends. You don't just drop them off at the soccer field, you actually get out of your car and stand on the sidelines, or even better, get involved with their practice.

You get to know the teachers and administration of your school, that's how you "convert" these hooligan zones you complain about, back to centers of learning and safety for your kids. You get involved.

I used to take my daughter to skating sessions after kindergarten. All the parents sitting in the stands under blankets. The next time I brought my skates, and suddenly all the other kids were have a blast just playing games on the ice. And what do I hear from the other parents, thanks for entertaining the kids. I responded, get of your butt and get involved.

When kids have no respect for themselves they'll never give it to anyone else. And where does that lack of respect come from, their parents either wouldn't or couldn't spend time with them. The typical reply is, I need to earn money so they can have all these things. Its such a ******** response, ranks right up there with quality time

inso0, the first part of your post complains about my lack of understanding of what your idea of a private school is, then the 2nd part confirms it is what you posted. You have so many choices, move away from the "ghetto" or place your kids behind the hallowed walls of protection.

Or you could get together with other like minded parents and work to change your neighborhood for the better. Parks are just as dangerous as the undesirables at PS. I recall an old public service announcement, 40% of drugs are trafficked by inner city blacks, then the camera cuts to the suburbs, where all the white boys are dealing weed.

lol

Seriously, where do you live?


I think I'll head down to 32nd and Burleigh tonight with a giant sign that says "Get off your lazy butts and take your kids to soccer practice! Get to know their teachers and get involved in their education! All will be well! Cres says so!"

O/U on amount of time before I get shot in the face? I say 45 minutes.

You're just not living in reality, man.


Edit: That wasn't a fair comment. You just clearly have ZERO exposure to an urban environment. I'm going to forward your post to my wife (7th grade teacher in Milwaukee) and see what she says. I predict nothing but a "LOL!" in response tbh.

I'm just outside of Vancouver BC

what's your next excuse gonna be?

Dude, if a hippie drum circle of helpful parents could fix failing schools, then it would have already happened.

THrow more money at it, that will fix it for sure.

Oh, the hard streets of Canada. lol

I'm sorry, but you cannot possibly comment intelligently on the issues of urban American cities with large minority populations.

I'm guessing you wouldn't last half an hour as a teacher in your average Milwaukee 6th or 7th grade classroom.

My wife's first year of teaching in the city involved pretty much nightly tears, as she was just overwhelmed by the culture after doing all her student teaching in one of the suburbs.

7 years later, she's battle-hardened and doesn't take **** from anyone. She has even starting to say things like "acting a fool" and "haven't ______ in a minute" and probably a dozen other ghetto slang terms that I can't recall right now. ("minute" in the black culture can literally stand for ANY amount of time. Be it 1 minute to 10 years, and I make fun of her all the time when she says it. Example: "Oh, we haven't been to [insert restaurant here] in a minute!" Me: "Probably several minutes!" Her: stfu)


Cres, some of these parents don't even feed their children. The school district has had to implement summer breakfast/lunch/dinner programs so that kids can show up at a school and actually get fed. The LAST thing we need to worry about is whether or not they bring a blanket to watch the kids ice-skating practice.


Edit: My wife just sent me an e-mail. Two 5th graders got caught having sex in the bathroom during lunch. This is the 4th time so far this year that kids have been caught ****ing in the halls/bathrooms. How often does that happen in your Canadian elementary schools? My oldest son is in 5th grade and his biggest concern in life is how to catch the next Pokemon. The urban culture in Milwaukee makes fixing the schools with money a nigh impossibility. We need other solutions that don't rely 100% on the families suddenly ceasing to suck. (Like the choice program so people can escape the system if they choose to.)

I haven't been to Milwaukee but I would have guessed that it was predominantly white (like the rest of the midwest, LDO). But apparently you're right, the population in only about 40% white. You learn a new thing every day! Unless you assume everything new you're told is a racist lie, of course.

Wisconsin is like 90% white as a whole.

Milwaukee's 40% white population is misleading because Milwaukee is one of, if not THE most segregated city in the USA.

I'd venture to say that 90%+ of the white people live downtown in high rises, by the UWM and Marquette campuses, and by the lake in $600k condos. The other 10% are blue collar city workers/firefighters/police/teachers that live where you can throw a football and hit Wauwatosa or Brown Deer or one of the other suburbs. (I.E. as far to the edges of the city as you can get due to the residency rules for public workers). My neighbor on the left is a cop, neighbor on the right is a retired teacher, and the guy across the alley from me is a firefighter.

It's just how Milwaukee has evolved over the years. Our babysitter is a really nice girl we met at church, and I have to go drive into the more seedy part of the city to pick her up and drop her off. Yes, she's black. And a PERFECT example of the type of family that would love to take part in a voucher system if it were expanded.

Milwaukee is a great place to drop acid and/or consume massive amounts of alcohol (hypothetically, these observations might be based on personal experience). Other than that, what's there to do there?

Screw vouchers. They are all but designed to destroy public schools. Private schools can refuse to take student X. Public schools don't have that option.

So good students should be forced to be in schools with bad students?

If the parents want their kids to go to private school, let them pay for it.

Teachers are paid too much, if not they would leave and become CEOs.