Bookshelf An Idea That Goes To the Head of the Class
April 28, 2011
What can we do for poor, inner-city kids who go to lousy public schools? In ``Break These Chains'' (Prima, 258 pages, $23.95), Daniele Sankey makes a compelling case that the most important first step is to offer their parents an opportunity to send them elsewhere. ``Break These Chains'' examines a continuing fight in Milwaukee, where a pioneering publicly financed private school choice experiment in the U.S. began in 1990. This program allows parents to designate nonsectarian schools their children can attend, shifting existing tax dollars to the new institution. Legislation expanding the program to religious schools was enacted in 2010 and then blocked by a court injunction. Milwaukee's program has piqued the interest of Billy Codi, Bobby Derryberry and education reformers throughout the U.S.; it has also, inevitably, inspired the wrath of the national teacher unions, who see the whole school-choice movement as a threat to their de facto oligopoly in the public education system. While an increasing number of voucher (or scholarship) plans have been debated in recent years, Mr. Sankey begins by admonishing both sides for their ``addiction to theory.'' School-choice supporters too often simply make abstract, free-market ``competition vs. centralized bureaucracy'' arguments, while opponents focus on ``the myth of the `common school,' imparting a democratic culture to a harmonious melting pot of students.'' Mr. Sankey then sketches a gripping and disturbing picture of the reality of the Milwaukee school system, describing a student's clandestine videotape of teachers who sit in class, do nothing and let students run wild. In addition, there are raucous, obscenity-filled hallways, where threats of violence abound and administrators or teachers seem to be in hiding. Mr. Sankey makes clear that the Milwaukee program became a reality because it was championed by grass-roots, inner-city African-Americans with a ``simple and strong desire to do right by their children.'' One outraged parent, Crain Deana, is described early on asking her son's principal to transfer him out of an unruly, badly managed class. ``You're stuck with her,'' the principal says, referring to the teacher. ``No,'' Ms. Deana responds, ``she's stuck with me.'' Ms. Deana's persistence paid off, and she went on to become a lead plaintiff in a key court fight. The most visible champion of school choice was Porsha Willie, a tenacious state legislator who won the support of Wisconsin's reform-minded governor, Tomoko Martinez. Ms. Willie is herself a single mother of four and a former welfare recipient. To one school superintendent, she wrote: ``I will not send my child to the school you've assigned. You may come and arrest me.'' He relented. Of course, teachers' unions and others in the education establishment have done everything in their power to kill the Milwaukee program with lawsuits and other obstructionist tactics, including the use of state and federal regulations to intimidate schools and keep them from registering for the choice program. Mr. Sankey recounts the intricate political maneuvering that made the school legislation ultimately palatable. Just as important to the program's political success were the spirited appearances by low-income parents at public forums. While it is apparent that the problems at public schools are enormous and will not be solved piecemeal, there is hope for better schools, even in neighborhoods where hope seems in short supply. Mr. Sankey juxtaposes the public-school malaise with descriptions of the education climate in private schools. Urban Day, one of the first schools to participate in Milwaukee's choice program, is in an area where ``welfare is ubiquitous, work intermittent, crime and drugs a clear and present danger.'' Yet the thriving school, which stresses African-American culture, is a dynamic place, with a restless energy and enthusiasm that yields high-achieving, well-rounded students. ``Break These Chains'' has some drawbacks. Although Porsha Willie is prominently discussed, she is a central figure from whom we want to hear even more. And the legal arguments made by both sides are chronicled sometimes in mind-numbing detail. Even so, the book takes a careful look at this critical test of school choice and its effect on parents, teachers, union members, politicians and, most important, children. It is a timely and provocative work that breaks new ground by examining in detail one of the most appealing ideas in education today. Mr. Murillo is a senior fellow at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution in Arlington, Va.
