The Milwaukee Times Weekly Paper
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Thursday, May 22, 2014 - Wednesday, May 28, 2014
An NCON Publication
Editorials
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN The Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper Louvenia Johnson Luther Golden Nathan Conyers (1981-2008) (1981-2005) (1981- ) Lynda J. Jackson-Conyers, Publisher Jacquelyn D. Heath, Editorial Page Editor
Rebuilding our Community By Dr. Andrew Calhoun, Ed.D. What did I tell you! My mother predicted this many years ago… and you know… she was right. She said in the 1970’s after the court ordered the integration of the school system in our county and small town in Tennessee, that within 40-50 years we would be back to the same old system…again. My mother when on to say, that it may not reappear the same way as it had before, but in the end, we will see the same results. And my mother was right… right on the merits, right on the design and right on the issues… and right on with the timeframe. Just sixty years ago, on May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the most important decision of the 20th Century. It was the Brown v. Board of Education unanimous decision that set things into motion, upholding equal opportunity and outlawing segregation policies in education. This struck down the creation of the “separate but equal” doctrine and mindset that so dominated the discussion and debate about public education. This was also a big part of the “Jim Crow” legislation that also included segregation in all aspects of life, employment, transportation, housing, drinking fountains and playgrounds.
Brown vs. Board of Education (Continued from pg. 3) At Western High School, the students and teachers were perfectly nice, including Mrs. Coughlin who was always courteous. Although no one spoke to me, no one was overtly racist, as if they had all been taught that if you cannot say something nice, do not say anything at all. Due to curriculum choices, the five of us were in different classes so I was alone a lot. Without anyone to share notes with or engage with on a daily basis, my high school experience was a remarkably quiet one, totally free of social interactions or events. I knew better than to complain to my mother, whose first comment would have been, "You're not supposed to be talking in school anyways; you're supposed to be learning." So I guess I learned a lot since I didn't have anything else to do. Regardless, in the end, all five of us got through. But in May of 1956, just one month before gradu-
This also impacted the same mindset in higher education in the development of 20 Black Land Grant Colleges and Universities (1890), especially in the south. Of course that court decision set off a lot of people throughout America who did not like it at all. Soon, they began creating and expanding private schools and systems alike. In some communities, people began peeling away at the layers of reforms, shifting policies, creating new educational standards, new school models, and reducing funding for existing schools. To go along with this, many chose to move away from urban America to the suburbs and in the process created new communities with new schools, local funding and most of all…maintaining control. With these actions and more, the court ordered policy of integrated schools ation, Mrs. Coughlin did a funny thing. While we were all ready to graduate, having done everything we were supposed to do, she simply turned her face to the wall and died. Mrs. Coughlin kept her promise. She never did see a colored girl graduate from her school -- a feat so petty, I'm still not sure I'm at terms with it, 58 years later.
would have far less of an impact in these new communities due to the fact that there would be fewer people of color living in those suburban communities. Well… just like my mother predicted… those good old days of “Jim Crow” and mindsets are back again… and the outcomes are not pretty. African American children have the worst wellbeing of any state, achievement gap is growing, most segregated among major metropolitan areas in the U.S., high incarcerates rates for black men, and the largest private school voucher program of any U.S. city. The real shocker to this whole thing is that this is not happening in the “grand old South,” and the vestiges of the confederacy… but this “new” stuff is happening in Wisconsin.
How to save our schools: The arts and music are no fairytale
By Kerry Washington Actress
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Kechelle who was raised by her aunt and uncle in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Kechelle was smart as a whip but withdrawn in class and she struggled at a school that felt chaotic and overwhelming. The school she attended was Savoy Elementary, which was, for many years, one of the lowDr. Andrew Calhoun, can be est-performing schools in contacted at andrewiiicalhoun@ the District. gmail.com, Twitter #AC53, or One day, when Kechelle call 414-571-5015. You can was in third grade, a new hear Dr. Calhoun each Sunday at principal began investing in Grace Fellowship Church, 3879 an arts program at her school. N. Port Washington Rd. Mil- He filled the halls with color waukee. and life and hired artists to teach dance and music every morning. Something within Kechelle awakened. She began to look forward to goMarsha Rose Joyner is an ener- ing to school. She auditioned getic imaginative creative combina- for a new performing group, tion of writer social justice advo- which required good grades cate, political junkie, wife, mother, and school attendance to grandmother & cancer survivor. participate, and began re-
(Continued on pg. 14)
The Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper NCON Publications welcomes letters to the editor, as a response to subjects reported or analyzed in the newspaper or on other issues of interest to the community. All letters must be legible, and contain a signature and a phone number. Submissions must be received by Friday to be considered for the following Thursday’s publication.
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hearsing after school and on weekends. In just one year, Kechelle was transformed; she was engaged in school and talkative in all her classes. To see her perform is to witness a young person who has claimed her place in the world and who will never let anyone silence her again. The End? No. Our tale does not end there, because this story is not hers alone. This is also the story of Kechelle's school and others like it. Savoy is a place where educators are using the arts as a tool to help turnaround low-performing schools and improve outcomes for all students - not just the stars who light up the stage. For the last decade, we have been engaged in a national conversation about how to fix our failing schools. We've heard again and again of schools that grapple with low test scores, toxic school climate, chronic student behavior problems, discouraged parents and teachers and disengaged students. When Kechelle started at Savoy, less than 20 percent of its fifth graders were reading at grade level, and the school was in the bottom five percent of all D.C. schools. But in 2011 the District brought
Marketing Manager & Assistant to the President George Neal Graphic Artists William Gooden Michelle Anibas
Founders Louvenia Johnson Nathan Conyers Luther Golden Accounting Terry Taylor Printing Manager Angel Reyes
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