In a couple of my classes here at Marquette, I’ve heard ridiculous accusations of racism. I’ve been told that anyone who does not support affirmative action is a racist. I’ve been told that the criminal justice system in America is racist because a greater percentage of blacks are in prison than whites. Many times though, calling someone a racist is simply a liberal way of “refuting” a solid argument by a conservative. For those of you who are not juniors or seniors, you may not know about one of the biggest race and social justice issues in Milwaukee: school choice. I want to open your eyes to the fact that it’s possible that Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle may be a racist.
Beginning in the fall of 1990, the Wisconsin State Legislature passed a modest form of school choice that accepted 1.5 percent of the students in Milwaukee into the program. School Choice is when the government gives families a credit that can be used to place their kids at any school in the area. This way, parents could decide that a child who would normally be placed in a bad school could take the money that would have been spent on him or her at that school and use it at a different school of their choice. This program is good because it makes schools compete with each other for students, raising the overall quality of education.
In the late 1990s, Wisconsin expanded the program, allowing for 15% of Milwaukee Public School students from low-income families to participate. In 2005, due to the program’s popularity, the need existed to “lift the cap” on the number of students allowed to participate. The Legislature passed a bill that would’ve done just that – all it needed was the Governor’s signature.
It would seem like a no-brainer; Gov. Doyle’s re-election relied heavily on the votes of poor blacks from inner city Milwaukee. So, when it came to increasing school choice, you should be thinking of course he’d “lift the cap”- something polls showed 80 percent of inner city blacks desired. But Doyle didn’t- he vetoed the bill that would’ve allowed for poor blacks to send their children to richer public or private schools.
At this point, you should be asking yourself why Doyle would do something so heartless. As a liberal Democrat, it would make sense to sign the bill since they claim to be the champions of the poor and disenfranchised. But it came down to money. Of course Doyle believes school choice is good for the poor. But, one of his biggest campaign donors is the Wisconsin Education Association Council (the Teachers’ Union), a group adamantly against the choice program. You see, WEAC realizes that by bringing choice into education, they’d be held accountable for actually providing a decent education – something they don’t want. So instead of embracing competition, they decided to buy a politician who would veto the bill.
I don’t know what’s inside of Gov. Doyle’s heart. Maybe he’s not racist, but then he’s surely guilty of pandering to the demands of WEAC in order to gain their monetary support at the cost of blacks. You see, he takes the black vote for granted, and once in office ignores a big issue for most inner city blacks. So I ask you, is Gov. Doyle a racist? A greedy politician? Or can only a conservative be a racist?
Marquette prides itself on being all about social justice and welfare. Prove it. Many liberals say the “education gap” is the biggest problem in the United States. School choice should be the number one social justice issue at Marquette. Or can only a liberal idea be that progressive?