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Group wants war forum in schools
MPS students would hear pros and cons on Iraq
By DAN BENSON
[email protected]
Last Updated: March 2, 2003
A group called Teachers Against the War and some Milwaukee Public Schools students are asking the School Board to set aside at least one hour of class time to deliver a "diversity of opinion" to MPS students on the nation's conflict with Iraq.
The resolution, which was introduced last week by Milwaukee School Board member Jennifer Morales, would require all MPS middle schools and high schools to commit one hour to the discussions. It also would require at least one after-school event for the same purpose and the distribution of "age-appropriate" materials to students on the pros and cons of war with Iraq.
Following the resolution would be optional for elementary schools.
The resolution was referred to the board's Innovation and School Reform Committee, which next meets March 11.
But one member of that committee and two key legislators say they are troubled by such a resolution.
"I vigorously oppose the war. And I oppose with equal vigor this proposal," School Board member John Gardner said.
He said the School Board shouldn't mandate to local schools "what to do and how to do it. I just think we have to be attentive to the fact that schools are already over-mandated and over-scheduled."
Districtwide mandates "are always done for good reasons, and in this case it's one I would agree with, but it's the wrong forum, and it's the wrong way to do it," he said.
The resolution has not so far been put on the committee's agenda, Morales said.
Teachers Against the War will meet at 4 p.m. today at the Peace Action Center, 1001 E. Keefe Ave., to plot strategy to support the resolution, said Bob Peterson, a fifth-grade teacher at Fratney Street School and an organizer of Teachers Against the War.
It will be the second meeting for the group, which first met on Feb. 17, Peterson said. About 25 teachers attended that meeting.
He said he had no idea how many would attend today's meeting.
Forum sought
"Teachers told us (at the first meeting) the general atmosphere in schools is that we shouldn't talk about this," he said. "They felt very isolated and perplexed that educators would have that attitude."
As a result, "teachers decided to work with high school students who also are concerned and approach the Milwaukee School Board," he said.
Morales said the resolution is patterned after a similar proposal made in Oakland, Calif., that she read about in Rethinking Schools, an education reform newspaper with a circulation of 17,000 that Peterson helps edit.
Peterson said his group also is encouraging the Milwaukee Education Association, the teachers union, to take a stand against a war with Iraq.
Morales said she wrote the resolution in response to high school students' "desire for honest and open dialogue about the conflict."
One student who approached Morales was Lauren Adams, a sophomore at Rufus King High School.
"I think this impending war is the most important issue confronting students, and it hurts to see them all so apathetic. If they knew more, they'd care more," said Adams, a member of High Schools for Peace, a group of 30 to 40 high school students from MPS and other school districts.
She said the idea for the resolution came from organizers at the Peace Action Center, who told students the School Board wouldn't entertain such a proposal unless "students got behind it."
Adams said she believes the anti-war activists' point of view will win over students if all points of view are presented.
Concerns expressed
State Rep. Luther Olsen (R-Berlin), chairman of the Assembly Committee on Education, expressed concerns about the objectivity of the information that would distributed to students.
"It all depends on who decides who the pros and cons are," he said. "If you have people who are against something deciding what the pro people will say, that makes me real nervous."
Rep. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) said she would be "very leery any time a group called Teachers Against the War wants to explain the Iraqi conflict to our children."
She is vice chairman of the Assembly's Education Reform Committee and past president of Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools.
Morales and Peterson said their goal was not to indoctrinate children.
"I have a personal opinion on the war, but I don't intend that to define what I would like to see happen" in the classroom, Morales said.
A version of this story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on March 3, 2003.
MPS students would hear pros and cons on Iraq
By DAN BENSON
[email protected]
Last Updated: March 2, 2003
A group called Teachers Against the War and some Milwaukee Public Schools students are asking the School Board to set aside at least one hour of class time to deliver a "diversity of opinion" to MPS students on the nation's conflict with Iraq.
The resolution, which was introduced last week by Milwaukee School Board member Jennifer Morales, would require all MPS middle schools and high schools to commit one hour to the discussions. It also would require at least one after-school event for the same purpose and the distribution of "age-appropriate" materials to students on the pros and cons of war with Iraq.
Following the resolution would be optional for elementary schools.
The resolution was referred to the board's Innovation and School Reform Committee, which next meets March 11.
But one member of that committee and two key legislators say they are troubled by such a resolution.
"I vigorously oppose the war. And I oppose with equal vigor this proposal," School Board member John Gardner said.
He said the School Board shouldn't mandate to local schools "what to do and how to do it. I just think we have to be attentive to the fact that schools are already over-mandated and over-scheduled."
Districtwide mandates "are always done for good reasons, and in this case it's one I would agree with, but it's the wrong forum, and it's the wrong way to do it," he said.
The resolution has not so far been put on the committee's agenda, Morales said.
Teachers Against the War will meet at 4 p.m. today at the Peace Action Center, 1001 E. Keefe Ave., to plot strategy to support the resolution, said Bob Peterson, a fifth-grade teacher at Fratney Street School and an organizer of Teachers Against the War.
It will be the second meeting for the group, which first met on Feb. 17, Peterson said. About 25 teachers attended that meeting.
He said he had no idea how many would attend today's meeting.
Forum sought
"Teachers told us (at the first meeting) the general atmosphere in schools is that we shouldn't talk about this," he said. "They felt very isolated and perplexed that educators would have that attitude."
As a result, "teachers decided to work with high school students who also are concerned and approach the Milwaukee School Board," he said.
Morales said the resolution is patterned after a similar proposal made in Oakland, Calif., that she read about in Rethinking Schools, an education reform newspaper with a circulation of 17,000 that Peterson helps edit.
Peterson said his group also is encouraging the Milwaukee Education Association, the teachers union, to take a stand against a war with Iraq.
Morales said she wrote the resolution in response to high school students' "desire for honest and open dialogue about the conflict."
One student who approached Morales was Lauren Adams, a sophomore at Rufus King High School.
"I think this impending war is the most important issue confronting students, and it hurts to see them all so apathetic. If they knew more, they'd care more," said Adams, a member of High Schools for Peace, a group of 30 to 40 high school students from MPS and other school districts.
She said the idea for the resolution came from organizers at the Peace Action Center, who told students the School Board wouldn't entertain such a proposal unless "students got behind it."
Adams said she believes the anti-war activists' point of view will win over students if all points of view are presented.
Concerns expressed
State Rep. Luther Olsen (R-Berlin), chairman of the Assembly Committee on Education, expressed concerns about the objectivity of the information that would distributed to students.
"It all depends on who decides who the pros and cons are," he said. "If you have people who are against something deciding what the pro people will say, that makes me real nervous."
Rep. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) said she would be "very leery any time a group called Teachers Against the War wants to explain the Iraqi conflict to our children."
She is vice chairman of the Assembly's Education Reform Committee and past president of Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools.
Morales and Peterson said their goal was not to indoctrinate children.
"I have a personal opinion on the war, but I don't intend that to define what I would like to see happen" in the classroom, Morales said.
A version of this story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on March 3, 2003.