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 Alma Macate has two children in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Clarissa attends Gospel Lutheran School. Leah Aslis attends Messmer High School.
Alma enrolled Clarissa in the choice program after the Milwaukee Public Schools District placed her in a first grade class at a different school than where she attended kindergarten. It was not what Alma would have chosen for her daughter, if she had been asked to make the choice.
“I don’t think they were doing a good job at the new school. I sent her to summer school and she didn’t learn anything. Her reading didn’t get any better. Things I thought she knew, she didn’t know. Now, Clarissa is being challenged.”
“I also like the dress code. It gets rid of that competition over clothes. It keeps their attention on their schooling rather than whether they’re going to out-dress the others or who is going to wear something expensive to school.”
“I want Leah to be college ready when she graduates from high school. The things that Messmer has are things that other schools don’t have. I love it. It’s quiet. They are really serious about the kids learning.”
“I’m a very involved parent. But, a lot of how well my children do in the public school depends on the teachers and the school. I think sometimes the faculty or principal don’t want change.”
“But once you take your child out of the school system and into the private sector, they pay attention to you.”
“Why should a family have to make a certain amount of money for their kids to get a good education? I don’t think that’s fair.”
“The choice program is giving my children a better education. Parents should be able to choose. They are my children. No one else know’s what’s best for them.”
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