Many constituents support program, as party shuns it

State Senate Democrats' plan to slash funding for the private school choice program forced Democratic Milwaukee lawmakers Thursday to juggle support for three very hot potatoes: the city's public schools, the city's choice schools and their party's largely Madison-based leadership.

Especially in Milwaukee's inner city, where choice lets thousands of low-income children attend private schools at taxpayers' expense, Senate Democrats' effort to cut the vouchers in half ignited anger and unmasked deep divisions.

"From a black perspective, this has always been about: Do you put your party before your people?" said Mikel Holt, editor and associate publisher of the Milwaukee Community Journal, the state's largest black newspaper. "Right now, too many of these lawmakers are putting their party before their people.

"And some of them are going to end up paying the price for that."

But the head of Wisconsin's largest teachers union said lawmakers shouldn't feel torn.

"It should be easy to support public schools regardless of your location," said Michael Butera, executive director of the Wisconsin Education Association Council. "The overwhelming majority of students go to the public schools, and it is the government's first responsibility to take care of the public school system."

Governor blasts move

Republican Gov. Scott McCallum, however, denounced the Democrats' plan and vowed to keep fighting for school choice.

"I can't believe that any elected official would really do this to children, and to working men and women who care about their children's education," he said Thursday.

When Senate Democrats voted on Wednesday to cut choice funding, they said they did so because they think the program is starving public schools statewide of needed tax funds.

Since Democrats hold an 18-15 majority in the Senate, the choice cuts are all but certain to be included the 2001-'03 budget the Senate will approve by Saturday or early next week. Because Republicans who control the Assembly will try to protect choice, the program's future will be decided in negotiations between legislators from both parties.

The Democrats' plan would halve - to $2,776 per child - the state's payments under the choice program. It also would cap the number of choice students at 10,580 for the next two school years, and it would reduce payments for charter schools, which are public schools run by independent boards.

One Democratic senator, Gary George of Milwaukee, opposes the funding cut, aide Dave Begel said Thursday.

George "doesn't like the disruption that would be caused in the lives of the children who are in the choice program," Begel said, adding that George does favor limiting participation to 10,580 students.

George was in meetings and not available for comment Thursday, said Begel, who did not know why George did not attend the Wednesday meeting at which Senate Democrats voted for the cuts.

Other key Senate Democrats also were busy working on the state budget Thursday, and their aides said they couldn't discuss the proposed choice cuts.

A delicate position

But members of the Assembly who represent Milwaukee described the political balancing act the city's Democratic legislators face.

"I think public schools have to be a priority because the majority of the children are there," said state Rep. Johnnie Morris-Tatum (D-Milwaukee), who voted against the voucher program when it was enacted. "And choice schools have to be a reality because they're here now. How do you wipe that out?"

State Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) said she was pleased with the Senate Democrats' plan but acknowledged that few families in her south side district participate in choice.

"Those that represent the inner city of Milwaukee, they're put in a very tough position," she said. "They want to support MPS, but yet a lot of their constituents are involved in the choice movement. I can understand them laying low on this."

Morris-Tatum said the state should find a new source of funding for school choice - a sales tax, perhaps - so Milwaukee Public Schools and private schools wouldn't be locked in a competition for dollars. But she questioned why legislators from outside Milwaukee haven't worked harder to achieve that.

"When they had a much higher percentage of white population in MPS, I did not hear all of the criticism and resistance to funding that I hear today, and I think that has to do with who it is that's in this district," she said.

Political backlash?

Both newspaper editor Holt and state Rep. Antonio Riley (D-Milwaukee), a key choice supporter, suggested that the Senate Democrats' action could hurt the party.

"A lot of people are starting to ask some questions - what are these guys trying to do in Madison?" Riley said. "I think that the ripple effect of the decision to undo this program . . . could lead to a lot of disaffection with the Democratic Party."

Meanwhile, Republicans played up their support of choice Thursday.

"What is going on in Milwaukee is parents and teachers trying to educate children, and I don't know why anyone in the Legislature would get in the way of that desire to have a better education for their children, or at least an alternative education for their children," McCallum said.

Because it is unclear what the Legislature will finally decide on choice, McCallum said it was premature for him to promise to veto any cut in the program.

McCallum repeated a charge made by Assembly Republicans, that Senate Democrats were "pandering" to WEAC with the vote to cut choice. According to state campaign-finance reports compiled by the non-profit Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the teachers union directly and indirectly spent more than $1 million to help elect Senate Democrats in the 1999-2000 election cycle.

Asked to respond to the "pandering" allegation, Mike Browne, an aide to Chvala, said Wednesday: "We're happy to debate the merits of our education package, but Republicans' partisan attacks and their unwillingness to get to work on the budget are a disservice to kids, their parents, educators and our state."