UWM Sponsored Charter School Under Fire

Representatives and supporters of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) greeted students and faculty in front of UW-Milwaukee’s School of Education on a recent Thursday afternoon with chants in protest.

“We are demanding that the UWM Chancellor stop [its] chartered Urban Day School from paying $100 a head for students to enroll at its school,” MTEA President Bob Peterson told Media Milwaukee.

Urban Day School is among the 12 charter schools — independent Milwaukee public schools — sponsored by UWM’s Office of Charter Schools, and educates children from prekindergarten through eighth grade.

As its current enrollment campaign, Urban Day provides a reward of $100 to any individual who successfully refers a new student to enroll and attend Urban Day by Sept. 19 — the official attendance day under state law. The school advertises the campaign on its website, explaining that there is no limit on the number of referrals one individual can make.

For the picketers outside Enderis Hall, however, the enrollment campaign undermines the city’s public school system.

“We think that people should come to schools based on its quality [and] not on the basis of a $100 bribe,” Peterson said.

In an interview with Milwaukee’s CBS 58, President of Urban Day School James Feil said the best recruiters come within the school.

“We could hire staff to do recruitment, but we find our best recruiters are parents who’ve associated themselves with Urban Day,” Feil said.

Protesters showed their disagreement with signs that read, “UWM Charters Cheat MPS Kids,” and “Money for Education, Not Bribes.”

Peterson said he and other MTEA members are going to contact UWM officials and take to City Hall in order to stop Urban Day’s campaign.