UW-Milwaukee To Commemorate 40th Anniversary Of The 1970 Hispanic Community Takeover Of Chapman Hall

Takeover led to higher educational opportunities for Latinos in Wisconsin

By H. Nelson Goodson
September 14, 2009

Milwaukee -The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) officials announced on Monday, that a committee has been initially formed to begin planning for next years commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the historical takeover of UWM’s Chapman Hall by the Latino community in 1970.
The committee will officially begin to plan events around the 40th anniversary of the takeover of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Chapman Hall, a pivotal event for Milwaukee’s Latino community, according to UWM administrators.
Enrique Figueroa, associate professor and director of the Roberto Hernández Center (RHC), has been directed by the Chancellor's office to lead and oversee the committee planning of events. Figueroa has appointed two co-chairs for the committee.

“Ernesto Chacon and Jesus Salas were centrally involved in the August 1970 takeover and have distinguished themselves as community activists and as public servants during their professional lives,” said Figueroa.
Although both men are now retired, Chacon most recently served as deputy director of Gov. Jim Doyle’s Milwaukee office. Salas was a professor at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and served as a member of the UW System Board of Regents.
The co-chairs are currently assembling a committee to fund raise for the 40th commemoration, develop a program for the event and bring together others who were advocates for the Latino community 40 years ago.
“The Chapman Hall takeover proved to be a seminal development for Milwaukee’s Latino community,” says Figueroa. “It directly led to the creation of UWM’s Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI), which over time became the current Roberto Hernández Center. Indeed, the deceased Roberto Hernández was also a central figure during the takeover.”
Last August marked the 39th anniversary of the August 27, 1970 UWM takeover by the Hispanic community. Their contribution, commitment, and success led to changing the discriminatory UWM policy that restricted access to higher education for Hispanics during 1970, has today resulted in graduating large numbers of Latinos from public and private universities throughout Wisconsin.
Figueroa points out that 39 years ago, there were only a handful of Latino students and only one Latino faculty member at UWM. “Now there are over 1,300 students and more than thirty Latino faculty as well as a Latino chancellor. It’s important that our community celebrate the visionary activists of 40-years ago…Si se pudo!”

After 34 years of the Latino community takeover of UWM, on July 1, 2004, Carlos E. Santiago became the first Hispanic chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Chancellor Santiago has a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University (1982) and M.A. degrees in economics from Cornell University (1979) and the University of Puerto Rico (1975).
Unfortunately, today's educational institutions like Milwaukee Public Schools, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and other private educational institutions, as well as community based organizations have yet to provide, support, and make available a curriculum about the historical aspect of the 1970's UWM educational struggle by the Hispanic community to the younger generations of students.


To enlarge and open attached articles; please click on the first, second and last photos for the most comprehensive story ever written and authored by H. Nelson Goodson who himself was a student, and graduated from UWM. El Conquistador Newspaper first published the two-page article on July 13, 2001 as a special edition for The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Annual Conference, which was held in Milwaukee on July 14-18, 2001. "The article actually depicts a descriptive point by point narrative, documentary and occurrences of historical events at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that will make you experience and feel the moment in time," Goodson said. Goodson's first publication of the article led to other studies and papers written about the historical event by UWM.

Link to UWM library website of chronicles of takeover and images included.

Crece la Oposición Contra la Toma de Posesión de MPS por Parte del Gobernador y el Alcalde

Grandes deficiencias en los presupuestos están plagando a la Ciudad de Milwaukee y el Estado de Wisconsin

Por H. Nelson Goodson
4 de septiembre de 2009

Milwaukee -El Gobernador Jim Doyle y el Alcalde Tom Barrett junto al presidente del Concilio Común llevaron a cabo una conferencia de prensa el lunes 31 de agosto en la Universidad de Wisconsin-Milwaukee para empujar el control de la alcaldía sobre el Distrito de Escuelas Públicas de Milwaukee (MPS). Su razonamiento para la toma de posesión no era motivada por ningún asunto personal con ninguno de los miembros de la junta directiva, pero ellos piensa que una forma nueva de atender los asuntos de MPS es necesaria.
Ninguno de los dos, el gobernador o el alcalde ofrecieron más detalles sobre cualquier plan propuesto para reformar a MPS. El gobernador está aplicando para parte de los $4.3 billones en fondos federales para las escuelas públicas en Wisconsin, y Obama tiene que saber que el estado se está enfocando en reformas serias en la educación.

En la conferencia de prensa, el Presidente de la Junta de MPS el Dr. Michael Bonds estaba presente y estaba en desacuerdo con el gobernador y el alcalde. Él no cree que sus ideas van a beneficiar a los estudiantes por un largo termino. “Yo estoy aquí para averiguar algunos de los datos específicos y ver que es lo que ellos harían diferente a lo que la junta directiva está haciendo”, dijo Bonds.
Hasta la fecha, el alcalde no tiene ningún plan especifico, pero está trabajando con legisladores para hacer un bosquejo de uno, y espera debatir el asunto cuando se vuelvan a reunir el 15 de septiembre, de acuerdo a partidarios presentes en la conferencia del Alcalde.
Los partidarios incluyen un número de administradores de un par de organizaciones en la comunidad Latina.
Asistieron a la conferencia de prensa estaban Enrique Figueroa, Lupe Martínez, Ricardo Díaz, María Monreal-Cameron, José F. Vásquez y Darryl Morin.
Doyle y Barrett quieren tomar provecho del propuesto dinero de estimulo federal dedicado a los programas de educación pública.
Los contribuyentes de impuestos están opuesta a dicha toma de control y se están enfocando en la deficiencia en el presupuesto de la Ciudad de Milwaukee y el presupuesto del Estado de Wisconsin a las cuales dichas instituciones se van enfrentar en alrededor de un año.
El Estado de Wisconsin se está enfrentando una deficiencia de $5.4 billones para el año 2011, y la Ciudad de Milwaukee se está enfrentando a una deficiencia de $90 millones para el año 2010. El Alcalde Barrett y el Gobernador Doyle no han logrado balancear la deficiencias de sus propios presupuestos y ahora quieren enfrentar el presupuesto y el plan de estudio de MPS.
Aparentemente, los partidarios del alcalde quienes estaban presentes en la conferencia simplemente están tratando de recibir beneficios del paquete de estimulo educacional, de acuerdo a los oponentes de la toma de control por parte del alcalde. Los oponentes creen el recibir parte de los billones en concesiones federales para escuelas es “la clave del factor político para que el alcalde tome control, en vez de desarrollar un plan de estudio que este dirigido a proveer una oportunidad educacional para estudiantes académicamente efectiva por medio de alistarse en cursos que los lleven al colegio, en orden de poder competir en empleos futuros”.
La junta de MPS votó la semana pasada para separar a un lado $250,000 para cubrir los costo de abogados en caso de que la toma de posesión del alcalde termina con un reto legal.
Por ejemplo, la toma de posesión de las escuelas públicas por parte del alcalde de Chicago proveyó un cambio pequeño, pero fue contribuido a los cambios actuales de los exámenes. Un estudio conducido por el Club Commercial de Chicago encontró que las ganancias académicas hechas por los estudiantes de la escuela elemental en las Escuelas Públicas de Chicago controladas por el alcalde “aparentan ser debidos a los cambios en exámenes hechos por la Junta en Educación del Estado de Illinois, en vez de mejoras reales en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes”. El estudio llamó la actuación de las escuelas públicas de Chicago “abismal”.
En Detroit, los votantes le devolvieron el control a la junta escolar después de que la toma de posesión por parte del alcalde no demostró ninguna mejora y los niveles de grados en los exámenes se mantuvieron iguales.
En Boston, algunas mejoras resultaron en los grados de matemática y lectura después de que el alcalde tomó control, pero los oponentes han cuestionado el método usado para recolectar datos. Los oponentes dijeron, que estudios han demostrado que en la mayoría de las ciudades donde ha ocurrido la toma de posesión de estás por la alcaldía, los padres tienen menos opiniones en como las escuelas deberían de ser corridas.
“Yo se que hay que hacer algo con MPS, pero ¿una toma de posesión? Estoy curioso de saber que pasara cuando MPS se quede corto. ¿Van ellos (el alcalde y el gobernador) van a dar tiempo libre a los maestros y a cerrar las escuelas por un par de días?”, dijo Victor Huyke, editor principal del periódico El Conquistador.
El miércoles de la semana pasada, el Concejal de Milwaukee, Anthony Zielinski quien está opuesto a la toma de posesión dijo, lo que está en juego es “el derecho fundamental de votar. El Gobernador Doyle y el Alcalde Barrett proponen que la Junta de Directores de las Escuelas sean desbandados a favor de un grupo señalado por el alcalde. Yo estoy luchando cien por ciento en contra de esta medida antidemocrática. Para ese fin, una legislación del Concilio Común ha sido bosquejada para formalizar esta oposición”.
Zielinski a retado al Alcalde Barrett a un debate público en relación a la toma de posesión de MPS, pero el alcalde se ha rehusado. Zielinski se ha registrado recientemente como candidato para la posición de Teniente Gobernador.
La Congresista Gwen Moore hizo una declaración denigrando la toma de posesión. “Nosotros no vamos a rectificar los retos enfrentados por MPS a menos que hablemos sobre la pobreza, el embarazo de adolescentes y las iniciativas de pólizas pervertidas las cuales han exacerbado este problema para las escuelas públicas de nuestra ciudad. MPS está trabajando con una formula estatal dañada la cual manda nuestros dólares públicos a escuelas privadas fuera de la ciudad… Yo realmente creo que el alcalde y el gobernador tienen las mejores intenciones para MPS; sin embargo, yo aun tengo que escuchar una explicación crédula de cómo estos retos difíciles van a ser arreglados simplemente cambiando como la junta escolar es elegida”, dijo Moore.
El capítulo local en Milwaukee de NAACP se ha opuesto públicamente a la toma de posesión por parte del alcalde. “La propuesta toma de posesión va a tener el efecto de desconectar a miles de votantes”, dijo el Presidente de NAACP Capítulo de Milwaukee, Jerry Hamilton.
“Nosotros estamos opuestos al control de las escuelas por parte de la alcaldía. Nosotros pensamos que el mejor modelo es una junta escolar fuerte por medio de la selección de un nuevo superintendente muy vibrante y energético… Nosotros creemos que la reforma escolar trabaja cuando los educadores en los salones de clases así como la comunidad están envueltos en moldear la reforma”, dijo Mike Langyel, el Presidente de la Asociación de Maestros de Educación de Milwaukee.
La semana pasada, la representante del estado Polly Williams le dijo que alcalde, el gobernador, el director de instrucción pública y otros están tratando de sacar al Dr. Michael Bonds un presidente de la junta escolar Afro-Americano, quien supervisa un distrito escolar que es 57 por ciento Afro-Americano.
La Junta de MPS establecieron un departamento de contabilidad para mejorar la supervisión de los gastos y costos. Nosotros hemos organizado un plan que va proveer responsabilidad fiscal y del programa”, dijo Bonds. El alcalde y el gobernador aun tienen que presentar una alternativa”, añadió Bonds.

Opposition To Governor And Mayoral Takeover Of MPS Grows

Major budget deficits plaguing City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin

By H. Nelson Goodson
August 31, 2009
Updated: September 1, 2009

Milwaukee -Governor Jim Doyle and Mayor Tom Barrett along with the common council president held a press conference on Monday at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to push for mayoral control of the Milwaukee Public School District (MPS). Their reasoning for the takeover was not motivated by any personal issue with any MPS board member, but that they just think a new approach is needed.
Both the mayor and the governor offered no further details about any proposed plan to reform MPS. The governor is applying for part of the $4.3 billion in federal school grants for public schools in Wisconsin, and the Obama administration needs to know the state is focusing on serious education reform.

At the press conference, MPS Board President Dr. Michael Bonds was present and disagreed with the governor and the mayor. He doesn't believe their approach would benefit the students in the long run. "I'm just here to find out some specifics and see what they could do different than the current board is doing," Bonds said.
To date, the mayor has no specific plan, but is working with legislators to draft one, and expect to debate the issue when they reconvene on September 15th, according to supporters of the mayor at the conference.
The supporters included several Latino administrators from a couple of community based organizations. Attending the press conference were Enrique Figueroa, Lupe Martinez, Ricardo Diaz, Maria Monreal-Cameron, José F. Vásquez, and Darryl Morin.
Doyle and Barrett want to tap into the proposed stimulus federal money geared for public education programs. Taxpayers are opposing the takeover and are focusing on the current budget deficits the City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin are facing in the next year or so. The State of Wisconsin is facing a $5.4 Billion by 2011, and the City of Milwaukee is facing a $90 million deficit by 2010. Mayor Barrett and Governor Doyle have not come close to balancing their own budget deficits and now they want to tackle the MPS budget and educational curriculum.
Apparently, the mayor's supporters who were at the conference are just trying to benefit from the projected educational stimulus package, according to opponents of the mayoral takeover. But, supporters and opponents do agree that getting part of the billions in federal school grants is "the key political factor for the mayoral takeover, instead of developing a curriculum that aims to provide an educational opportunity for students to succeed academically by enrolling in college bound courses, in order to compete for future jobs."
The MPS Board voted last week to set aside $250,000 to cover lawyer fees just in case the mayoral takeover ends up with a legal challenge.
For example, the Chicago mayoral takeover of public schools provided a grim change, but was contributed to the actual changes in the tests. A study conducted by the Commercial Club of Chicago found that academic gains made by elementary students in the mayor-controlled Chicago Public Schools “appear to be due to changes in the tests made by the Illinois State Board of Education, rather than real improvements in student learning.” The study called the performance of Chicago’s high schools “abysmal.”
In another city, Detroit voters gave control back to the school board after the mayoral takeover when test scores remained the same. In Boston, some improvement resulted in math and reading scores after mayoral control, but opponents have questioned the methods used in collecting data. Opponents say, studies have shown that in most cities where mayoral control of public schools have occurred, parents usually have less input in deciding how the schools are run.
“I know that something has to be done about MPS, but a takover? I’m curious what happens when MPS falls short. Will they (mayor and governor) give furloughs to the teachers and close down for a day or two?,” Victor Huyke, Publisher of El Conquistador Newspaper said.
Last week Wednesday, Milwaukee Alderman Anthony Zielinski who opposes the takeover said, what’s at stake is "the fundamental right to vote. Governor Doyle and Mayor Barrett proposed that the School Board of Directors be disbanded in favor of a body appointed by the mayor. I am fighting 100 percent against this antidemocratic measure. To that end, Common Council legislation is being drafted to formalize this opposition."
Zielinski has challenged Mayor Barrett for a public debate on the MPS takeover, but the mayor has refused. Zielinski (Dem.) filed recently as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor.
Congresswoman Gwen Moore issued a statement decrying the takeover. "We will not rectify the challenges facing MPS unless we talk about poverty, teen pregnancy and the perverted policy initiatives that have exacerbated this problem for our city’s public schools. MPS is working with a flawed state funding formula that sends our public dollars to private schools outside of the city. … I fully believe that the governor and the mayor have the best intentions for MPS; however, I have yet to hear a credible explanation of how these difficult challenges get fixed by simply changing the way that our school board is chosen," Moore wrote.
The local Milwaukee chapter of the NAACP has publicly opposed the mayoral takeover. "The proposed takeover will have the effect of disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters," NAACP Milwaukee Chapter President Jerry Hamilton said.
"We are opposed to mayoral control of our schools. We think the best model is a strong school board selecting a very vibrant and energetic new superintendent...We believe school reform works best when the educators in the classroom as well as the community is involved in shaping that reform," Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association President Mike Langyel said.
Last week, State Rep. Polly Williams said the mayor, governor, director of public instruction and others are trying to oust Dr. Michael Bonds an African-American school board president, who oversees a school district that is 57 percent African-American.
The MPS Board recently created the Department of Accountability to have oversight of their expenditures and costs . "We have put together a plan that will provide unprecedented fiscal and program accountability," Bonds said. The mayor and governor have yet to offer an alternative, Bonds added.