Brother Bob Smith

My interviewee is Brother Bob Smith, a Capuchin Brother currently acting as President of Messmer Catholic Schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Messmer operates a high school I attended.

On paper, the Milwaukee Public School System is very high performing.  The SAT scores for its students are among the highest in the country.  What is lost in such evaluation is the fact that for decades, Milwaukee schools have had a majority black population that does not typically take SAT testing in the numbers of the white majority, skewing the results.  In a recent school year, four high schools composed of ninety percent black youth did not produce one black male graduate.

Since the 1980s, Messmer has been at the forefront of the fight for school vouchers in the presence of failing schools throughout Milwaukee.    Brother Bob Smith, as well as other black education activists, see the matter of a quality education as a basic human right, and has them in dispute with the white dominated Milwaukee Public School Board.  A recent visit by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to a Messmer elementary school resulted in demonstrations.

In 2005, I had the opportunity to interview Brother Bob.  He provided an insightful view of his struggle for thousands of children to attain an education better than equitable to suburban Milwaukee.  My interview is unpublished, but dated.  I have scheduled a telephone conference in the next few days to discuss events since 2005.  Below please find some of my questions:

1.     Wisconsin is at the epicenter of public union sector debate.  What is the current quality of education in the Milwaukee Public School System?

2.     What is the current quality of a teacher in the Milwaukee Public School System?

3.     The voucher system has been in place in Milwaukee schools for nearly two decades.  Is the voucher system here to stay?

4.     Messmer Schools draws on some of the children already experiencing an education within Milwaukee schools.  Have efforts like No Child Left Behind had any measurable impact (pro or con) on the students you obtain?

5.     Messmer Schools are currently at X number of students.  What are the growth projections, if any, for Messmer Schools?

6.     When Gov. Scott Walker visited your elementary school last year, out of town union crowds from as far away as Madison and Illinois threatened your teachers, staff, students, and vandalized your building.  Have there been any lasting repercussions?