WAES Urban-Rural Exchange Program
Very Successful
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White Lake and Milwaukee
students gathered at the end of 10th period
class at Milwaukee's Riverside University
High School on Day 2 of the first leg of
the exchange, after a spirited discussion
on school funding and reflection on their
impressions and experiences with each other.
Photo by Susan Ruggles.
More Photos:
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In the spring of 2004, students, parents, teachers, and administrators
traveled between Milwaukee Public Schools and White Lake School
District to walk in each other's shoes for two days. They
found out that although their districts are very different,
they have the common need for statewide school-funding reform
and must work together to achieve it.
Sponsored by WAES, the Urban-Rural Exchange Program successfully
broke down barriers, strengthened WAES, and created friendships
and important newfound understandings of different areas of
the state.
The first leg of the program came off without a hitch on
March 10-11, when Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS)—the
state's largest school district—and students, parents,
administrators, teachers, and community members played host
to a contingent from the White Lake School District, one of
Wisconsin's smallest. Four students and four adults spent
two days with their MPS counterparts touring schools, attending
classes, getting to know each other, and discussing school
funding.
The program concluded with the second leg on April 1-2, when
14 students, parents, teachers, and administrators from Milwaukee
Public Schools traveled to the White Lake School District.
The MPS group spent time sitting in on classes, staying overnight
with their new "classmates," enjoying North Woods
activities, and talking about school funding again.
The purpose of the exchange was to build trust between the
coalition's rural and urban partners so that, together, they
can work for school-funding reform that will help every child
in the state achieve success. Wisconsin is a large and diverse
state, and geographical misconceptions and stereotypes can
often get in the way of recognizing common statewide interests.
City dwellers and rural inhabitants are often suspicious of
each other. Districts may feel like they compete with each
other for state aid and fear a reform that will benefit only
one area.
But an effective school-finance system must work for all
districts and meet everyone's diverse needs. And achieving
statewide school-funding reform means the various regions
of the state must be united. Judging by the comments, the
exchange accomplished that sense of collaboration and cooperation
and much more. It bridged the gap between people from very
different parts of the state and built an understanding about
the statewide nature of the problem and solution to Wisconsin's
school-funding crisis. One thing both groups learned through
direct experience: When it comes to school funding, everybody—rural
and urban, north and south, large and small—is in the
same boat…facing severe budget cuts and losing essential
programs, services, and staff because of the state's current
school-funding system. By working together with contingents
from diverse communities across Wisconsin, we can implement
a statewide school-funding system that is win-win for all.
The Institute for Wisconsin's Future (WAES research and staffing
partner) is putting together a documentary video and short
report on the exchange, available early summer. The exchange
program was also covered by both print media and television:
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