It won\u2019t be long before the needle on Milwaukee education\u00a0outcomes starts moving for the better in ways that can be measured.<\/p>\n
The three co-chairs of Milwaukee Succeeds, the broad-based effort to improve the educational outcomes of Milwaukee children, gave that encouraging assessment Thursday during an \u201cOn the Issues with Mike Gousha\u201d session before a full house of more than 200 people in the Appellate Courtroom of Eckstein Hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re going to see success much sooner than we thought because we\u2019re going to start to implement things,\u201d said Jackie Herd-Barber, a retired engineer who is involved in a wide array of civic efforts.<\/p>\n
Mike Lovell, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said that Milwaukee Succeeds has brought together large numbers of people from many of the important sectors and organizations in the area and they have been preparing fresh efforts around important goals. \u201cA year from now, when we measure, the needle is going to be moved just because there are so many people involved,\u201d Lovell said.<\/p>\n
And John Schlifske, CEO of Northwestern Mutual, said, \u201cI think you\u2019re going to start seeing some meaningful outcomes, that we\u2019re going to start implementing things that will start moving the needle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now in its third year, the Milwaukee Succeeds effort has focused on laying the groundwork and has not done much so far that is visible to the general public. The three co-chairs said it was necessary to build their efforts carefully because of the size and depth of the issues they are tackling. The effort has brought together leaders from education institutions, community groups, the business sector, and non-profit and philanthropic groups.<\/p>\n
Several focal points for the work have been laid out, such as getting more children ready to do well before they enter kindergarten and getting more kids reading on grade level by third grade. Specific goals include such undertakings as coordinating tutoring and mentoring programs so that they provide help that is better tailored to specific kids and schools, thus having more impact. The leaders have tried hard not to get caught up in the rifts on Milwaukee\u2019s education scene, such as differences over the city\u2019s large private school voucher program.<\/p>\n
Milwaukee Succeeds is modeled in large part after an effort in Cincinnati known as StriveTogether. The work here has been housed at and largely spurred by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.<\/p>\n
The three co-chairs used several key phrases often in Thursday\u2019s discussion: Everyone is at the table. This is a marathon and not a sprint. The effort will be strongly data-driven.<\/p>\n
In answering the question from Gousha about when results would be visible, Schlifske said, \u201cThe three of us are all action-oriented people. . . . I\u2019m getting impatient, to be honest with you.\u201d He said he was not impatient with the work that was being done because it was so complex, but with the need to do something to improve educational results as a whole in Milwaukee. \u201cEvery school year that goes by is a lost opportunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Alluding to efforts that have not succeeded in the past and the dismal state of some education statistics for Milwaukee, Herd-Barber said, \u201cWe\u2019re only going to get one more shot at this, and this is it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schlifske said he was shocked when he found out that 84% of Milwaukee third graders were not reading at proficient levels in recent state tests. \u201cOur work is really cut out for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lovell said the low ACT scores of students entering UWM is \u201cthe biggest challenge we are facing.\u201d The average score for Milwaukee Public School students who took the test in the 2012-13 school year was 15.9, well below college-ready levels. Lovell said 51.5% of UWM freshmen in the fall of 2012 had to take remedial classes in reading, math, or both. (He said later he did not have figures specifically for students from Milwaukee.)<\/p>\n
Asked by Gousha what people can do to help with the educational needs of the city, all three urged people to get involved \u2013 to volunteer, to donate, to become active in education efforts, and to be generally supportive of work aimed at getting more kids on a successful track that leads, as the full, formal title of Milwaukee Succeeds put it, from cradle to career.<\/p>\n