Milwaukee has an extensive history of segregated housing patterns.  Improvement has been made since the National Fair Housing Act of 1968, but it has been little.  Unfortunately, today Milwaukee is described as a city where people are highly segregated and isolated from people of races other than their own.  In 1986 Milwaukee was declared the most segregated city in the United States.  At that time only 2% of all African Americans in the four county metropolitan areas (Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Waukesha, and Washington) lived in the suburbs.  According to the U.S. Census on Segregation, during the 1990’s the number of African Americans living in the suburbs doubled to 5.4% in 2000, ranking Milwaukee as the second most segregated city in the country.  Only middle class minorities have been able to move to the suburbs.  Since on average minorities have lower incomes and live in the city, they have limited access to suburban jobs and few opportunities for upward mobility. 

Over the years Milwaukee has made numerous efforts to reduce segregated housing in the city, but much more is needed.  Things such as more governmental involvement, stronger enforcement of fair housing laws, more affordable housing, and community involvement are needed in order achieve integrated housing.

 The effect of segregation has led to many costly consequences such as below average schools for minorities, isolation in declining and dangerous neighborhoods, denial of employment opportunities, and racial disparities in mortgage and home loans.  Nearly 83% of the children in Milwaukee public schools are a minority, and over two thirds live at or near the poverty level.  School performance has shown to be influenced by the impoverished living areas of the inner city.  In 2002 Milwaukee had the largest disparity between black and white high school graduation rates.  The inability of minorities to be granted mortgage or home loans is a significant problem related to housing integration in Milwaukee.  Mortgage lending to minorities has increased over the years but they still receive a small proportion.  In 1990-1994 the number of all loans going to African Americans increased from .6% to .9%, an increase of only .3%.  At this rate, it will take over 141 years to close the racial gap. 

One of the hottest issues in Milwaukee’s politics has been the mayoral race that has just concluded.  One of the obvious avenues the media took was the race between Tom Barrett and Marvin Pratt as a race between a white and black candidate.  Often the city’s newspaper, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, recognized this however the cities races often identified with the candidate that looked like they did.  The campaigns and the race in general seemed to be spurred by personal differences rather than contrasts in issue.  In the elections on April 6^th Tom Barrett acquired the votes to become the new mayor.  His experience as a lawyer and a US congressman will assist him in the rigors of the job.  The three major issues we have identified for the city of Milwaukee are crime, education, and housing.  In the following paragraphs you will find some of the ideas Mr. Barrett has for the city.

School Vouchers

Milwaukee has the greatest disparity of high school graduation rates between African-American and white students.  That said, the city is trying very hard to change their track record.  With more than 100,000 students, Milwaukee Public Schools dominate the school landscape in the city. But the picture also has to include 25,000 children in private schools in the city, including the 11,000 who attend private schools on publicly funded vouchers.

The voucher program, the most far-reaching in the United States, is Milwaukee's most distinctive contribution to the American education scene. Its impact is debatable. Some people point to indications that it has increased academic results and parent satisfaction, led to the creation of  innovative programs and provided Milwaukee Public Schools with motivation for improvement. Others dismiss or dispute each of these points and argue that school choice has been little more than a distraction.

With respect to crime both candidates promised to co-operate and not micromanage the improvements new police chief Nanette Hegerty is wishing to introduce.  Along with this new cooperation Barrett claimed that he would like to see Milwaukee’s crime rate drop 10% and would like a reduction in unsolved cases.  He also would like to utilize a computer system, already in place, to display resident crime information.  Within his campaign’s calculations it would only cost an addition $50,000 to $75000.  Barrett also pledges to keep police overtime to a minimum to alleviate strain on the cities already tight budget.
      On education both candidates were relatively similar.  Neither jumped at the chance to field the school choice issue, Barrett did introduce a proposal that would give the mayor the chance to appoint the school board, recognizing the trend of more and more city mayors being held responsible for quality of their public education.  Barrett also would like to offer tax deductions to those in the community that would be willing to mentor/ tutor at risk student.
     The housing issue was also addressed by Barrett.  As a former US congressman he projected his experience with the federal money and claimed to work to see Milwaukee sees their share.  Barrett is quick to point out his congressional record on securing dollars for low income housing, as well as point out on the shortcomings of the last administration to get in on the New Market Tax Cuts.
     Now as Barrett as the new mayor there is a fresh new outlook as there is at the beginning of any term.  However he has his doubters and it will be interesting to see how Milwaukeeans receive Tom Barrett and his ideas in the next few months.

There have been no conclusive studies observing the success of school vouchers, but the Milwaukee program has both adamant supporters and detractors.  There is a group from UW-Madison that wants to begin a 12 year study to determine the effectiveness of the program.  Until then, vouchers will continue to be a hot topic.