In wake of being named worst area for African-Americans (bit.ly/2OfA42H), Racine mayor talks about how the legacy of segregation continues into the current day. His comments reminded me of current-day efforts by the WI legislature to further segregate Racine schools. 1/9 
In the 2017-19 budget, WI lawmakers included a provision to encourage wealthier, less racially diverse areas of the Racine district to break off and form their own separate districts, concentrating poorer students in the remaining portion. 2/9
If the Racine district scores low enough on the state's school district report cards, the provision REQUIRES villages in the district to hold referenda on forming their own separate school districts. Voters in the remaining portion of the Racine district would not get to vote. 3/
The villages that are big enough to split off have much lower rates of poverty than the City of Racine, higher incomes, and fewer residents of color. 4/9
Statutes dictate how assets are divvied up if a district splits. If the property-rich villages secede, the new, poorer Racine school district could be forced to pay cash to the new districts in order to meet legal requirements for allocating district assets. 5/9
And did I mention the state docks the Racine school district about $18 million a year to offset the cost of providing private schools in the area with public money for tuition vouchers? 6/9
To avoid this scenario, Racine needs to stay out of the bottom category of the district report cards, which are based on extremely complex formulas that try to measure performance & accountability. The guide to the report cards runs 69 pages & includes calculations like this one.
All kids in the Racine district deserve an excellent public school education, regardless of where in the district they live. Legislative efforts to further segregate our communities doesn't help WI get off lists of worst states for African-Americans. 8/9
More about Racine plan: bit.ly/33SNsjA 9/9
