Back in Milwaukee

Although Peterkin is widely priased in Milwaukee, he has not escaped his share of controversy there. His innovative proposal to set up special schools for Black males has drawn both approval and condemnation. And his decision to leave his post for the Harvard job has generated some negative reaction.

Some Milwaukee educators say Peterkin sold them on a vision for the improvement of their schools, and is now jumping ship before seeing his plans through.

Although Peterkin will have fulfilled his three-year contract when he resigns this June, his announcement came only three months after he had announced a five-year plan for the improvement of the Milwaukee schools.

Since coming to Milwaukee in 1988 from Cambridge, Peterkin has worked to increase community involvement in a school system that is riddled with all the woes of inner-city life. His efforts at reform have been broad-based, encouraging active contributions from parents and business leaders in the community, says John Hays, principal of Milwaukee's South Division High School.

One of Peterkin's first moves as superintendent was to decentralize the school system by creating six districts, each with its own community superintendent. Peterkin says this will allow the school system to raise educational standards by increasing local control of the schools.

At this stage these changes have yet to bring improvement in the classroom, however, and with Peterkin's departure the future of this vision is uncertain, says Robert Peters, principal of Custer High School in Milwaukee.

"It's very difficult to pinpoint just what positive things have happened," he says. "He really has not had enough time."

During his term in Milwaukee, Peterkin has also shown a penchant for gaining approval for original reforms. This fall the Milwaukee school board adopted his proposal for two African-American immersion schools, an idea that had received national publicity earlier in the year.

The schools, which will open their doors this September, are meant to provide a special curriculum for the education of young Black males. The plan was proposed by a member of the school board in response to the alarming rates of failure for this group of students in the Milwaukee schools. "In our experience less than 10 percent of Black males at the high school level had a B average or better," says Peterkin.

Peterkin, who is Black, says he originally opposed the immersion schools proposal because he had spent 25 years attempting to integrate schools, while this plan would encourage segregation. But Peterkin says he decided to back the plan after being convinced that the novel curriculum could help Black males stay in school and eventually join an integrated society.

The special curriculum includes classes on gender and Black culture as well as weekend and summer programs. Peterkin says he was instrumental in winning approval from the school board for the plan, but the interest of the community will determine its future success.

But some political obserers in Milwaukee say they doubt whether Milwaukee's next superintendent will be able to carry the plan through to completion.

"It's such a complex, difficult thing that he's proposing," said Robert Koechley, an advocate of minority educational interests and volunteer teacher from Madison, Wisconsin. "I don't know if it's a good idea or a bad idea, but what makes me sad is that once he's gone we'll never know."

Koechley says both Harvard and Peterkin should share responsibility for what will be a setback to improvement in Milwaukee's public schools. "I think Harvard is detestable for doing this," he says. "Peterkin was a rare ray of hope. This is something that requires a special person's leadership."