Ladies & Gentlemen:
I reside in the 3rd District, at 1225 E. Wright St., #1. I wish to enter the following testimony into the record of the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee for June 5, 2012.
On the evening of May 30, I attended the meeting of interested parties inside the antique company at 12th and Pierce. It was possible that evening to sense that the owner of the property is a partisan of schools other than regular MPS schools. It was also possible to sense that he arrived at that view out of expediency rather than principle. There�s money to be made from new startup schools. That�s part of their allure. It�s why so many hedge fund managers have gotten involved.
But the primary reason people start voucher and charter schools in Milwaukee is still their belief that the schools will be superior to Milwaukee Public Schools. Voucher and charter advocates, whether for individual schools or for the entire movement, claim that their schools are indeed better than MPS. However, a facility that lacks adequate outdoor land for play or athletics, which is true at 12th and Pierce, is missing a key element, especially as we consider (a) the brain-based research demonstrating that large motor (neuro-muscular) exercise boosts kids� capacity to learn, and (b) the highly disturbing trend in childhood obesity today. Unfortunately, it appears that the large motor exercise at 12th and Pierce would occur mainly under the hoods of the trucks that rumble by. Please reject the proposed zoning change/variance.
Sincerely,
Larry Hoffman, Ph.D.