The Truth About St. Marcus (WELS)
St. Marcus Lutheran School, located on Milwaukee’s near north side, is once again seeking to buy property from Milwaukee Public Schools. The site is located at 921 W. Meinecke, the site of Lee Elementary school.
Last year, the St. Marcus leadership had elementary school children pounding on the building doors of the Malcolm X site, yelling “let us in.” The St. Marcus leadership and public school privatization supporters claim they have a right to public properties.
St. Marcus Lutheran School is seldom talked about by its superintendent, Henry Tyson, without the descriptor “high performing school.” But the data shows a different picture. This year’s reading results (school year 2013-2014) showed only 19% of St. Marcus students proficient in reading, a 2% decline from the previous year.
This is a school that serves less that 6% special education students with no public oversight while claiming to be a pillar of success.
Even with St. Marcus academic failures, their marketing and political strategies are well funded to gain market share. But the heart of the debate that surrounds them continues to be the funding of private, sectarian schools with public money; vouchers.
St Marcus Lutheran School Superintendent said last year on his blog that “St Marcus is unapologetically Christian and follows the teachings of the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Evangelical Luther Synod.”
If you go to their official monthly publication, Forward in Christ, you can witness their teachings, unrestrained and unapologetic:
On Equality of Women “In order to avoid exercising leadership over men contrary to “the order of creation,” WELS women do not vote in church meetings.”
On Economic Inequality “It is egregiously impossible if you mean that the state can and should guarantee equality of education, income, or wealth. The only way that there could be equality of wealth is if the state seized all private assets and redistributed them. The only way there could be equality of income is if the state seized control of all businesses and The Truth About St. Marcus (WELS) | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:
