The YW Community Education Center, a K-8 school that would be run by the YWCA of Greater Milwaukee. The school initially would serve 120 children in kindergarten through fourth grade and add one grade each year to Grade 8. The City of Milwaukee is also considering granting a charter school contract to the YWCA, which could compel the group to choose between the two in the next few weeks. The Common Council is expected to vote on sponsoring two charter schools for 1999-2000 later this month. The three schools recommended by UWM would be the university's first leap into the charter school movement after studying the situation for 18 months.
Charter schools are public schools that operate independently of public school systems.
In Milwaukee, charters may be sponsored by the Milwaukee Public Schools, the Common Council, UWM, and Milwaukee Area Technical College. MPS sponsors one charter school, and the Common Council three. MATC has elected not to sponsor charter schools. The company, founded by entrepreneur Chris Whittle, operates 51 schools nationwide serving 24,000 students. The notion of schools operating at a profit is a hot-button issue all over the country.