University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, October 24, 2019
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Racial disparities in city homeless persist By Philip Klinker STAFF WRITER
GRAPHIC BY MAX HOMSTAD
By having a voucher school status, some private institutions recieve tax dollars while excluding LGBTQ+ folx.
Tax dollars fund antiLGBTQ+ schools in WI By Addison Lathers STAFF WRITER
Rock County Christian School is a private college preparatory school in Beloit, Wisconsin operated by a nonprofit, interdenominational, evangelical Christian parent support organization. The school aims to allow students to thrive spiritually and academically according to their website. It also has provisions in the school constitution against gay marriage, transgender individuals, and bisexuals. “One of the reasons I left [RCCS] was that I strongly disagreed with their treatment of the LGBT community and ideas,” said AJ, who attended RCCS from kindergarten through freshman year of high school. RCCS is funded by tuition, donations, grants and — interestingly enough — tax dollars. Scott Walker’s Wisconsin Parental Choice Program grants state funding to schools like RCCS through vouchers — taxpayerfunded tuition subsidies that help children attend private schools, the vast majority of which are religiously affiliated. Public schools receive a sum of money for each student they teach. Private schools do not. However, when a private school applies to become a voucher school, a student, usually from a low-income family, can then attend the private school, taking the state-provided “voucher” money with them. Voucher schools exist in a legal capacity opposite of public schools, as they receive state funds but abide by a fraction of the rules and regulations that public schools do.
All public institutions must abide by equal protection, ensuring individuals are treated equitably and the state has a justified reason for any difference in treatment. In theory, it should not be possible for voucher schools, since they receive public funds, to discriminate against volunteers, staff or students on the basis of marriage, gender or sexuality. Dr. Julie Mead, an expert on school law assured it is possible for these schools to receive state money while actively discriminating. “The voucher language itself, about what schools have to permit and what they don’t have to permit, may make it possible to exclude LGBTQ kids or even straight kids whose parents are LGBTQ,” Mead said. “And because they have broken no law, they have not discriminated.” These tendencies are allowed by the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, she added. AJ shared they had a friend at RCCS who told teachers he was straight so they would leave him alone. They clarified that they didn’t take extreme measures to change him, but the school obviously did not want him to be gay. “[Staff at RCCS] were never outright rude but they had the ‘love the sinner, hate the sin’ attitude. Which, personally, I fine insulting,” AJ said. Rock County Christian School’s list of “Foundational Statements,” reveals their position on the LGBTQ+ community and features frequent references to scripture for support. “We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary gen-
ders together reflect the image and nature of God,” one of their statements reads. The school affirms that marriage is between a man and a woman, and prohibits faculty, employees and volunteers from going against any of the 10 beliefs outlined within their Statement of Faith, reserving the right to turn away those who do. While not every voucher school participating in Wisconsin Parental Choice Program are discriminatory, RCCS is only one of the many religious schools in Wisconsin receiving taxpayer money while openly practicing anti-LGBT policies. Abundant Life Christian School, one of the largest private schools in the Madison area, also became a recent member of the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program this past year. “We don’t silo God to chapel. We don’t silo God to the Bible classroom. Everything we do, every moment of the day, we want to have our Christian faith lived out loud,” Director of Elementary and School Relations Barbara Weirs shared. The Wisconsin Parental Choice Program also allowed Abundant Life to keep the Gender and Sexuality portion of their Statement of Faith. “We believe that there are two genders, that they were predetermined by God, there’s male and female, as declared by Him,” Weirs stated. “We believe that marriage is ordained by God, and that it is to be between a man and a woman. And again, we take from the biblical principles of that.”
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The sharp racial disparity in homelessness has quickly become a prominent issue in Madison politics — and city officials voiced potential explanations and solutions for the imbalance. Historically, homelessness has been present in the city, but it does not hit everyone proportionately. Despite making up only 5.1 percent of the population of Dane County, Black people make up 53 percent of those seeking services for homelessness, according to statistics in the Wisconsin State Journal. The disparity is happening just as a housing crunch hits the city. Madison is Wisconsin’s fastest-growing city, with more millennials migrating to the state capital than ever before. But as the city grows, housing struggles to keep up in volume and affordability. The Wisconsin State Journal reported over a thousand affordable housing units would need to be built to match the rate of growth. Ald. Michael Tierney, District 16, who serves on the Homeless Issues Committee, contended that both the housing crunch and racial disparity in homelessness can be traced back to “exploitative” acts from landlords. “There are bad actors taking advantage of state law,” Tierney said of landlords selectively evicting tenants based on race — like giving month-to-month leases. Not only does this give landlords greater power over their tenants, but also allows for them to hike up rent on a whim, essentially. Consequently, landlords have more frequent opportunity to deny tenants a chance to reapply for leases, removing the need to evict the occupants completely. Additionally, Tierney examined how people, especially those of color, become homeless in the first place. He stated that in order to fight homelessness, the city needs to fight its causes
— like medical costs. One of the leading causes of bankruptcy in the U.S. is medical expenses. Tierney proposes that investing in affordable healthcare could greatly reduce homelessness because it would relieve costs that force people to choose between housing and their lives. Ald. Sheri Carter, District 14, serves on the council for Madison’s Community Development Authority, Madison’s housing authority and is the president of the board of directors for Porchlight, a homeless shelter downtown. Carter highlighted additional tactics landlords use to target people of color for eviction, such as reaching a certain credit score or face eviction. Though the CDA is currently seeking $1 million to put toward affordable housing, the future is uncertain, according to Carter. “Can we build our way out of it?” she asked. “That’s hard to say.” There have been some steps to make Madison more affordable. The city’s Finance Committee recommended $4.1 million of Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s 2020 operating budget to affordable housing projects earlier this month. The money will be allocated to three affordable housing developments and create about 200 affordable housing units. Both Alders Carter and Tierney, as well as Porchlight’s executive director Karla Thennes, emphasized that those suffering from homelessness — or on the brink — should reach out for help. “The squeaky wheel is the one that gets the help,” Thennes said. Additionally, they all underscored the stigma surrounding homelessness and urged citizens to rethink stereotypes. Thennes emphasized how anyone can be affected, regardless of gender, age or background. “Homelessness is an equal opportunity tragedy,” Carter said. “It doesn’t care who you are.”
WILL CIOCI/THE DAILY CARDINAL
As the city grows, housing lacks enough volume and affordability.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”