Democrats using forced child labor.
Voter drive using kids draws fire
Coalition says effort is non-partisan; Republicans cry foul
By MEG KISSINGER
mkissinger@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 26, 2004
Hundreds of public schoolchildren, some as young as 11, are taking time out of regular classes to canvass neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Madison and Racine in a get-out-the-vote effort organized by Wisconsin Citizen Action Fund - a group whose umbrella organization has endorsed John Kerry for president.
The coalition says the effort is non-partisan, but because the group is targeting minority neighborhoods and those with historically low voter turnout - overwhelmingly Democratic areas - Republican operatives are crying foul amid the highly charged political atmosphere in the state.
Kerry and George Bush are virtually tied in recent polls; in 2000, the state's 10 electoral votes went to the Democrats by 5,708 votes - a margin of two-tenths of one percent of all votes cast.
"They are exploiting schoolchildren on the taxpayers' dime to conduct what is clearly a Democratic, partisan get-out-the-vote effort," said Chris Lato, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. "To spend this time on a clearly partisan effort when these kids should be in school learning is shocking. It's a disgraceful use of taxpayer money."
MPS spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin said the school administration approves of the program as long as children or teachers are not conducting partisan politics on school time and that the curriculum meets the state standards for teaching. The program involves 33 schools in Milwaukee, three high schools in Madison and one high school in Racine.
The idea for the program was developed by Larry Marx, co-executive director of Wisconsin Citizen Action, a public interest group whose mission is to "unite the political clout of its 74,000 individual members and 207 affiliate organizations into a significant grass-roots force for social change around key issues and elections in Wisconsin."
Marx vehemently denies that the project is designed to encourage more Democrats than Republicans to vote. He notes that the children do not wear any partisan buttons or clothing. Nor do they use partisan rhetoric or encourage people to vote one way or another. Participation is voluntary and parents are required to give their approval.
The program is part of the schools' curriculum and is endorsed by Elizabeth Burmaster, the superintendent of the state's Department of Public Instruction. That job is non-partisan, but Burmaster was elected to it in 2001 with support of groups that traditionally back Democratic candidates.
Marx praised the effort as an ideal civics lesson. He likened it to a science class cleaning up a riverbank.
"We think what's going on with the students is just a terrific way of engaging the next generation of voters in the process and developing their understanding of the importance of their own future vote," Marx said. "In fact, I think it's the best thing we've ever done."
Countered Lato: "Anyone claiming this is non-partisan is being amazingly disingenuous."
Getting people to the polls
Students are going door to door and using phone banks to call homes urging citizens to register to vote and to remind them where the polling places are. On election day, hundreds of students plan to go out into the community to induce people to go to the polls.
Ringing doorbells in Ward 231 in Milwaukee's far south side on Tuesday morning, Trenise Johnson, 11, and a dozen of her classmates at Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning, missed a variety of classes, including science, math and reading.
"This is fun," she said, skipping from door to door.
Racine Horlick High School is listed among the schools in Wisconsin Citizen Action's program, but Horlick teacher Allen Levie said the school is using its own curriculum. He acknowledged, however, that Horlick is sending 300 students out on election day with the help of Voces de la Frontera, one of the partners of Wisconsin Citizen Action.
Jim Morrison, the Racine Taxpayers Association liaison to the Racine Unified School District, said students should participate in such efforts on their own time, just as they will have to do as adults. He said there already are plenty of programs and publicity aimed at getting out the vote.
"Anybody who doesn't know there's an election coming and doesn't go out to vote has died, or something else is wrong with them. . . . If a student came to my door and said go out and vote, I would say why aren't you in school?" Morrison said.
Since June, Wisconsin Citizen Action Fund has registered more than 22,000 voters across the state.
Like many special interest groups, Wisconsin Citizen Action is divided into two separate entities for campaign finance law purposes - an advocacy arm and Wisconsin Citizen Action Fund, the education component. Though the staffs intersect, those working for the education arm are not permitted to advocate for any particular political party.
The organization's two groups maintain separate Web sites. Until this week, the advocacy arm's Web site carried an announcement of its endorsement for Kerry, but the education arm's Web site did not contain any partisan political messages.
Bob Hudek, Wisconsin Citizen Action Fund's co-executive director, said the reference to the Kerry endorsement was removed to make room on the Web site for information about polling locations.
"Our members are pretty clear about where we stand on the candidates," he said.
When they go door to door, students are instructed not to discuss their personal political views. But that has not always been the case, said Dave Weingrod, a Wisconsin Citizen Action Fund member who has organized children at Milwaukee Education Center Middle School.
"We try and steer clear of political discussions, but . . .," he said as his voice trailed off. "I'm sure some conservatives could make a lot out of this. But our motives are entirely pure."
The group does not canvass in high Republican turnout neighborhoods because that is not part of its mission, said Marx.
"We are going where the turnout is small," he said.
"That doesn't mean people who wanted to go to Mequon, for example, couldn't go there. It's just that that is not our mission," he said.
Weingrod said it would be foolish to think of the effort as partisan.
"Believe me, there are a lot more efficient ways to get out the vote than using kids," he said. "It takes a lot of time to go through each ward."
Helpful, not harmful
Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause of Wisconsin, a group dedicated to responsible government, says he sees nothing wrong with the program.
"How does it harm children to get involved in political process?" he said. "It sounds like they did what they needed to do to keep the two groups separate with education and advocacy."
Likewise, Georgia Duerst-Lahti, chairman of the political science department at Beloit College, said she finds merit in the program, but she wishes the people at Wisconsin Citizen Action would not "pretend they are not partisan."
"It's a liberal, lefty kind of group, and everyone knows it," she said.
Any get-out-the-vote effort, especially in urban areas, is likely to help the Democrats, said Duerst-Lahti.
"There is absolutely a partisan aim here," she said.
Still, Duerst-Lahti praised the program.
"I am very pleased any time our youth learn about civic participation," she said. "We have this really strange attitude about elections that anything other than voting itself is tawdry."
Tom Kertscher of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report from Racine.
From the Oct. 27, 2004, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
