Parents Group Concerned About City Leadership

For the first time ever, a group of parents from public district, public charter, and private choice schools came together to make their voices heard in our mayoral election. On March 19th and 29th, hundreds of parents came together with the support of Rocketship Public Schools and City Forward Collective to ask mayoral candidates Cavalier ‘Chevy’ Johnson and Robert ‘Bob’ Donovan about their priorities for our kids, our neighborhoods, and our city.

Milwaukee had an education-focused forum led by parents, for parents, to help inform parents from all backgrounds about who is running to lead our city. We are not an interest group that gives money to candidates, we are not giving endorsements to anyone. We are simply parents who care deeply about the future of our children and who will create that future in our city.

And we’re not your typical politically-involved organizers. Many parents, like myself, have never been involved in politics before. I didn’t think there was a place for me in our political process, it didn’t seem like anyone cared what I thought – a mother from the northside. For so long, my entire community has been overlooked by politicians and the city in general. But when Rocketship Public Schools asked me and other parents to get involved in making our voices heard with mayoral candidates, I decided to try something new.

I have two children at Rocketship Transformation Prep, a public elementary charter school in the Westlawn neighborhood of the northside of Milwaukee. I work in public education and try to stay informed about local education issues, but it’s hard to seek out that information while working full time and parenting. For parents like me, these mayoral forums offered a single place where we could not only authentically hear from candidates, but we could share our testimonies about education in Milwaukee and ask questions specific to our communities. Not many candidates talk about the northside or what we need to do in our public schools. But at these forums, both candidates did because we asked them.

We believe that a high-quality education for ALL kids will liberate underserved communities from the cycle of poverty. And for the first time, we got to put those issues front and center with two candidates, and possibly our future mayor. Parents with students of different ages and experiences shared their stories and asked the candidates to address specific issues in our schools. Through testimonies and questions, we heard from the candidates around issues such as juvenile justice, early childhood education, their own educational experiences, attracting educators of color to Milwaukee, funding, food insecurity, the achievement gap, and more.

And I learned so much myself. I thought I was prepared to vote in this election, but through these forums, I and the other parents connected with the candidates on a human level. For the first time, I felt that my voice was truly valued and important in the politics of our city.

But this is not the end – this is just the beginning of a dialogue that all of us parents expect to continue once our mayor is elected. Regardless of which candidate it is, we have shown that our voices and our communities matter. If we are going to improve education for all, we have to listen to all voices across Milwaukee and come together for our kids and their future. We have to prioritize education, especially in often overlooked communities like the northside, to build a better tomorrow for our city. Our children’s future depends on it.

Ieshia Wiggins is a mom of 2 Rocketship Transformation Prep girls aged 9 & 10. She works as a Teaching Assistant for an alternative school in Milwaukee. Ieshia enjoys working with children and families and has been doing so for over 10 years. In her spare time, Ieshia designs and creates for her custom apparel and gifts business Pressed Sparkles and is working on opening her second business, BreElla’s 2 Sweet Treats.