A current employee of MATC (Milwaukee Area Technical College) living in the Germantown School District wrote what I thought was a well-constructed treatise on MATC that was sent to both the Germantown School Board members as well as to the Germantown Village Board members. He shall go unnamed although he signed his letter and provided his address information, so it is my decision not to name him.
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"First, I recognize that I feel an affinity for and a community of interest with WCTC (Waukesha County Technical College) or MPTC (Moraine Park Technical College) more than I do with MATC. Culturally, I'm not a city boy and neither are my neighbors. When we shop or travel to entertainment, we go north or west but are not oriented to travel to Milwaukee.
I am based at the Mequon campus. As is typical of my neighbors, my commute is from the suburb I live in to the suburb that I work in. Economic activity clusters close to the freeways in the industrial parks of the suburbs that ring Milwaukee County. We're our own community with our own economic base and culture and do not identify with being part of Milwaukee.
I personally grew up with the rural orientation of the 'Protestant Work Ethic'. This philosophy says that if you work hard to support yourself and your family, you are a good person and worthy of respect. If you are a good person, God won't visit more trouble on you than you can endure. On the other hand, if you live by your wits and off of other people, you are due less respect.
Milwaukee, by contrast, is known for a long history of electing socialist mayors. There is the idea that one should take from society according to your need and contribute according to your ability. Since the suburbs are perceived as being more affluent than the big city, it's natural for Milwaukee residents to think that the suburbs should contribute more per capita to the support of MATC than do city residents.
We need to recognize that there is just a clash of cultures in play that have different mores and ethos.
Second, I don't like the arrogance with which Milwaukee appears to have responded to its suburbs and has treated us like a cash cow that can be milked for Milwaukee's benefit. There seems to be a feeling of entitlement to do this and the following examples show an ongoing pattern of this."
The writer goes on to cite the Milwaukee County Stadium tax that subsidizes Milwaukee but not Germantown. He cites the 'sewer wars' and the result of suburbs paying a disproportionate share of the costs calling it 'a redistribution of resources that subsidizes Milwaukee'. He discusses the Chapter 220 lawsuit that 'was perhaps the ultimate insult to us'. He discusses a new "U-Pass" program being instituted by MATC this fall that will charge every full time student an activity fee that includes the cost of a Milwaukee County Transit System bus pass (the U-Pass) even if the student lives in a rural area that is not served by public transportation. And, finally, he refers to the disproportionately large share of the MATC budget spent on remedial programs compared to either WCTC or MPTC. He states, "This is necessary to make up for what Milwaukee Public Schools fails to do in adequate;y preparing its graduates to succeed in the Technical College System". He makes the point again that the suburbs once again subsidize services used primarily by the city.
He points out that part of the mission of Technical Colleges is 'personal enrichment' and seems to indicate that MPTC is doing more of that in the West Bend campus than MATC is doing even though "when MATC did more personal enrichment than now, those offerings were hugely popular".
He mentions that 'economic development' is part of the Technical College mission and cites the fact that any such courses would require Germantown residents to drive into Milwaukee to attend courses at one of the two business incubators run by MATC.
"Third, MATC is one of the largest Technical College districts in the nation. The $5 million that Germantown contributes to the MATC budget is significant but it still makes us a small fish in a big ocean. Our contribution may not be big enough to give us a large sphere of influence on what services get offered and where they get offered.
If we were affiliated with WCTC or MPTC, our $5 million contribution would make us a much larger fish in a smaller pool of money. Money gives us influence and providing a larger share of a budget puts us in a position of greater power over a district; which leads to being treated with greater respect by Technical College District officials and trustees."
He cites the fact that MATC has grown used to using our money and they would feel a pinch in losing us to another district. MATC apparently fears that the loss of Germantown would potentially lead to a 'domino effect'.
He goes on to indicate that while "MATC employees and its Board of Trustees haven't always been very receptive or sympathetic to Germantown's point of view", he feels there may be a change coming on that score.
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He draws no conclusion having apparently simply set out to frame the debate from his unique perspective.
I come away with the conclusion I made long ago.
Germantown needs to petition for a move to another district, and I feel that should be the WCTC district since their center of mass is much closer to us even though there is a MPTC campus in West Bend.
The School Board has this subject on its agenda for Monday evening, and it sounds as though the Village Board may be disposed to take this banner up again if the School Board defers for whatever reason. Time is running short. I, for one, will be very disturbed if the School Board decides to not pursue this action after it has rested on this matter for many months while the clock was running.
