First elected to the Milwaukee school board in 1995, independent labor organizer John Gardner is best known for his passionate support of Milwaukee's voucher experiment. But Gardner's tenure on the board may draw to an end with an April 1 election in which he is being challenged by Tom Balistreri, a former high school principal whose campaign is being generously bankrolled by a hodgepodge of anti-voucher (and anti-Gardner) groups. Balistreri's school reform strategy is "short on specifics"--he won't even talk about vouchers in public--but, with union support, he beat Gardner by 1,000 votes in the February primary and could inherit another 2,000 votes from another candidate. While the anti-voucher camp will likely spin a Gardner loss as a vote of no confidence in the city's sizable voucher program, the survival of that program does not hinge on this election. It was created by the Wisconsin legislature and only that body can end it.
"Showdown at the voucher corral," by Eli Lehrer, The Weekly Standard, March 24, 2003 (available to subscribers only)
"A Milwaukee election may test voter view of vouchers," by G. Jeffrey MacDonald, The Christian Science Monitor, March 18, 2003