Milwaukee Voters Reject Union-Backed Candidates

By Kerry A. White

In a hotly contested and costly school board race, Milwaukee voters stunned the city's powerful teachers' union last week by rejecting all five of its endorsed candidates.

The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association had framed the April 6 election as a referendum on the city's controversial voucher and charter school programs. But those who have denounced the union as thwarting improvements in the 105,000-student district say the election was ultimately a referendum on the group itself.

"A huge victory for reform" is how Mayor John O. Norquist of Milwaukee described the results in an interview last week. "This changes everything," he said. "For more than a decade, the union has had a 'command and obey' relationship with the board. Now we have management in...