Reading, Writing, Roulette (cont.)

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DLH is named after Christian Faith Fellowship's copastor, Darrell L. Hines, who in 1996 moved his now--5,000-member congregation from Brenda Gordon's neighborhood. Hines, affectionately known as Pastor Darrell among his worshippers, leads the congregation, one of the largest predominantly Black churches in the state, with his wife, Pamela, also known as Pastor Pam. Pastor Darrell says the members' tithes paid for the $2.5 million school, which was completed in spring 1999 and opened that fall. "Our hope is to start with kids at a young age and give them principles to grow up with," he says.

Taxpayer-funded vouchers account for more than 80 percent of the student body's tuition at DLH, so the school would be hard-pressed to operate without vouchers. (Many kids come from rougher parts of town, and few students are members of the church.) Nefataria and Dempsey are together in Mrs. Pate's class of first and second graders, and today, the students in their crisp blue-and-white uniforms are talking about freedom of the press. Down the hall, a group of kindergartners is learning how to use maps. Horton shows off the spacious cafeteria, the gym with a regulation-size basketball court and the preschool on the first floor. Just three of her teachers are board-certified, a requirement of all public-school teachers but not of private ones. "They're working on it," Horton says of the two uncertified faculty members. But how much does certification matter? Some critics argue that bad teachers who are certified have been the bane of public schools for years.

With its 109 students in space meant for 190, library with a computer center and about 20 students per teacher, DLH seems like an educator's paradise. To Tracy Laster, a certified kindergarten teacher, it is. For seven years Laster taught in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), specializing in working with "at-risk" children. "It was like a war zone," remembers Laster, who has a master's degree in education. "The day I found myself wrestling a 10-year-old down to the ground to keep her from hurting someone was the day I decided to leave." She gave up the public schools' teachers contract and its larger benefits package and salary for "peace of mind, and an administration and classroom that are conducive to teaching."

Horton also came from the public schools. She'd spent three years in high-level human-resources jobs and was at one point acting deputy superintendent of Milwaukee's system. After losing a bitter struggle for the superintendent's post, she was approached by Hines, her pastor of four years, to head his faith-based school. "I want the children here to have what I'd want my children to have," she says. "Everybody knows what's happening with MPS. Failure is failure."

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