Lois Weber Adopts Every Child of Every Family

In April, with the facing a sudden $6 million budget shortfall in the wake of a political maelstrom in the Wisconsin state capital, the School Board was called upon to elect officers for the coming term.

The seven-member board turned to Lois Weber as its president for trying times. She, upon taking the chair, pronounced it "the most challenging time for our schools in my memory."

That's a long and rich memory. Weber graduated from Wauwatosa High School in 1948, and as of this coming April will have served 36 consecutive years on the board (she politely but firmly declines to give her age).

Longevity alone does not a living treasure make, especially in a public official. It bespeaks dedication, but in Weber's case, the better word is devotion. Weber made service to the schools her avocation as she raised her only son, Curt, then extended that service to every young person in the system.

"I always say I have 8,000 children," Weber said.

That's only at any given time. Accounting for declines in enrollment since she was first elected in 1976, perhaps 100,000 students have passed through the Wauwatosa schools — and Weber has made it clear how much every single one matters.

"I really care about our children," she said, "and am concerned that they all have the best chance for success and happiness."

No politics; no ideology

Caring for the students is her sole agenda. Weber has never once been elected on a political, ideological or budgetary platform. If anyone ever had the temerity to ask for details, she would have only one answer: "I will continue to do everything in my power to see that decisions are made to ensure the success of our children, for the good of our community."

In fact, she says words to that effect at every board meeting, just to remind everyone of why they are there.

"Some people do community service," said Wauwatosa Superintendent Phil Ertl. "She lives it. It's who she is.

"If it's for kids, she's going to support it."

But that doesn't mean Weber is only a steadying voice above the fray. In times of need, she rises willfully and purposefully.

”I always say I have 8,000 children."

At a recent board meeting, members were discussing their visions for the future of the schools in an open-ended way.

"We were talking about what we would like to see," Weber said, "and one of the other members said, 'Well, I want to know what it's going to cost.' I got a little upset. I said, 'Let's not worry about what it might cost. We're dreaming! Let us dream! Let's get the thoughts out there.'"

Fighting for community schools

Despite falling enrollment, Weber has fought every effort to close a single school in Wauwatosa, most recently a proposal to shutter the smallest of nine elementary buildings. The uproar cost three board members their seats and proved that Weber knew her community better: One of the foundations of Wauwatosa has always been a neighborhood school within walking distance of every household. It still is.

When there was a movement to sell off the oversized and underutilized School Administration Building and its ample grounds, Weber was fiercely opposed. Certainly, the district had been losing money on it — the place was half vacant.

Now, the building has been refurbished and contains not just the administration office but the Alternative High School, the Tosa School of the Trades and a thriving new Montessori elementary school. The former white elephant has become a first-rate education center.

"That's what I mean about dreaming," Weber said. "If we had sold that building, where would those children be?"

During budget discussions last spring, after the board debated the the loss of four teaching positions out of hundreds, Weber alone jumped on the proposed elimination of the district administration's sole communications specialist and two painters from the buildings and grounds department. And she called the respective department heads to the floor to explain exactly how they intended to keep up channels of communication with the public and maintain the appearance of buildings, playgrounds and recreational facilities.

Remarkably, Weber also knew that one of those painters lives in Wauwatosa and was a product of its schools. She seems to know every employee.

"These people are our people," she said. "Those were their livelihoods. We have to be concerned for them."

The district consistently wins awards and recognition for its best and brightest, and just last week Wauwatosa East High School was again named one of the top 400 schools in the nation for Advanced Placement.

It isn't enough for Weber, whose ongoing crusade is her own personalized, localized and humanized version of "no child left behind."

"All young people are not going to go on to college," she said. "We encourage them, yes. But it isn't for all, and there needs to be something that ensures success for everyone.

"Maybe a trade school — somewhere that they can find fulfillment in their lives.

"For instance, I'm always concerned for our special needs kids," she added. "They aren't going to go on to college. But we have to value them."