Students who have been bullied in their school systems will get their own institution next fall in Milwaukee. According to 365Gay.com, the idea for the charter school, which will have more autonomy than most traditional schools, was approved last spring; the planning is now underway. The facility, which will be named Alliance HighSchool, will have approximately 100 students, and not all of them will be gay.
Nicole Powers, one of the teachers who came up with the concept, said that the school would be open to all students who have suffered harassment or discrimination. Powers and Tina Owen, the other teacher who helped come up with the program, told the Associated Press that their goal is not to isolate and to create a safe environment for students to learn.
Similar charter schools have opened or are in the planning stages in several American cities. New York City's Harvey Milk, which opened in 1985 in a church, was the first publicly funded high school for LGBTQ students.