What's More Important: A High School Diploma or a Driver's License?
By Paul Manley
Posted on 4/24/07
For years students and the unemployed have been told that
the key to a good job begins with a high school diploma. That
may no longer be true. In today’s world a more significant
factor may be a driver’s license. Without transportation
to the job site, a Ph.D. won’t do anyone much good.
With many jobs moving to the outlying suburbs and beyond
the bus routes, a driver’s license has possibly become
the most critical component to obtaining employment.
Although the State and Federal government express concern
in the monthly unemployment figures, they seem to be responsible
for creating the biggest impediments to obtaining a license.
The government has used many factors completely unrelated
to driving, to suspend and revoke the ability of some to become
licensed. Many kinds of violations that have nothing to do
with driving now result in the suspension or revocation of
a driver’s license. Non- driving violations such as
failure to pay child support, drug convictions and the inability
to pay damage judgments are just some of the infractions that
suspend or revoke a person’s driver’s license.
These types of suspensions and revocations are counter-productive
and illogical. How can one be expected to pay a damage judgment
or child support if their ability to get to work is taken
away?
Additionally, a revocation means that the individual must
also obtain expensive high risk auto insurance for three years
before they can re-instate their license. That factor puts
the cost of a driver’s license out of reach for many
drivers. The state legislature needs to re-think these counter-intuitive
laws so as to promote, rather than impede employment opportunities.
Fortunately, there are those in government that are working
in the opposite direction. Some Milwaukee County Circuit Court
Judges and retiring Milwaukee Municipal Court Judge James
Gramling run their courtrooms in such a way as to maximize
the ability of those seeking a driver’s license. These
judges understand the various obstacles facing individuals
with revoked or suspended licenses and have created a system
that is conducive to obtaining a license. By carefully working
with each defendant on a case by case basis to remove the
obstacles, hundreds of county residents leave those courtrooms
with a driver’s license rather than a conviction.
Another significant advance in providing assistance to Milwaukee
county residents seeking their license is a new program at
MATC called the Center for Drivers License Recovery and Employability.
The center assists those seeking help in obtaining their license.
Highly trained staff members help individuals who are referred
to the center from the courts, the district attorneys office,
the public defenders office and other agencies. Nichole Yunk,
the director for the center, estimates that approximately
two hundred people will be referred to the center each month
for assistance in getting a driver's license. Major funding
for the center is provided by the Helen Bader Foundation,
the Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation and the City of Milwaukee.
One of the major impediments to obtaining a driver’s
license for thousands of Wisconsin residents was removed last
year when the legislature and the Department of Transportation
changed the standard for determining habitual traffic offender
status which had revoked the license of over 15,000 residents
for a period of five years. The new standard implemented by
the Department of Transportation has made the majority of
these drivers eligible to reinstate their privileges.
More changes like those made by the legislature can smooth
the way for those seeking to be licensed and greatly increase
the employment prospects for many Wisconsin residents.
So, while a high school diploma is certainly a step in the
right direction toward employability, a driver’s license
now appears to be a necessity.
Paul Manley is an Attorney with the
State Public Defender.
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