John Tao
John Tao was a national circuit debater in high school and began coaching undergraduate speech and debate programs in law school. While pursuing his legal career, he volunteered with the Chicago Urban Debate League. A position opened at the Milwaukee Urban Debate League, and Tao saw “a fantastic opportunity to take everything I’ve learned over the years as a debater, and as someone who has worked with students in an urban setting and apply it to the Milwaukee area.” He is now the league’s executive director.
Why is learning debate a valuable skill, especially in the political atmosphere we’re in now?
I think debate has been an important skill for all students to learn, but, especially in today’s climate, there is a lot of misinformation out there that is being shared on social media and through news venues, and it’s hard sometimes to determine what the facts are.
One of the forms of debate we use is called “policy debate;” it teaches our students how to grapple with real-world current events, take articles and determine how you can tell whether something is true through the practice of debate.
Having the students engage in contemporary issues has the students ground their own lives, so, for example, next year, we will be debating immigration, which obviously is one of the main focuses of the Donald Trump administration, so there should be some interesting critical analysis from students on what to do with information that’s presented.
One of your students recently had a great accomplishment; can you talk about that?
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Daniel Montalvo was a graduating senior at Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School who was selected as “Debater of the Year” by the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues out of 10,000-some-odd students he was competing against. It was based on academic achievement, but also collegiality, ability to work on teams and commitment to civic society. He does a tremendous amount of volunteer work with his communities, and he has been a strong leader for his team, making Reagan’s one of the strongest teams we have in the city, if not the state. He was involved with debate for 4 years, so it was a really nice send off to his next stage.
What skills did he have, or what makes a good debater in general? Is it a natural ability or something you learn, or both?
I think it’s a mix of both. Debate is a fantastic opportunity for anyone at all levels. It requires a lot of outside time to research facts, current events and different ideas and then get it down on paper. For some students, learning that research component puts them miles ahead when they move on to college or any other activity. For other students, it’s all about the public-speaking abilities and how to string logical sentences together.
We get all types of students—from those who are still working on basic literacy skills to those who are widely competitive on the national circuit and could probably jump into political roles and be wildly successful. It’s an activity for everyone at all skill levels.
One of my favorite stories is from a couple of years ago. There was a student who was at risk of dropping out of high school, confrontational with teachers, didn’t really engage with his learning and didn’t take ownership of it. But one of the debate coaches recognized the potential in him and brought him to the debate team. Three years later, he got admitted to college, which he never thought he would. Four years after that, he went to law school, and now he’s an attorney at one of the biggest regional law firms in the state of Ohio.
Find out more, including information on volunteering and donating at, by visiting milwaukeedebateleague.org.
