Board Will Weigh In On MPS Trouble

Riverwest Elementary School, 2765 N. Fratney St. File photo by Dave Reid.

The Milwaukee County Board will consider a resolution in July showing support for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and disavowing any attempt to break up the district or disrupt local control.

The resolution was authored by Sup. Justin Bielinski, a former MPS education assistant. Six of his colleagues have also signed on as co-sponsors: Juan Miguel Martinez, Steven Shea, Caroline Gómez-Tom, Shawn Rolland, Anne O’Connor and Sky Capriolo.

“This resolution is our way of saying that whatever comes next for MPS, we must preserve local control, including a democratically elected school board, and any solutions put forward as a result of this process must be adequately funded,” Bielinski told Urban Milwaukee.

In May, MPS and the Milwaukee School Board of Directors found themselves in the midst of a crisis after the state notified members that the district was failing to submit important financial reporting to the Department of Public Instruction, and that the failures were jeopardizing state funding for the district. The revelation of the district’s financial troubles came on the heels of a controversy on the board that led to the resignation of former school board director Aisha Carr, and, importantly, a recent $252 million school funding referendum that was narrowly approved by voters.

In the fallout, Superintendent Keith Posley and a handful of other MPS administrative staff resigned, and four school board directors have been targeted for recall.

The resolution says the district is in the midst of an “accounting crisis” and declares the board’s support for the district’s “efforts to reconcile and strengthen its financial reporting and accounting practices.” The resolution would also have the board call for adequate funding and oppose the imposition of unfunded mandates from the state.

“Those in the administration responsible for the current financial reporting crisis have been shown the door, multiple audits are underway to figure out what exactly went wrong and how it can be fixed, and the school board is taking needed steps to improve financial oversight going forward,” he said.

Bielinski’s resolution would also commit the board to opposing any attempts to “weaken or dissolve” the Milwaukee Board of School Directors and impose governance by the state or another public or private entity.

“As much as right-wing media, opportunistic politicians, and the privatization movement like to celebrate every time MPS stumbles, I truly believe that most people want the district to succeed,” he said.

The board will consider the resolution during its July meeting cycle. While the board has no authority over the school district or local education policy, the resolution asks the county’s lobbying staff to share its contents — should it pass — with state policymakers.

Read the full resolution on Urban Milwaukee.