Milwaukee Teachers Union Calls on MPS to Reverse Staff Cuts
Action comes 'at the expense of our students, our classrooms, our school communities.'
Ingrid Walker-Henry, president of MTEA, speaks at a press conference on April 6, 2026. Evan Casey/WPR
The union representing public school teachers in Milwaukee is condemning recently announced staff cuts at Milwaukee Public Schools.
During a Monday press conference, Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association President Ingrid Walker-Henry called on the school board to hold a special meeting in April to reverse the cuts. Walker-Henry was joined by a parents group and a student group at the press conference.
“What we’re saying is that this can’t come at the expense of our students, of our classrooms, of our school communities,” Walker-Henry said.
Milwaukee Public Schools announced a plan in March to cut around 260 non-classroom staff positions in an effort to address a $46 million budget gap. In a letter to families, MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said the cuts would not impact classroom teaching positions.
Cassellius said the move will save the district about $30 million.
On March 9, the Milwaukee Board of School Directors approved the plan to eliminate 263 positions. That number includes permanently closing some vacant positions and not replacing jobs now filled by people who are retiring, according to a statement from the district.
But about 201 current employees will lose their jobs.
A statement from the district said around 70 positions are based in the central office and 59 assistant principal positions will be receiving “excess letters” as part of the plan. Sixty-two “implementer positions,” or educators who have a teaching license but who are not assigned to one classroom, also received excess letters.
“Excess letters indicate that an employee’s current position will not exist next school year; it does not automatically result in a layoff,” the statement said. “The district is actively working to retain its affected staff, connecting them with available classroom roles, other district positions, and, when needed, external employment opportunities.”
A Monday letter from the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association to the school board and the district’s Office of Accountability and Efficiency said, “there is not a clearly articulated, documented, or shared strategic plan that defines district priorities, guides resource allocation, or establishes how major initiatives will be implemented, measured, and sustained.”
“In the absence of such a framework, budget decisions are being made without a transparent rationale for how resources are prioritized across competing needs,” the letter said.
Nadine Digman with MPS Parents 4 a Fair Budget called on the school board to “stop rubber stamping this administration’s agenda.”
Walker-Henry also called on the board to hold a special meeting so it can direct Cassellius to reverse the cuts.
“We — as parents, as students, as workers — are really just demanding that the board stop, they intervene, and they actually take action to ensure that our schools aren’t harmed in this process,” Walker-Henry said.
Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius speaks to parents and community members during a listening session Monday, July 28, 2025, at Congress School in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
In an interview Monday, Cassellius said she anticipates many of the 201 staff members who received excess letters will “be able to come back into classroom positions, because they have a license to be able to go back into a position.”
Regarding the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association’s letter asking for more transparency, Cassellius said the district has been working to educate the public on the budget process.
“They continue to want to see transparency, and we’re trying to provide as much transparency as we possibly can,” she said.
Cassellious said the district is also looking at other expenses in an effort to address the budget gap.
“We’ve also done a very deep dive in our contracts and making sure that we’re looking through every single contract and making sure that we don’t have encumbered costs into future years with the contracts as well, not just this year, but future years as well,” Cassellius said.
Milwaukee teachers union calls on MPS to reverse cuts to staff was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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