Road to $15 Demonstrates Commitment to Employees

MILWAUKEE (July 13, 2018) – Milwaukee Public Schools just completed the first year of its “Road to $15” plan to raise the hourly wages of the district’s lowest-paid employees to $15 an hour. The plan was originally introduced by Board Vice-President Larry Miller in October 2017 and passed by the Milwaukee Board of School Directors. At the direction of Board Director, Paula Phillips, the Board voted in favor of an acceleration of the plan, moving from a five-year to a four-year path.

“One of the ways we can improve the culture and climate of our schools is to ensure that all positions are filled with qualified, committed workers,” said Larry Miller, Board Vice-President. “Hiring and training our workforce is costly. Retention brings consistency and reduces the expense of turnover. This plan will contribute to retaining qualified workers and is a win-win for students.”

The Road to $15 is one part of an overall compensation and retention strategy to ensure the district is attracting and retaining the best talent available to serve students.

The Road to $15 is a multi-year plan that moves MPS employees who are earning less than $15 per hour to a minimum of $15 per hour during the 2020-21 school year. As of October 26, 2017, 888 MPS employees were earning less than $15 per hour; more than 700 of them are building service helpers and food service assistants.

MPS is currently hiring. Interested applicants can learn more about the Road to $15 and apply for current openings at the Bilingual Recruitment Fair at South Division High School (1515 W. Lapham Blvd) on Thursday, July 26.

For more information, contact the MPS Office of Human Resources at 414-475-8224.

About Milwaukee Public Schools

Milwaukee Public Schools is committed to accelerating student achievement, building positive relationships between youth and adults and cultivating leadership at all levels. The district’s commitment to improvement continues to show results:

• More MPS students are taking college-level Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses;
• The MPS Class of 2018 earned $86.2 million in scholarships; and
• MPS is home to seven of the state and nation’s top high schools according to U.S. News and World Report and the Washington Post.

Learn more about MPS by visiting our website. More news is available at mpsmke.com/news.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.