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Emotions run high at MPS budget meeting
Emotions ran high at a Milwaukee school board meeting as leaders and the public discussed a budget for and plans to address a $46 million deficit.
MILWAUKEE - Emotions ran high at a Milwaukee school board meeting Thursday night as district leaders, board members and the public discussed a budget for the upcoming school year and plans to address a $46 million deficit.
Budget meeting
What they're saying:
Parents and educators sounded off on Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent Brenda Cassellius' $1.6 billion spending plan, which was released earlier this week.
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"She does not understand Milwaukee, and she doesn't care about our kids," one speaker said.
The budget proposal includes adding dozens of classroom teaching positions, slashing administrative roles and a cost-of-living increased for all employees.
"As of right now, this adjustment is already insufficient to cover the rising costs that our educators are facing, and that will only be exasperated [sic] if part of that adjustment is deferred to next January," another speaker said.
Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS)
"We didn't need to cut all these people because of the deficit, but rather we wanted to use the money to fund 150 new teaching positions that we may or may not be able to fill," said a third.
The school district said many of the actions outlined in the superintendent's plan require no new funding and instead focus on operating more efficiently.
"We have a lot of growing expenses within the district: utilities, health, compensation, benefits, salaries, food and nutrition," Cassellius said. "Those costs are going up, transportation costs are going up. There's just a number of other factors in the budget, it's not just the salary line."
MPS budget proposal
The backstory:
On Monday, Cassellius announced her $1.6 billion budget proposal for the upcoming school year.
That spending plan, the school district said, "prioritizes bringing resources closest to students while addressing the district’s $46 million deficit" by directing more money to schools and less to "nearly every" central office department.
Specifically, MPS said the superintendent's proposal calls for adding 150 classroom teaching positions and 138 paraprofessional positions to support classrooms. It would also cut 53 administrative jobs, another 53 assistant principal jobs and slash outside vendor service purchases by $46 million.
The proposed budget also includes a 2.63% cost-of-living pay raise for all employees that would come in two phases – the first increase this summer, the second at the start of next year.
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Dig deeper:
In late April, the Milwaukee Board of School Directors approved the two-phase wage increase for employees who are part of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association. Increases for the district's non-MTEA workers were still being negotiated at the time.
Wisconsin's largest school district has faced an array of challenges over the past few years, including the discovery of widespread lead issues in school buildings, the return of state-mandated school resource officers and the sorting-out of financial reporting issues with the state.
In 2024, Milwaukee voters narrowly approved a $252 million referendum that the district said at the time was needed to avoid a $200 million budget deficit. Staff cuts remained a possibility then, even with the new money. Keith Posley resigned as superintendent weeks later after state and federal officials raised red flags about the district's finances.
What's next:
The school board will decide on whether to adopt the proposed budget at a meeting later this month.
The Source: Information in this story is from Thursday's board meeting, Milwaukee Public Schools and prior coverage of the school district.