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MMAC's K-12 Education Agenda

Improving student outcomes by investing in quality schools 
​An educated and skilled citizenry is key to a prosperous community, driving economic growth and narrowing racial disparities.Despite Milwaukee’s progress, low-income students of color face a stubborn gap in educational attainment.
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mmac_k-12_policy_agenda.pdf
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Executive Summary

Less than 15% of the city’s K-12 public school students will earn a two- or four-year college degree after graduation. The
top ten high demand jobs in metro Milwaukee have 40,000 openings. The lack of qualifying education hampers individual
prosperity, which in turn helps to perpetuate racial disparities through a generation-spanning cycle of poverty.
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 ​More than 25 years ago, stagnating K-12 educational outcomes for low-income
students in the city led MMAC to the position that families should have the resources to choose where their children were educated.
​
MMAC’s advocacy helped to establish new law that provides public funding for students enrolling in independent public charter schools, or in private schools enrolled in the Milwaukee Parental Choice
Program (MPCP). This change gave rise to more quality schools serving low-income students.

Today, Milwaukee parents enroll almost half of all students (45,000) in independent charter or private schools with public
funding support. More than 80% of these students are attending charter or private
schools rated as “meeting or exceeding expectations” on the State’s report card. By contrast only 60% of MPS students are in similarly rated schools (pre- COVID data).
Parent choice has led to improving student outcomes, but it has also led to an
enrollment decline in MPS from 90,000 students in 2007 to 58,000 in 2022.

While this document profiles disturbing trends in the city’s K-12 educational outcomes, it also provides recommendations for strengthening quality schools and improving student outcomes.

The top recommendation is to increase funding for parent choice. Parents choosing to send their children to independent public charter schools, or private schools in the MPCP program
are receiving funding that is $5,000-$6,000 less per pupil than MPS. This funding gap is not only a significant inequity, but it
threatens the ability of schools to provide a quality education.

We are asking schools to climb a Mt. Everest sized challenge, to serve disadvantaged students, and to do so without the oxygen of resources. Some will make it, ​most will not.

2023 EDUCATION POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

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Equality for all K-12 publicly funded students
Supporting all publicly funded K-12 students in the city equally is the best way to ensure a quality education for all. Today students attending independent public charter schools or utilizing public funding to attend a private school in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) receives $5,000 - $6,000 less than MPS students. >VIEW DETAILS

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Raise the reimbursement for Special Education costs
The State covers 30% of the cost serving students with disabilities. This is particularly challenging for independent charter and private schools with lower per pupil funding. Increasing the coverage to at least 50% is a necessary first step.  >VIEW DETAILS

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Implement best practice governance for charter schools
Support the replication of existing schools and the addition of new high-quality schools in the City through improved charter authorizing policies and the creation of a new Local Education Agency (LEA).  >VIEW DETAILS

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Improve state report card data integrity
Ensure data can be compared year over year to access trends in school performance. Review assessment to better communicate the impact of actual student proficiency and student improvement.  >VIEW DETAILS

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Revitalize MPS
Revitalize the important role MPS has in educating students in a city with a robust K-12 system driven by parent choice. Better use of facilities, active support for charter options, and improved access to school board elections are part of a strategy to reinvest in MPS.  >VIEW DETAILS

Background

Many families face complex social issues that defy easy solutions. 
Trauma outside the classroom impacts the classroom.

​Behind only Detroit, Milwaukee has the second-highest poverty rate of the top 50 U.S cities. Of all public-school students in the city, 67% will graduate from high school, 36% will gain college acceptance and only 14% will graduate with in six years with a two- or four-year degree. Amid a city riddled with poverty, Milwaukee has an epic crisis of educational attainment. 
​
Milwaukee students face inequity, poverty and trauma challenges unlike any other student body in Wisconsin. In close correlation, educating these students is unlike any other challenge in K-12 education in Wisconsin. Across seven measures of economic prosperity, Milwaukee sits at the bottom of 20 peer regions. We rank last in prosperity for African Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans and have the widest prosperity gap 
by race.
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In comparison to 20 peer metros Milwaukee has the highest percentage of households headed by a single female in the African American community at 24.1%, and the third-highest percentage of households headed by a single female (13%) in the Hispanic/Latino community. Single mothers strive to balance work and parenting but face significant financial headwinds: Single female-headed households struggle with poverty, with a median income half that of married couples.   
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Milwaukee ranks last in its peer group when it comes to African Americans (14%) and Hispanic/Latino Americans (15%) who have achieved a bachelor’s degree or higher. With college attainment levels for the region’s White population at 42%, this gap is the largest in the 20-metro peer group. This disparity places many of the city’s K-12 students in the position of “they can’t be what they can’t see.” 
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​The environment is equally disparate when it comes to owner-occupied housing. Add in displacement from a stable home and violent crime, and many students are traumatized by the environment in which they live. While not all families and students in the city face such dire circumstances, it is all too common: Milwaukee’s poverty rate is 25% and its per capita income is just over $23,000, compared to $57,000 for the metro area. 

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​Cogent proposals to improve Milwaukee’s K-12 system must consider the environment in which students are being educated. While schools in the city can’t do it all, they play a crucial role in preparing students for their future. 

​The K-12 system in the City of Milwaukee is unique: parents can access state funding to send their children to MPS, private and independent charter schools. Regardless of income, parents (of 114,048 students) have access to a school that best serves their children’s needs. Options outside of MPS, limited by space, are determined by lottery.

Funding parity is critical
Parents are making choices driven by school quality. Some 45,000 are enrolled outside of MPS. The biggest threat to growing and sustaining quality schools is the chronic disparity in funding for the private and independent charter options. Parents who choose to enroll their student in a private school or an independent charter school, are supported with funding that is $5,000 to $6,000 less than the same choice when enrolling in MPS. Left as-is, parent choice will be pyrrhic for thousands of students and their families. This funding gap is the most significant barrier to quality schools.

Running a school through the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most difficult undertakings any organization could face. The results are telling: students have fallen behind, parents are distrustful and retaining talented teachers and staff is more difficult as it has been in decades. 

The per-student funding gap was exacerbated during the pandemic on both the federal and state levels. The biggest threat to students is not the curriculum, it’s the gross underfunding of students who attend charter and choice schools. 

MPS is vital
Historically, MPS anchored public education in the city. Now just over half of publicly funded students are served by MPS. Recent proposals to break the district into smaller pieces show no evidence of advancing student performance. A revitalized strategy to reduce overhead and a right-size their commitment to a smaller student body is what MPS needs to better serve students.   
In this polarized environment, MMAC is focused on an agenda of K-12 education to serve all students.

The power of allowing parents to decide what's best for their children.

27 years ago, MMAC helped launch an effort to implement publicly funded parent choice. Since then, MMAC has led support from the business community for parental choice as an option — not as
a replacement — for MPS.

There’s a success story hidden among all the dire statistics and outcomes: Low-income parents have more flexibility in the use of public resources for K-12 education than almost any other parent in a U.S. city.
The advent of parental choice, and the authorization of independent public charter schools, gave parents the financial resources to choose where their children are educated. MMAC helped open this policy door -- but parents made the actual choices to walk their children through these classroom doors.  

​Whether MPS, independent charter or private schools better outcomes are the goals of parent choice.
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Call to action: Focus on all students

Access to a quality K-12 school for all students is MMAC’s goal.
​
The delivery of a quality education provides a key building block not only for future skill development, but for citizenship. This makes investment in K-12 education a foundational role of government as the benefits are both individual and societal.  
​
Beyond the tragic loss of life from COVID, the most lasting impact will come from the loss of learning that occurred as young students were disconnected from this K-12 education. We can use this crisis to reaffirm a commitment to the equitable delivery of quality education, and to remind ourselves why we support parents having choice in where they educate their children.  

We have the opportunity of a significant state surplus, proven quality schools, and engaged parents to make the investment needed to raise student achievement and overcome the impact of the pandemic. At the top of that list of investments is providing per pupil funding that substantially closes the $5,000-$6,000 per student funding gap for independent charter and private schools in the MPCP program. We ignore this opportunity at the peril to both the individual getting an education, and the society in which they will contribute. 
Now is that crisis, now is that opportunity, and now is that time.
Questions or comments?
Contact Andrew Davis at 414/287-4141.
Copyright © 2023 Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce
All rights reserved.

301 W Wisconsin Ave., Ste. 220 | Milwaukee, WI 53203 
Tel 414/287-4100 | Fax 414/271-7753 | info@mmac.org
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  • JOIN
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        • Ranking Milwaukee County Schools
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        • Technology Education & Literacy in Schools (TEALS)
        • Career-based learning experiences
      • Growth
      • Livability
      • Equity
      • Peer metro comparison
    • Cost saving programs >
      • Health insurance plan
      • Office supply discount program
    • Events >
      • 2021 All Member Meeting
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Summit
      • Talent Solution Series
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      • Global Business Insights Series
      • Member Orientation
      • Replay: The Business of MKE Series
      • Replay: Race Bridge Series
    • For members only >
      • Fall 2022 Impact Report
      • Sponsorship
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    • Need more info?
  • Networks
    • Leadership Council
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    • Executive roundtable program
    • FUEL Milwaukee for young professionals
    • Future 50 Awards Program
    • Networking Forum for referrals
    • Region of Choice Initiative
    • Roundtables for high-growth companies
    • World Trade Association
  • Advocacy
    • 2021-2022 Legislative Scorecard >
      • Senate Votes
      • Assembly Votes
    • Recent Legislative Wins
    • Funding Local Governments
    • Miller Park economic impact study
    • Wisconsin State Legislature
    • K-12 Education Recommendations
  • Economic Development
    • Milwaukee 7 Partnership for Economic Development
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    • Milwaukee Development Corp. >
      • Rebuild & Revitalize Program
    • Milwaukee Urban Strategic Investment Corp. (MUSIC)
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    • Starting a business >
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      • New business planning guide
  • Metro MKE
    • 2022 Navigate Business MKE
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    • Order a publication
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  • About
    • Board of directors
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    • Milwaukee Commerce magazine
    • Press releases
    • Members of the media >
      • Recent Media Coverage
    • Scholarships for minority students