May 31, 2024 (MILWAUKEE) – With 50 percent of our city’s students attending Milwaukee Public Schools, news about significant state funding at risk due to bureaucratic mismanagement is both shocking and infuriating. MPS owes an explanation to its stakeholders, most importantly the families it serves and taxpayers in our community. The most vulnerable and underfunded students – those with special needs – will be impacted directly.
Just days ago, it was announced the U.S government has suspended funding for MPS’s Head Start program due to non-compliance. While the federal and state government have or plan to withhold funding to the district, taxpayers are on the hook for a massive tax increase later this year.
The school district’s non-compliance with federal and state statutes should have been disclosed to the Milwaukee taxpayers, the majority of whom are working families, before they were asked to increase the district’s budget by more than a quarter-billion dollars annually in April. It would have changed the narrative and forced the electorate to think twice about entrusting this amount of funding to a body who seemingly can’t manage it. MPS has a transparency problem, and the state and federal governments are holding it accountable.We now ask the Milwaukee Public School Board to investigate the matter and hold those responsible fully accountable. A deep, independent performance audit of the district must be conducted, and the results made public.Our students are told to complete their work and turn it in on time. MPS administration needs to be held to that same standard.
The school district’s non-compliance with federal and state statutes should have been disclosed to the Milwaukee taxpayers, the majority of whom are working families, before they were asked to increase the district’s budget by more than a quarter-billion dollars annually in April. It would have changed the narrative and forced the electorate to think twice about entrusting this amount of funding to a body who seemingly can’t manage it. MPS has a transparency problem, and the state and federal governments are holding it accountable.We now ask the Milwaukee Public School Board to investigate the matter and hold those responsible fully accountable. A deep, independent performance audit of the district must be conducted, and the results made public.Our students are told to complete their work and turn it in on time. MPS administration needs to be held to that same standard.
MMAC serves some 2,600 businesses, primarily throughout greater Milwaukee. It supports a globally competitive region to sustain high-value jobs that foster a vibrant quality of life for all.
