Key Reads

So, we now know that Milwaukee Public Schools have been violating state statutes regarding financial disclosure for decades. Meanwhile, Governor Evers and his lackeys at the Department of Public Instruction are desperately hoping that their long, dragged out audit process will buy enough time for the scandal to blow over. This is the similar playbook UWM Chancellor Mark Mone is using over his capitulation and appeasement of pro-Hamas lawbreakers and the Evers’ Administration is employing with the brewing scandal at the state’s prisons.

The strategy: Wait out the news media. They will move on and the public will focus on something else.

Time will tell if the political fixers within Governor Evers’ orbit will be successful but we remain hopeful that they will not.

Dairyland Sentinel was the first to point out something that the official Education Reporter at the State’s news service and others ignored. Namely, that MPS had an obligation to submit financial reports to the City before they were then sent to state education officials. It turns out, they’ve not been in compliance with state law for the last twenty years. And while we know the scandal at MPS is within the classroom and is not merely one of sloppy bookkeeping, their sloppy bookkeeping can’t be ignored.

MPS failed to comply with state law for decades | Dairyland Sentinel

The problems with MPS reporting their financial data go back far longer than anyone has previously reported.

Tuesday we ran a perspectives piece that included this nugget of information regarding the connections between MPS and Milwaukee City Government

Oh and the data that DPI says MPS has failed to properly submit since September? The District is supposed to send that to the City of Milwaukee first. Did they? Have they ever done this?

Does Hess know this? Has she asked the City Clerk if such a report is on file? Has any mainstream reporter?

Wis Stats 119.44 Board report. (1) The board shall file its annual financial report with the city clerk and shall send a copy of the report to the state superintendent.

(2) Annually at such times as the department prescribes but on or before September 1, the board shall file a verified annual report with the department, on forms supplied by the department. The annual report shall contain all of the following:

(a) Prior school year attendance data, including all of the following categorized by school, grade, gender and ethnicity:

1. The number of children:

a. Attending a technical college under s. 118.15 (1) (b) or (cm).

b. Excused from school attendance under s. 118.15 (1) (c).

c. Provided each of the program or curriculum modifications under s. 118.15 (1) (d).

2.

a. The number of pupils suspended, the number of suspensions and the total number of school days missed as a result of suspensions under s. 120.13 (1) (b).

b. The number of pupils expelled, the number of expulsions and the total number of school days missed as a result of expulsions under s. 120.13 (1) (c).

3. The number of pupils transferred by the school board to a different school in the same school district.

4. The high school graduation rate.

5.

a. The number of pupils enrolled in each school transferred to the superintendent of schools opportunity schools and partnership program under s. 119.33, as reported by the superintendent of schools in the enrollment report submitted under s. 119.33 (2) (b) 5.

b. The number of pupils enrolled in each school transferred to the opportunity schools and partnership program under subch. II, as reported by the commissioner in the enrollment report submitted under s. 119.9002 (2) (f).

(b) Scores of the standardized reading tests administered to pupils during the prior school year under s. 121.02 (1) (r), categorized by school, gender and ethnicity.

(bm) The performance of pupils on the assessments administered during the prior school year under s. 118.016 (3), categorized by school, gender, and ethnicity.

NOTE: Par. (bm) is created eff. 7-1-24 by 2023 Wis. Act 20.

(c) The information specified under s. 120.18 (1) (gm) and (i).

(d) The information specified under s. 120.18 (1) (a).

(3) Rules promulgated under s. 120.18 (3) apply to the information reported under sub. (2).

History: 1987 a. 333; 1989 a. 31, 290; 1993 a. 16, 223, 399, 491; 1995 a. 27 s. 9145 (1); 1997 a. 27; 2015 a. 55; 2023 a. 20.

This morning, the Milwaukee City Clerk informs us that MPS has not complied with this state-mandated requirement.

We asked “Per your records, has your office ever received annual financial reports from MPS? When was the last report submitted?”

Milwaukee City Clerk Jim Owczarski replied, in part:

My answer (speaking only for the Clerk’s office) is:

Our holdings, per the Municipal Research Library:

Titled “Annual Financial Report”: 1975-76 through 1983-84

Titled “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report”: 1984-85 through 1998-99, and 2003-04. Nothing since.

So MPS is not in compliance with state law. Hasn’t been for decades.

While the Governor and other officials are slow-walking any reforms at MPS, a group of Milwaukee families aren’t waiting around for things to change.

Community members, parents announce push to recall MPS School Board members | WISN

Enough is enough.

That is the message Milwaukee activist Dr. Tamika Johnson and other concerned citizens had for the Milwaukee Public School Board on Wednesday. The group calls itself the Recall MPS School Board Collaborative.

…

According to the group, “MPS’ gross financial mismanagement, irresponsible and unresponsive leadership, and inadequate governance by the elected MPS School Board Directors” led them to launch a recall of selected members.

Those members are Board President Marva Herndon, Board Vice President Jilly Gokalgandhi, Erica Siemsen, and Missy Zomber. The group says those four members have not been transparent over the last few years and have deceived the public.

…Johnson said at the news conference on Wednesday that it’s not enough that Posley resigned.

The group says it has filed official paperwork for the recall.

Debate about the wisdom and efficacy of this tax incentive has been going on here for thirty years…

Take two: Should Wisconsin pay filmmakers to shoot in the state? | CapTimes

The bill created a tax credit, effective 2008, that would refund film production companies for up to 25% of qualifying expenses, with no limit on how much a project could qualify for.

At the time, several other states had introduced film incentives, and lawmakers wanted Wisconsin to have a piece of the action. Proponents argued the credit would diversify the state’s economy and boost its image. Headlines spoke of turning Wisconsin into “Cowwywood.”

Suddenly, thanks to the incentive, Wisconsin looked like the sort of place where a producer like Langholff could do the work he loved. “It created those opportunities,” said Langholff, who later wrote three films of his own, all set in southwestern Wisconsin.

In the most high-profile example, the incentive drew “Public Enemies,” a 2009 gangster drama by University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate Michael Mann. The movie, which starred Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, filmed scenes in Columbus, Oshkosh, Mirror Lake and at the state Capitol. It qualified for $4.6 million in tax credits.

.. .The same year, an analysis by state officials blasted the program as “an unlimited liability” and a bad investment. For Wisconsin taxpayers, they argued, the incentives weren’t paying off.

In 2009, Gov. Jim Doyle axed the credit and replaced it with a $500,000 grant program that film advocates said was too small to attract projects. Four years later, the Republican-controlled Legislature cut the program from the budget.

Now, a decade later, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is looking to revive the controversial incentive, but on a much smaller scale. In March, Sen. Julian Bradley, R-Franklin, and Reps. David Armstrong, R-Rice Lake, and Calvin Callahan, R-Tomahawk, circulated a bill that would grant a total of up to $5 million a year to film companies working in the state.

As we’ve mentioned on several occasions, we absolutely love the Wisconsin State Fair. The organizers do a wonderful job of building anticipation every Summer.

Wisconsin State Fair Sporkies, Drinkies finalists announced for 2024 | Fox 6

Now in its 11th year, the Sporkies celebrate vendors who whip up creative eats. The Drinkies, introduced last year, showcase non-alcoholic beverage creations.

…This year’s winners will be announced before opening day, so fairgoers can plan to taste all eight food and four drink finalists. A panel of local celebrity judges will make their picks on July 31.