When faced with failure, some make excuses. Some duck responsibility. Some just look the other way.
Any elected official or civic leader who takes any of those three approaches to the scandal within the state’s largest school district should look for another line of work.
As bad as you imagine the problems at Milwaukee’s Public Schools are, they are probably much worse. This scandal is not one of sloppy accounting, but rather a decades-long, system-wide failure to serve students and taxpayers.
The more news that is uncovered, the worse it looks. While the press and many of the culpable adults turn the focus solely on the lack of financial transparency, we’re determined to keep the focus on the lack of performance at the classroom level. The bureaucrats and their allies in the press are focusing on paper pushing and ignoring the real tragedy that has left hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin kids under-served and outright abandoned. To date, most of the press coverage is akin to finding a mass grave and then focusing on the fact that the perpetrators violated zoning and permitting laws.
The focus has to be reset onto the kids.
New MPS draft plan released: Will take months for district to dig out of financial crisis | CBS 58
Fixing the MPS financial crisis will likely take months, according to a new draft plan released by the state’s Department of Public Instruction Tuesday afternoon, June 11.
The long-awaited Corrective Action Plan details hundreds of steps needed to fix a problem that is costing the district -and students- millions of dollars.
It also says CFO Martha Kreitzman is on her way out.
The CAP is not only a roadmap out of the crisis, it is also a detailed explanation of how the district got here in the first place.
It portrays a finance department in disarray: employees with limited experience, several unfilled positions, a lack of training, incompatible computer systems, and a lot of human error.
This CAP is 25 pages long and includes other timelines and charts.
And the timelines released show it will take months to get back on track.
Real change doesn’t involve new accounting methods, but a top to bottom dismantling and reimagining of how public school kids in Milwaukee are educated. But it would compound the tragedy if we waited years to begin to implement the needed changes. This is a crisis. You don’t wait on a two year review to begin to address a crisis.
Unbeknownst to many, the City of Milwaukee actually can play a role here. Frankly, past City leaders have been asleep at the switch. Here’s hoping today’s crop of local elected officials rise to the occasion
City of Milwaukee has more skin in MPS battle than press and public realize | A Dairyland Sentinel Perspective
As Dairyland Sentinel and others reported on Monday, Milwaukee Common Council member Scott Spiker held a news conference wherein he demanded that the board members of the Milwaukee Public School district either hold a public hearing with public testimony this week on their budget, or collectively resign their positions
“A city alderman has absolutely nothing to do with public schools. His ideas are the same as mine and yours,” Hess sneered on the social media platform X.
Not so fast. The dysfunction and size of MPS are not the only things that set it apart from other school districts. MPS and the City have a special relationship in several different ways, as written in state statutes, Chapters 17 and 119. Chapter 119 specifically lays out the rules governing a First Class City School District. Milwaukee is the only city with a large enough population to be designated as a first class city.
For example, the City Attorney is actually the attorney of record for MPS.
MPS must file an annual fiscal report to the City of Milwaukee.
Finally, it can be argued that the City of Milwaukee Common Council could remove the board by a 3/4th vote.
So, in fact, a City of Milwaukee Alderman absolutely does have something to do with MPS…
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?
But can the Common Council really remove members of the MPS Board? It’s a plausible argument…So maybe everyone, including the press, should pay a little more attention to what a City of Milwaukee Common Council member has to say regarding MPS.
This would be very cool, pun intended. Plus, at least the old stadium will witness some athletic excellence for a change…
Wisconsin hockey teams to play at Wrigley Field next season, sources say | Badger Extra
Both Wisconsin hockey teams are part of a Big Ten endeavor focused on playing games at Wrigley Field after the venerable home of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs hosts the NHL Winter Classic in the upcoming season.
The conference hasn’t announced details but the plans being discussed, sources said, include three Big Ten men’s hockey games and one women’s hockey contest involving Big Ten schools Wisconsin and Ohio State.
…The men’s teams involved, sources said, include Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State. Minnesota is the odd one out from the seven-team men’s hockey conference.
Dates for the games haven’t been confirmed but are likely in the first days of January 2025.
This is a promising tone set by UW System president Jay Rothman.
UW president promises new focus on free speech, civil dialogue | The Center Square
The new free speech lessons for the University of Wisconsin’s next freshman class will not just be about speaking your mind.
UW President Jay Rothman told regents during meeting in Milwaukee he is planning a new curriculum for new students about both sides of the right to freedom of speech.
“This fall, all incoming freshmen students will learn more about freedom of expression and about the rights and responsibilities associated with the First Amendment,” Rothman said. “This provides the foundation for any subsequent discussion and debate on a number of possibly contentious topics.”
Rothman said the UW needs to reevaluate what free speech on campus means, particularly after the pro-Palestinian protests that played out at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee.
Rothman has been clear the university supports the right to protest on campus. But he’s been equally clear the UW cannot, and will not in the future, allow anyone to break the law or silence other students.
“Over the last month or so, a number of our campuses have had demonstrations in reaction to the ongoing situation in the Middle East,” Rothman explained. “Through this the Universities of Wisconsin remain committed to upholding free speech rights, while simultaneously upholding the law, and our mission to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of our students.”
Taxpayers deserve a better return for their investment at all levels of public education in Wisconsin. Failures at the UW System and at MPS impact more than those communities, the problems permeate communities and impact public sector budgets and private sector operations throughout the state.
That’s why we’ll continue to cover these areas and more at Dairyland Sentinel. We love this state, our culture, our heritage, and the vibrant communities across Wisconsin. We love it and care enough about it to want it to be the best it can be.
We don’t accept systemic failures, and we expose those who do.
