Milwaukee Public Schools is under scrutiny for failing to submit timely financial reports to the state, jeopardizing funding the district receives from the state.
Some of these reports are more than eight months late. At a meeting Monday night, Milwaukee School Board members could fire Superintendent Keith Posley or take other disciplinary action against him, according to a meeting notice updated Friday night. Board members could hold a closed-door meeting about Posley’s work during the board meeting.
This comes just two weeks after MPS’s federal Head Start funding was suspended after officials said they discovered incidents of mistreatment, physical abuse, verbal abuse and lack of supervision in the district’s programs. It also comes after Milwaukee voters narrowly approved a referendum in April that will raise property taxes to avoid major budget cuts in the district. Here’s what Wisconsin lawmakers had to say on the issue.
How Governor Tony Evers responded
On Friday, Gov. Tony Evers said he is waiting for more information before judging whether Posley should lose his job.
In a statement, the governor’s office communications director Britt Cudaback said Evers and his office have been in contact with MPS and the Department of Public Instruction and urge them to work together to reach a resolution quickly and avoid further financial impacts.
“MPS is the largest public school district in our state and no one, including Republican legislators, should support the failure of a district that serves thousands of Wisconsin children or take advantage of this moment to pile on political talking points,” Cudaback said. “Governor Evers is focused on our children and minimizing any impact on them, which should be everyone’s focus right now.”
Some community members have called for Posley to resign or for school board members to fire him. Municipal and state officials have also weighed in on the issue.
Some Milwaukee officials call for changes to MPS
Councilman Lamont Westmoreland of Milwaukee’s Fifth District said in a statement Friday that he is “disgusted and embarrassed” by the “ongoing failures” within MPS and that the district needs to change the way it is structured and operates. He said government oversight at the local or state level over the district is “clearly necessary.”
“MPS has the power to shape Milwaukee’s present and future, and must excel in every area it can control,” Westmoreland’s statement read. “There is absolutely no margin for error. This is not a slight against the dedicated and wonderful staff they have; it is a condemnation of the structure of the system and certain key decision makers within the system.”
On Monday, Westmoreland issued an additional joint statement with Milwaukee District 13 Councilman Scott Spiker, calling MPS’ financial mismanagement “disappointing,” “distressing” and “infuriating.”
“While we all wait for the financial division of MPS Central Administration to get its act together, all of the state’s lone school districts are waiting too,” the statement said. “The Department of Public Instruction cannot estimate how much state funding will go to any of them until the financial powers at MPS deign to tell them what is happening with that school district’s finances.”
Westmoreland and Spiker criticized the MPS financial team for using taxpayer funds to hire an outside consultant to “tell them what their own books say” and the electorate for “barely… bothering to show up” to vote in the election. spring when school board members are on the ballot. The statement also criticized Evers’ office for not sharing MPS financial reporting issues with voters before the April 2 election.
City Forward Collective CEO Colleston Morgan Jr. also issued a statement. Morgan said he was “dismayed, though not surprised” that concerns about financial reporting that he said CFC has been “expressing since the beginning of the year” had come to light.
“School Board members voted last night to delay approval of next year’s budget, convened a public hearing Monday night and pledged to quickly create a plan to bring the district back into compliance with state financial reporting laws. “said Morgan’s statement on Friday. “These are appropriate first steps, but they are woefully insufficient to rebuild public trust in the district.”
He urged DPI, MPS and school board members to provide the public with a “comprehensive and transparent” timeline for reporting violations and an explanation of why these violations were hidden from the public during MPS’s district referendum campaign. Additionally, Morgan supported an independent forensic audit with a full public report.
Republicans weigh in on controversy over MPS financial reports
Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) also issued a statement Friday calling for an independent audit to be made public and criticizing MPS’ financial mismanagement following the passage of the referendum.
“A few weeks ago, the district requested and received hundreds of millions of dollars from Milwaukee taxpayers. It claimed those funds were essential to continue operating, but now we learn that there is obvious and significant mismanagement in the functions district,” Hutton said. “The Board and Superintendent must be held accountable for the misuse of taxpayer funds and must respond to the residents who now pay those taxes.”
On The Dan O’Donnell Show on Monday, conservative radio host Dan O’Donnell said multiple sources told him that Posley and MPS Chief Financial Officer Martha Kreitzman will “almost certainly” be fired tonight. O’Donnell called MPS a “deeply problematic institution” and “quite possibly the worst public or private institution in the state of Wisconsin.” He suggested dividing MPS into smaller districts or giving “every student” a school choice voucher.
Further:MPS could have funding cut off after failing to file financial reports with state
Further:Here’s what could happen next if MPS Superintendent Keith Posley loses his job
Journal Sentinel reporters Rory Linnane and Hope Karnopp contributed to this report.
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