Walker's budget will cut $75 million from MPS as part of his 8% across-the-board funding decrease for public education, but Bonds says the district will actually lose about $200 million in the upcoming year. That includes the loss of one-time federal stimulus funds and Walker's targeted cuts to specific programs.
Bonds said that, taken together, Walker's budget is an assault on public education in Milwaukee and the future of the city as a whole.
"If you think that the cut to the MPS budget is only going to impact MPS, you're wrong," Bonds said at a community meeting held at Parklawn Assembly of God on Saturday. "If we're the fourth-poorest city now, just wait... We're going to be worse than Gary or Detroit."
Bonds and MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton are scrambling to make sense of the cuts, since they are in stark contrast to budget assumptions from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for the upcoming year.
For example, MPS had estimated that there would be a $200 per pupil increase in total revenue. But Walker is cutting revenue by $555.70 per pupil, a $55.9 million decrease. MPS had planned to use state money to continue to fund 99 math teacher leaders, at a cost of about $9 million. Walker is eliminating that support outright. Walker is also eliminating state funds for school nurses, about $1.5 million, or 19 positions, as well as $3.4 million for preschool to grade 5 programs. Walker is eliminating advanced placement and children-at-risk programs, as well as applying a 10% cut to poverty aid programs, bilingual aid, school breakfast, Head Start, gifted and talented classes and other programs.
Walker is also ending the residency requirement for MPS teachers, which could lead to increased neighborhood instability as teachers and their families leave for the suburbs.
The kicker, Bonds said, is that Walker doesn't seem to care about the effects of his cuts to public education.
"What is most scary is that when you look at the governor, it seems like he has no remorse at all, that it has no impact at all," Bonds said on Saturday. "That's kind of scary that we have a governor that has 100,000 people outside protesting and you see him on TV and it seems like it doesn't phase him one bit."
MPS Will Survive, Thornton Says
MPS's future is bleak, to say the least. Mass
layoffs, school closures, larger classes and reduced course offerings could be
in the works, although MPS leaders are promising to protect students from the
full force of Walker's cuts.
"MPS is going to survive," Thornton told the crowd
at Saturday's meeting. "There will be 82,000 children that will show up in
September and we will work hard to provide the best possible program. [But] it
won't be the program that they deserve."
Although MPS leaders are grappling with the revenue
cuts, Walker is preventing them—and leaders of all districts across the
state—from raising the property tax to make up for the shortfall.
"This is putting pressure on the classroom, right on
kids' heads," MPS Board member Larry Miller said in an interview.
But wouldn't MPS be able to save millions thanks to
Walker's attempt to force teachers and other public employees to contribute
more to their health insurance and pension?
Not this year. Last September, MPS signed a contract
with the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association (MTEA), which is valid
through 2013 and will save the district $55 million in health care costs per
year. Contracts for the rest of MPS's employees, for the most part, are valid
through June 2012.
MTEA President Mike Langyel said that the teachers'
contract trumps any legislation that changes employee contributions.
"We believe that this contract stays in effect,"
Langyel told the Shepherd.
Voucher Schools Win Big
Rubbing salt in Milwaukee's wound is Walker's
support for the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), a program launched in
the 1990s for low-income Milwaukee students that has expanded by leaps and
bounds through the years.
At the same time Walker is cutting support for
public schools, he's proposing to expand the voucher program to include private
and religious schools in the entire county, lift the enrollment cap altogether,
and eliminate the income eligibility limits for students. That means that
students from wealthy families will be able to use vouchers worth $6,442 at
private schools, although the school may charge students additional tuition.
Walker is also repealing the enrollment limit for the virtual charter school
program as well as accountability measures enacted by the state Legislature in
the past session.
Conservatives have an unshakable faith in voucher
schools, convinced that the typically non-union schools provide students with a
better education. But research from the University of Arkansas shows that kids
in Milwaukee voucher schools do not perform any better than MPS students on
standardized tests despite their self-selection advantages. These schools are,
however, cheaper to operate, since they generally enroll fewer special
education students, are sometimes housed in alternative settings such as
storefronts, and offer a limited number of extracurricular activities.
Although Walker is increasing competition between
MPS and voucher schools, the governor would still force MPS to raise property
taxes to support the voucher system. About 18% of MPS's property tax levy goes
to the voucher program. MPS is the only school district in the state that is
forced to raise taxes to support another district.
In addition, Walker is refusing to fix the voucher
program funding flaw, which forces the average city homeowner to pay more than
$160 extra in property taxes to support the voucher program.
"We are defunding our kids in order to provide the
opportunities for the voucher program," Thornton said on Saturday. "Then, on
top of that, we've been given provisions that we cannot tax to where we need to
be."
Bonds told the Shepherd
that it would be "devastating" if Walker's proposals were approved by the full Legislature.
"It's like the Jonestown massacre," Bonds said.
"Where are the rational voices in the group saying that they're not going to
drink this Kool-Aid?"
*/?>
"research from the University of Arkansas", now theres a credible source!!!
"Walker is also ending the residency requirement for MPS teachers" - I doubt any of them are living in the hood. Most likey in the nicest area possible.
Obviously the way the school was run before isn't working. So why not try some new ideas? The writer certainly doesn't offer any. The Democrats don't have any ideas. So maybe if we just disolved MPS, we would disolve a lot of the problems
Why shouldn't the University of Arkansas be a credible source? Of course teachers are living in the nicest area possible. Doesn't everyone choose the nicest area they can? If this bill passes though, our property values will drop to the floor! Milwaukee will become one big slum! The Milwaukee Public Schools are constantly criticized for not working but only because they are competing against schools (in the suburbs) whose students start 2 years ahead of our students when they start kindergarten. Suburban students have educated parents, tons of books and computers in their households, enough food and medical care and much more that our MPS students dont have. If you dissolve MPS those problems wont go away. Instead the same MPS students will be served by teachers who make $16,000 a year and have much less teacher training. You will just see a bigger divide between the haves and the have nots!
Anonymous -
You stated: I doubt any of them live in the hood," regarding residency requirements for MPS teachers. I am curious as to what you consider "the hood." I know quite a few MPS teachers that live in "less desireable areas," including myself. I, personally, am in support of the residency requirement for teachers, as well as all public employees.
In light of all the unrest Scott Walker has caused
we'll have to have a new bumper sticker:
"ESCAPE FROM WISCONSIN"
He was a disaster for Milwaukee County and now
the wreckage goes on -- perhaps he dislikes the
teachers since he doesn't have a college degree.
You are so right, Walker doesn't have a college degree or the smarts to pull this off. Walker is a puppet for the rich, especially the idiot Koch brothers who are pulling his strings! Detroit will be the second poorest city after Milwaukee once Snot Walker is through scheming!
I agree with you on that one.
I agree in theory with the voucher system. What I'm a little confused by in this article is why is MPS forced to raise taxes to carry the voucher system? The money should follow the child. Is the article stating that they are having to raise taxes to make up for the lost revenue or that they are kicking in extra to support the voucher system? Is a kid in the voucher system costing more than a kid in MPS. If so that is not right. Should be even.
I've worked in public, charter, and private (voucher) schools, and I've heard administrators say that they will be removing students from the school, but only after they count the students towards the voucher money.
Choice schools do not have to take in students with special needs or in need of ESL. I know of two students in the past two weeks that have been removed from the school because they are failing and are mildly disruptive.
Face facts. In the 2nd most segregated city in the nation, why has Wisconsin failed to take the southern states answer to Brown v Board of Education? I hate to say it, but that's the prize the Wisconsin voters have their eyes on.
If I remember, when the national guard had to be called in to make the southern states integrate their public schools, the southern answer was to start up a whole pack of private schools. With all the white kids in these private schools, the integration problem was "solved", leaving their public schools just as poor and worthless as ever.
Besides, the only time corporate America wanted public schools was before the job out-sourcing, when they wanted an "educated workforce", just did not want to pay for it themselves (let us property tax paying homeowners and landlords pay it).
Now that the jobs are gone, the last thing corporate America wants is "educated consumers". To sell substandard imported junk at American prices, you don't want customers who are smarter than your minimum wage retail workers.
Race issues aside, we still have a problem. What we have been doing is not going to provide the answer. Not until we find a way to get Michael Moore's top 400 families to give back that money that equals the lower 155 million families.
As much as I hate "redistribution of wealth", I see no other way. Right now, the rich aren't paying, the poor can't pay, so only us Middle Class and working class will be paying it all.
1. To compensate for reduction in state aid, MPS shshould:
1. 1. Sell all empty buildings
2. 2. Sell naming rights to schools.
(S(See Glazer2011.us for details)
Until you convince the knuckleheads that education is the key to success, MPS will be a flop. For every winner there is a loser. So MPS is the whipping boy for other school districts and the cultures that embrace education.
Parents and kids who really care will find a way to better education. Those that chose not to, well thats unfortunate.
We can't resdistribute wealth the the poor and uneducated. It would do them more harm that good. They would immedatley lose it all to drugs, liquor, lotto, and tv infomericals.
Probably the best answer is to disvolve MPS. Then let small private schools take their place. We might have to open a few reform schools for students not accepted by the private school.
I wonder how it would work to close all MPS schools and have the suburbs absorb the kids. Many kids already use these tools to participate in open enrollment, and Chapter 220 both of which cost taxpayers (220 purchases busses with taxpayer money).