Strapped Milwaukee schools want state takeover

Milwaukee’s deficit-plagued public schools were in the news again when Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle called for “a complete evaluation of exactly where” the city’s school system is before taking state action to better Milwaukee school funding or change the school system’s governance. Doyle’s remarks came in response to a vote by the independent Milwaukee school board’s executive committee to dissolve the district and leave responsibility for running schools to the state.

“I don’t see the Milwaukee Public Schools system dissolving,” Mayor Tom Barrett said, “and I think parents should know that. I don’t want parents to think that somehow their schools are going to be changed overnight in some dramatic fashion.” He added that the vote sends “a very, very strong message to [the state capital of] Madison that this is a system that is under a lot of stress.”

Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent William Andrekopoulos said a decline in the percentage of state aid going to the city was key to the current financial problem. Some board members have discussed suing the state for more money, while others are pushing for a property tax hike of at least 10 percent.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sept. 19