Latest news with #BrendaCassellius
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Schoemann should look at whole picture when comparing between states on taxes
Reading the article, 'Illinois' income taxes lower than Wisconsin's,' on June 29, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann points out that Wisconsin income taxes, whose rates increase as one's income increases, are higher than Illinois. What he failed to also mention in this article is the sales taxes in Illinois vs. Wisconsin. Sales taxes tax everyone at the same rate, whether you make lots of money or not, and are therefore a regressive tax. Sales taxes in Chicago are 10.25% vs. Milwaukee at 7.9%. Statewide, Illinois taxes are around 6.25% vs. Wisconsin at around 5%. It's best to see the whole picture when making comparisons. Maty Miller, Oconomowoc Opinion: Brenda Cassellius says MPS must right-size to help deal with $100 million deficit Opinion: On Independence Day, we deserve a president who governs by founding principles Here are some tips to get your views shared with your friends, family, neighbors and across our state: Please include your name, street address and daytime phone. Generally, we limit letters to 200 words. Cite sources of where you found information or the article that prompted your letter. Be civil and constructive, especially when criticizing. Avoid ad hominem attacks, take issue with a position, not a person. We cannot acknowledge receipt of submissions. We don't publish poetry, anonymous or open letters. Each writer is limited to one published letter every two months. All letters are subject to editing. Write: Letters to the editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 330 E. Kilbourn Avenue, Suite 500, Milwaukee, WI, 53202. Fax: (414)-223-5444. E-mail: jsedit@ or submit using the form that can be found on the on the bottom of this page. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: IIllinois vs. Wisconsin tax claim fails to mention sales tax | Letters
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
MPS Superintendent Cassellius launches listening tour. Here's how to attend.
Braving extreme heat warnings June 23, about 30 people filed past industrial fans in the hallways of James Madison High School to gather with Brenda Cassellius, the new superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools. It was the first of 10 events on Cassellius' "Listen and Learn Tour" that will be hosted at different schools throughout the summer. The events are open to anyone but most of the attendees June 23 were MPS staff, who spent about an hour sharing ideas for the district as Cassellius mostly listened. "We may not have a full huge standing crowd but I can tell you, the words that you're going to give and the information you're going to share with me today is incredibly valuable," Cassellius said. Attendees encouraged Cassellius to offer more opportunities for both staff and families to share their experiences. "I feel like we're overlooked a lot," said Ty-Asia Love, a safety assistant for MPS. "We're the frontline of the school but we're always the ones that get overlooked or thrown under the bus. Nobody comes to us and asks us what we feel like could be different. And we see a lot.' Tresha Patton, a library coach who trains MPS school librarians, asked Cassellius to consider budgeting for librarians at all MPS schools. Currently, schools that only serve students through fifth grade do not automatically get even a part-time librarian — and budget documents show most of those 40 schools haven't found room for librarians in their budgets. Patton was making a point that Cassellius herself and many others have also raised — that staffing is inconsistent across the district. In a recent review of the district's academic performance, MGT of America Consulting noted: "Multiple staff members described a 'haves and have-nots' system and indicated that the district does not do enough to balance resources." Some have called for an equity audit. James Madison — serving a relatively high population of Black students, students from lower-income families and students with disabilities — had more unfilled staff positions than most schools according to February data. The school was missing two core teachers, an art teacher, a paraprofessional aide and a secretary, according to MPS data shared with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jacques Lake, a special education teacher at James Madison, said the school has been short-handed, leaving him responsible for supporting the special education needs of 30 students. Jessica Mendez, Community Schools Coordinator at South Division High School, called for "balanced investment" across the district "so each neighborhood school could be a student's first choice." She said students come to her school from over seven miles away. Cassellius said she wants to look more closely at what services and staffing can be guaranteed for every school, such as librarians like Patton mentioned, but she warned that without more state funding, adding something requires subtracting something else. "It's like, if we did do libraries, then what else would have to go?" Cassellius said. "Those are the trade-offs.' Cassellius said she expects to need to cut about $100 million in her next budget plan, for the 2026-27 school year, if there aren't significant changes in state funding. Cassellius avoided major cuts in most areas of her budget plan for the upcoming school year, though she controversially eliminated about 40 specialized teaching jobs. The budget was cushioned by a voter-approved referendum to raise taxes for MPS. It also relies, like previous years, on the expectation that hundreds of MPS staff positions will be unfilled. Another issue immediately confronting Cassellius is the state of the district's school buildings, which on average are over 80 years old and have over $250 million worth of maintenance needs that have been put off over the years. The issue was present at James Madison June 23, when temperatures in Milwaukee reached over 90 degrees. The school was built in 1966, reported nearly $8 million in deferred maintenance needs last year, and has only partial air conditioning. Only about one in five MPS buildings have full air conditioning. Emily Castle, who works for a state college-prep program at two MPS schools, said the heat is a regular issue. "I simply can't breathe, like I have to wear a shirt like I'm wearing right now and bring a stick of deodorant to my schools, because I cannot, as an adult, even, take the heat," Castle said, wearing a tank top. Sharonda Robinson, the coordinator for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme at Stuart School, asked Cassellius to consider supporting more schools in updating their cement areas to more natural materials. She said students have been asking for green space and a calm outdoor area where they can read. Robinson said school staff have applied multiple times to get grants but haven't received them. As Cassellius looks to improve conditions in school buildings while needing to cut costs, she has said MPS will likely need to merge and close some schools where student populations have waned. An outside firm, Perkins Eastman, is under contract through January to help district leaders make those decisions under their long-range facilities master plan. At the moment, Cassellius is focused on another facilities problem: the deterioration of hazardous lead-based paint throughout the district, which is made worse in high heat. She plans to invest about $19 million on lead stabilization over the next school year. MPS students, guardians, staff and community members can register to attend Cassellius' listening tour at Registrants can request child care and interpretation services. The sessions begin at 6 p.m. on the following dates: Monday, July 28: Congress School, 5225 W. Lincoln Creek Drive Tuesday, July 29: South Division High School, 1515 W. Lapham Blvd. Wednesday, July 30: Frederick J. Gaenslen School, 1250 E. Burleigh St. Monday, Aug. 4: Milwaukee German Immersion School, 3778 N. 82nd St. Wednesday, Aug. 6: Jeremiah Curtin Leadership Academy, 3450 S. 32nd St. Monday, Aug. 11: Clement Avenue School, 3666 S. Clement Ave. Wednesday, Aug. 13: Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language, 2430 W. Wisconsin Ave. Monday, Aug. 18: Ralph H. Metcalfe School, 3400 W. North Ave. Those who want to share feedback can also email comm@ Contact Rory Linnane at Follow her on X at @RoryLinnane. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MPS Superintendent Cassellius launches summer listening tour
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Milwaukee School Board approves $1.5 billion budget plan. Here are the highlights.
(This story was updated to add new information.) After two Milwaukee School Board members switched their votes at the last minute, the board approved Superintendent Brenda Cassellius' $1.5 billion budget plan June 24 without making any changes to her proposal, despite criticism from union leaders and other groups. Two school board members, Darryl Jackson and Mimi Reza, initially voted against the budget plan but changed their votes after the board's clerk raised the question of whether the budget could pass under board policy without their votes, and Cassellius asked them directly for their support. Cassellius told Jackson and Reza she shared their reservations and was committed to a more participatory and equitable budgeting process for the following year, as well as for any changes to the current budget plan in October after the district learns how much funding it will receive. 'I urge a yes vote if it's at all possible, with the promise that we will bring forward a budget that you all can be extremely engaged in, with the community, that focuses on equity in the upcoming year," Cassellius said. Board Clerk Tina Owen-Moore later clarified that the budget could have passed without the votes of Jackson and Reza. After the first vote, the board called a recess for Owen-Moore to check the policy, but she said board members then asked to go ahead with another vote before she finished checking. Ultimately approved unanimously, the budget plan largely maintains current staffing and services — enabled by a voter-approved referendum that increased available tax funding for Milwaukee Public Schools to cover rising costs. Board member Chris Fons was absent. Before Jackson's initial vote against the budget, he expressed concerns about students not receiving services that the referendum was meant to provide. Reza said the budget plan left "so many things unanswered," though she didn't specify what questions she had. During the meeting, she had asked a question about the maintenance of Chromebooks. Neither Reza nor Jackson proposed amendments to the budget plan. They didn't answer phone calls after the meeting. Cassellius said she plans to gather more feedback and make more significant changes in future budgets but had little time to shape this one, having started the job in March after key budget guideposts had been set. Still, Cassellius made some substantial moves. Among them: she cut 43 specialized teaching jobs and attempted to move them into unfilled classroom teaching jobs; she's investing heavily in the facilities department, partially in response to the district's lead-paint crisis; she's adding support for rising numbers of students with disabilities; and she retooled top administrative jobs while conducting national searches for new leaders. As Cassellius has recently heard from MPS students and staff about a range of other requests — a part-time librarian for every school, nature-based play spaces, extracurricular activities, mental health programs and other opportunities for staff and students — she urged state lawmakers to provide more funding for schools. Republican lawmakers writing the state budget have proposed a slight increase in special education funding, still covering under 40% of schools' special education costs, and no additional general aid for schools. District leaders called on residents to contact the governor's office and state lawmakers to call for more funding. School Board President Missy Zombor said she supported Cassellius' budget plan because it invests in the district's buildings, addresses lead safety, responds to recent outside reviews of the district's operations, and fulfills student requests for salad bars and free menstrual products. 'I know she had very little time to put this together, but I'm grateful she was able to include so many important initiatives brought forward by students and the community in this budget,' Zombor said. Members of Leaders Igniting Transformation, a local youth advocacy group that works with MPS students and recently announced new leadership, opposed Cassellius' inclusion of $2 million to implement a "Safe Schools Hub." They said the idea lacked public details. "When safety isn't clearly defined, it too often defaults to control, surveillance, locked bathrooms and exclusionary discipline," said Dan Maldonado, one of LIT's new co-executive directors. Cassellius said she didn't have details on the hub but could share more in August. She said the investment would include new weapons scanners, using artificial intelligence technology, at all high schools. She said she aimed to address students' complaints about waiting in lines for metal detectors, saying students can more quickly pass through the new scanners. The district hasn't chosen a vendor. School board member Megan O'Halloran said the safety hub was a recommendation stemming from a safety assessment of the district. In 2023, MPS paid Safe Havens International to assess the district's "safety, security, and emergency preparedness." Some of the firm's recommendations were private. Among the public recommendations was a "24/7/365 communications and life-safety monitoring center." The firm described it as a "dispatch center" where staff could field calls at any hour and monitor surveillance video across the district. LIT members called instead for more mental health services for students and anti-racist conflict resolution training for staff. D'Adria Veal, a high school student at Golda Meir, asked for more counselors and social workers. She said students are dealing with the effects of the pandemic, social pressures, family instability and community violence. "These challenges are showing up in our classrooms in the form of anxiety, depression, behavior issues and even suicidal ideation," Veal said. "By investing in mental health services we are not just helping students cope, we are creating safer schools, improving academic performance, and supporting teachers who are often left to handle mental health crises on their own.' LIT student members also called for cleaner and well-stocked bathrooms, describing chronically clogged toilets, puddles, overflowing trash and unbearable smells. Cassellius' budget plan includes 20 new building service helpers, who will clean buildings, as well as menstrual supplies to be provided for free to students. "No child should have to go to a dirty bathroom," Cassellius said. "That's just not going to be something I'm going to tolerate." The Milwaukee Equity Coalition, which includes MPS teachers and other community members, renewed its calls for an equity audit of the school district. A recent review by MGT of America Consulting of the district's academic programs noted: "Multiple staff members described a 'haves and have-nots' system and indicated that the district does not do enough to balance resources." Cassellius said more equitable funding would be a priority for the following school year, the 2026-27 school year. She said she planned to create more opportunities for public feedback on that budget, beginning that process earlier than usual in the fall. 'We'll be starting a lot earlier next year because we'll be looking at more equitable funding across our schools,' Cassellius said. Leaders with the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association have called on Cassellius to invest in extracurricular programs for all middle and high school students. MGT's review of the district's academic programs found some schools had many more extracurricular opportunities than others. At a June 12 board meeting, O'Halloran asked Cassellius to return to the board with a plan for extracurricular activities in October, when the district adjusts its budget based on state funding levels. MTEA leaders have also protested Cassellius' decision to cut about 40 specialized teaching jobs — also taking issue with the way she went about it. Rather than just cutting 40 staff, Cassellius notified a wider group of about 175 Academic Office teaching staff that they were losing their positions but could reapply for a smaller number of Academic Office jobs or opt to transfer into vacant classroom teacher positions. Cassellius said her goal was to move teachers into classrooms, where the district is struggling to find any candidates to hire. Union leaders said the move could backfire, causing some staff to leave the district rather than go through the reapplication process or have to move into a classroom. Despite the cuts, Cassellius' budget shows an overall expansion of the Office of Academics by about 22 positions. The additions include about 10 teachers for English language learners and 40 positions to support a rising number of students with disabilities who need special education services and physical assistance. Cassellius said those staff would each be based full time in a specific school. Responding to the deterioration of hazardous lead-based paint in MPS schools, Cassellius plans to spend about $19 million on lead stabilization over the next school year, drawing from a trust fund for facilities projects. Most of it will cover short-term expenses of cleaning up paint problems, while about $3 million will be an ongoing annual expenditure for 21 new MPS staff members who will address future paint deterioration. The budget shows cuts in other areas, including a reduction of about 45 paraprofessional classroom aides, out of a total of about 1,365 paraprofessionals. MPS budget director Nick Sinram said those cuts were likely due to principals making individual decisions for their schools to spend the money elsewhere, possibly choosing to cut paraprofessional positions that hadn't been filled in order to retain teachers. The budget plan also cuts 19 safety assistants, keeping about 266 on staff. Sinram said the district has been holding those positions vacant because it planned to transition the funding for those positions over to paying for its state-mandated school resource officers — budgeted at $775,000. Cassellius is also restructuring administrative roles: trading regional superintendents and instructional leadership directors out for a new superintendent team structured by grade levels and a group of new operational managers. Cassellius is adding leadership positions, including a new chief who will oversee a new Office of Families, Communities and Partnerships. She is also splitting one chief role, the current chief of school administration, into two: a chief operations officer and a chief schools officer. Her plan also includes two deputy superintendents and two new legal advisers. MPS' budget is buoyed by a referendum approved by voters last spring. That allowed the district to bring in an additional $140 million in tax revenue for this school year, and another $51 million on top of that for the next school year. However, the referendum was never expected to fill the district's entire budget hole, which is on a losing course because of a declining student population, stagnant state funding, a lack of special education funding and rising costs. Because of these rising costs, including a 2.95% cost-of-living raise for staff, MPS would run a deficit if it continued paying for the same services it does now, even with the additional referendum funding, according to district officials. They estimated the district will need to make cuts of about $145 million by 2030. The district could face more budget pain depending on federal cuts. MPS' budget plan for the upcoming school year includes an $11 million reduction in federal aids because of certain grants expiring and an "expectation that budget cutting in Washington may diminish future grant opportunities," according to a report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The hit could be worse in future years if there are cuts to Title I, a major source of federal funding that supports students from lower-income families. Cassellius has said district officials will need to make hard decisions, including closing and merging under-enrolled schools. The district is paying a consultant to guide community discussions on creating a new long-term facilities plan for the district, including potential school closures. Cassellius also said she ultimately wants to end the district's practice of anticipating that hundreds of staff positions will go unfilled. MPS plans to save about $76 million from vacancies this upcoming school year — a savings that will narrow in future years if Cassellius succeeds in filling more of the district's vacancies. Cassellius is seeking feedback on all district issues from MPS families, staff and community members at a series of listening sessions this summer. Register at Contact Rory Linnane at Follow her on X at @RoryLinnane. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MPS school board approves $1.5 billion budget for 2025-26 school year
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brenda Cassellius says MPS must right-size to help deal with $100 million deficit
Editor's note: This is the second of a four part interview with MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius. The first focuses on goals and transparency, the third on school closures and the final on attendance and student deaths. The interview included Journal Sentinel Editorial Board members Greg Borowski, James Causey, Jim Fitzhenry and Erin Richards. Education reporter Rory Linnane also took part, though she is not a member of the editorial board. Brenda Cassellius has been at the helm of Milwaukee Public Schools for a little over 100 days and has already faced a number of major issues, such as the court-ordered return of police officers to schools, a lead crisis forcing the temporary closure of several schools, a controversial reorganization plan at the district's central offices and continued struggles meeting financial report filing deadlines. Cassellius, who came to Milwaukee after leading Boston public schools and serving as the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education, sat down with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board June 11 for a wide-ranging interview. This segment drills down into the issues with MPS financial reporting that led to her predecessor resigning in June 2024 after the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction announced the school system missed several key deadlines for reports. The DPI withheld some state funding for MPS and Gov. Tony Evers ordered a comprehensive audit of the system that led to a scathing report about deep structural and culture issues. The troubles didn't end. Earlier this year, the DPI granted MPS an extension on a report, but it again missed a deadline in May. Cassellius also discussed why MPS is facing a $100 million deficit next year despite the passage of a $252 million referendum in April 2024 that school leaders said would prevent large system wide cuts. She also talked about how she is balancing community input with the need to shift to a more centralized budget system to deliver resources more equitably across the district. Causey asked how it's possible for MPS to have a potential $100 million budget shortfall. "It is because we just haven't dealt with the structural inequity within the budget and the structural shortfall within the budget, and for many, many years, we've been accounting for our vacancies," Cassellius said. She pointed to an Journal Sentinel investigation by Linnane that tracked hundreds of vacant positions across the district, examining the impact of short staffing on effectiveness as well as finances, including this key finding: Expecting that around 11% of its staff positions will be unfilled at any time, MPS spends millions in salary money elsewhere each year — about $70 million for this just completed school year. "So if I actually meet the goal of, you know, filling all of these vacancies within our classrooms and we don't have any vacancies in the fall, we'll probably be somewhere $30 million short," Cassellius said. "And so right now we're accounting for about $76 million in the budget to be short for vacancies. And that's just how we've always done it." Causey asked what it will take to balance the budget and if that includes closing schools or going back to the public for additional local property tax dollars. "It's a multi-tiered approach. So it's going to be closing schools for sure. And that's probably a matter of some of these schools should probably close anyway," she said. "And then it's also merging schools. And where we can merge schools will be really important because we want to get better opportunity. If we were to merge some of our schools that are really underutilized and super small, we probably would not have a vacancy problem because these teachers then could move and we could maximize class sizes and make sure of that." Cassellius noted that MPS has shrunk from a district of 109,000 students to 65,000. "So we just have to right size the district. That's not a popular thing for a new superintendent to be coming in and talking about, but I really do believe I've been placed here," she said. "I have a strong spiritual foundation. I think I was placed here to kind of bring the community along and have these hard conversations with the community and make hard choices and still deliver an excellent program for our students." Causey noted that MPS missed a May 16 to file a financial report with the state and asked Cassellius to explain what goes into the process so citizens understand it better. Cassellius said about six yeas ago, the state moved to a different technology system but MPS stayed on its existing program. To bridge the differences, some data is manually entered to allow codes for revenues and expenditures to properly match. Opinion: Statistics don't support UW-Milwaukee shuttering materials engineering program MPS staff and contractors hired by the district are currently working with DPI to provide audit data for 2024 and 2025 while preparing to switch to a new platform that will integrate better with the state. "We have three streams of work. We have the one to finish the 2024 audit in the next two weeks. The second one, fiscal year 2005 audit, that has to get done with a surge team and an outside vendor who's going to be working with us directly," she said. "Then the third stream of work is going to building the new system that will put all the fiscal year 2026 data in that will speak seamlessly to the state, so that now we don't ever have this problem again. It feels really like a relief to have this plan in place, I must say." READ PART 1: New MPS leader talks priorities and transparency amid numerous school challenges. Parts 3 and 4 will post on July 3. Jim Fitzhenry is the Ideas Lab Editor/Director of Community Engagement for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Reach him at jfitzhen@ or 920-993-7154. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: School closures and mergers needed to help stem MPS deficit | Opinion
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
LaFollette Elementary becomes 7th school cleared of lead dangers, according to MPS
LaFollette Elementary School has been cleared of dangers caused by lead paint, Milwaukee Public Schools announced June 11. It's the seventh school to have passed recent inspections for lead hazards by the City of Milwaukee Health Department. LaFollette school was constructed in 1897, making it among the oldest in MPS. An inspection in March found the building had dangerous levels of chipping paint and dust where young children could potentially ingest it, creating a poisoning hazard. More than 1,000 children in Milwaukee each year are poisoned by lead, mostly due to paint in older houses, according to the city. But a widespread lack of lead paint maintenance in MPS schools came to light in early 2025 after city health officials announced a child had been poisoned by lead paint at Golda Meir Lower Campus. LaFollette was among the early batch of six schools that closed temporarily this spring so lead hazards could be remediated. Closures affected about 1,800 MPS students. In closing March 17, LaFollette's 216 students in kindergarten through eighth grade transitioned to the Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning. They will remain there until the end of the school year on Friday, June 13 — about 13 weeks since the initial closure. MPS said that this summer, it will remediate lead paint in all schools built before 1950 that also educate elementary-age kids. It will do the same in schools built between 1950 and 1978 by the end of the calendar year. 'I'm grateful to the LaFollette School community for their continued partnership and patience as we undertook this important work,' Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said in a statement. 'A disruption like this one is never easy, but this school community navigated it with the best interests of students at the forefront. I'm glad we are making good progress on our lead stabilization efforts in our school buildings, guided by our Lead Action Plan. Our students and families deserve school buildings that are safe and welcoming.' According to an inspection report, 50% or more of painted surfaces at LaFollette were found to be deteriorating. "Heavy" levels of paint dust were found throughout the building, the report said. Chipping and peeling paint was found in classrooms with kindergarten-age children and children with disabilities, and in cafeteria areas, the report said. The inspection report also noted signs of disturbed asbestos, which pose "notable health (risks) to both adults & children)." MPS spokesperson Stephen Davis said that, during the March inspection at LaFollette, two potential asbestos-related issues were found: deteriorating plaster in a few areas and the end of the asbestos-containing pipe insulation was exposed and uncovered. The Environmental Protection Agency and Milwaukee Health Department were told the deteriorating plaster was not asbestos-containing, according to historical sample results. In addressing the issue with the pipe insulation, MPS' Environmental Health Services put in an emergency work order to seal the small section of pipe; that work was completed March 17. The pipe's wrapping was repaired to maintain the covering. No asbestos was removed. "The repaired canvas covering maintains the asbestos in a safe manner," Davis said. For LaFollette and all other MPS facilities that follow the EPA's Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act regulation, the district has an asbestos management plan in place to manage and address any maintenance and repair requests. That plan has been in place since the 1980s, he said. MPS also conducts re-inspections to assess the condition of asbestos-containing materials in each school every three years, as required by the EPA. Every six months between reinspections, the school's building engineer checks the building to ensure the asbestos-containing material within the building is undamaged, Davis said. Any damage identified during a three-year reinspection or six-month building check gets immediately fixed through the MPS work order system. Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@ or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 128-year-old LaFollette Elementary School abated for lead, MPS says,
