MPS is near and dear to me. Here's why I can't support $252 million referendum. | Opinion
Milwaukee Public Schools is near and dear to me. Not only did I attend MPS schools, my entire career in the field of education was spent in the district. I’m proud to be an MPS graduate.
A number of my colleagues and friends living in Milwaukee contacted me about the proposed $252 million referendum on the April 2 ballot and the negative consequences on their property taxes. Some are considering moving out of the city or even the state because they cannot keep up with the continued property tax increases.
If the referendum passes, my colleagues and friends’ taxes would increase between $600 to $1,700 based on their current assessed property value, which is why they contacted me. (If approved, the Milwaukee property tax rate for the next school year would rise by about $2.16 per $1,000 of property value. For a $200,000 home, that would be an increase of about $432.)
As a critical friend, my only conclusion is to reject the referendum. Here’s why.
Affordable housing crisis would be worsened by higher taxes
Milwaukee Public Schools is a minority majority school district and a high poverty district. Milwaukee has the second highest poverty rate for the 50 largest cities in the United States according to the latest census data. While the intent of the referendum appears at face value to be good for students, the result could be devastating. If the referendum is successful, minority students enrolled in the district will be the losers for a variety of reasons. Research tells us that access to affordable housing is a major crisis in the United States and that is certainly the case in Milwaukee.
Lower quality. Higher prices. Board hasn't made case for MPS referendum.
Rents or taxes will increase significantly for all Milwaukee residents – not just the middle and upper middle class, and create an even greater disproportionate number of financially struggling MPS families. While the strategic intent of the referendum is to support students’ academic performance, it will ultimately lead to financial hardships for families. The most urgent concern is that the end result could impact academic and social emotional progress for these students.
MPS needs to right-size its facilities, under-utilized schools first
The district has taken some effective steps to control costs. The school board reduced healthcare costs by restructuring plans and eliminating retiree healthcare. They also eliminated a long-standing second pension for teachers and administrators hired after 2013. However, the district has been ineffective in rightsizing the district – currently a consistent theme in our country, with all sorts of organizations and companies consolidating or merging in order to survive.
This is necessary due to a significant decrease in district enrollment from 2008 through the 2028 projected enrollment for traditional MPS schools. In 2028, the district will realize a 34% reduction in enrollment for traditional schools to 52,277 students. This is down from an all-time high of approximately 125,000 students at one point in time.
According to MPS data, there are currently 20 schools in operation with less than 50% building capacity. Another 40 schools are under two-thirds capacity. It is interesting that other urban districts in Wisconsin are closing or consolidating schools before they have gone to the community with referendums.
Beginning in 2012, MPS started overstaffing their under-enrolled schools beyond their per pupil allocation. The district is spending millions of dollars keeping these schools open and fully staffed, even though there are not enough students enrolled in those schools to support them being open. This funding strategy of subsidizing schools that are well below their capacities instead of closing or consolidating them is taking resources away from students in other schools throughout the district.
The Milwaukee Public Schools is staffed with hard-working individuals who are passionate about improving the academic achievement of their students. While MPS was successful with the $87 million April 2020 referendum, it was unable to fill all the positions requested through this measure as the district has a high vacancy rate relative to staffing needs.
New dollars won't guarantee that Milwaukee can hire more teachers
Even with a huge influx of money, the district will still face many barriers when it comes to hiring teachers. This includes a tremendous teacher shortage throughout the U.S. It’s highly unlikely MPS will find the teachers necessary to fill their current vacancies, let alone all the new additional staff being requested through the proposed referendum funds. There definitely should be no fear that any MPS staff would lose their job because of the high vacancy rate and large yearly turnover in the district.
What does MPS referendum mean? What voters need to know.
Instead, if the proposed referendum is successful, funds will continue to be used to help staff significantly underenrolled schools. Based on the district’s strategic plan, the referendum will help support the status quo, not allowing the district to seriously restructure and downsize to meet its future needs and provide greater resources to all MPS students. Downsizing will allow the district administration to provide greater support and accountability to a smaller footprint of schools, including a standard relative to areas such as music, art, physical education, counselors, and social workers that is consistently applied to all schools.
In my opinion and after conducting my research, the main reason to reject this referendum is because it will increase the Milwaukee housing crisis, which will result in disproportionately negative long-term consequences for families of all Milwaukee students. Therefore, the decision by the Milwaukee Board of School Directors to go out to the community for the highest tax increase in the history of MPS and put that burden on the poor minority families in this community who are already struggling is shocking! Especially since there will be a direct correlation to the academic performance and social emotional well-being of the students in the district.
William Andrekopoulos served as superintendent of MPS for 8 years, retiring in 2010 following a 38-year career spent entirely in the district. He moved full time to Arizona in 2018, but stays informed on what is going on in Milwaukee through family, friends, colleagues, the news and his role as an adjunct instructor in the Administrative Leadership Department of Cardinal Stritch through 2023.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MPS referendum will worsen affordable housing crisis by hiking taxes