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Milwaukee Wants to Spend Even More on Schools
Milwaukee Public Schools are looking to spend more and grow their budget gap next year.
The city’s school district released its 2026 budget proposal Tuesday.
The new spending plan is just over $1.54 billion, a bit more than the current $1.48 budget.
There are millions of dollars that are earmarked for lead removal, and there are some job changes. The new budget, for example, cuts 19 safety assistants in order to free up more money to cover the cost of having Milwaukee police officers in the city’s schools.
The new budget also spends more on a per-student basis.
MPS’s proposal would spend about $23,000 per-student. That would cover an expected 65,365 students.
The new budget, however, doesn’t have enough to avoid a deficit.
The budget deficit in the new budget is expected to be just $22 million but MPS warns that budget gap will grow to $145 million by 2030.
MPS’s financial woes will come despite a quarter-billion-dollar tax increase that voters approved last spring.
That vote means Milwaukee Public Schools will have $190 million in new tax dollars in its next budget.
Some of that money will go toward pay raises. The new spending plan includes a 2.95% cost-of-living raise for MPS employees.
There are also some tweaks to MPS’s organizational structure, including changes at the district’s central office. MPS’ new plan looks to shrink central office staff, while also focusing on individual schools.
MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius will debut the budget plan Thursday, and then the city’s school board will take over. There will then be a public hearing on the spending plan on June 17th. MPS’ school board is set to vote on the new budget by June 26th.
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