Teachers and administrators in Milwaukee Public Schools are more than twice as likely to have to call the police in their classrooms than staff in the city’s voucher and independent charter schools. Read More Data Shows That MPS Schools More Likely to See Violent Crimes Than 2R Charters, Voucher Schools
St. Marcus School, a voucher school, is interested in spending between $5-8 million to develop a second campus for students in grades K-3. The institution – which currently holds a waiting list to get into its K-8 campus – had previously been thwarted from expanding when the city decided to sell the vacant Malcolm X building to a private developer. Read More Manufactured Controversy Over Potential Sale of Vacant MPS School Will Only Serve to Hurt Students
Banning soda and other sugary drinks from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) would result in 240,000 fewer diabetes cases in adults and over 140,000 fewer obese children, according to a new study from Stanford. Read More Stanford Study: Sugary Drink Ban for Food Stamps Would Cut Obesity and Diabetes Rates Among the Poor
More than 86 percent of students in Milwaukee’s non-instrumentality charter schools come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds – the highest concentration of any type of public school in Brew City. However, that concentration of traditionally difficult to educate students didn’t stop these schools from having a higher average School Report Card grade than the Milwaukee Public School average in 2012-2013. Read More MPS’s Non-Instrumentality Charter Schools Post Higher Report Card Scores, Lower Reading/Math Results on State Tests
More than 86 percent of students in Milwaukee’s non-instrumentality charter schools come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds – the highest concentration of any type of public school in Brew City. However, that concentration of traditionally difficult to educate students didn’t stop these schools from having a higher average School Report Card grade than the Milwaukee Public School average in 2012-2013. Read More MPS’s Non-Instrumentality Charter Schools Post Higher Report Card Scores, Lower Reading/Math Results on State Tests
Gregory Thornton helped glean some modest improvements in his four years in Milwaukee, but his power to make sweeping changes was ultimately limited. He was forced to deal with obstacles from the state government, city councils, and his own teachers’ union. Read More Gregory Thornton Leaves MPS after 4 Years of Limited Success
MacIver News Service – Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-West Allis) introduced SB 318 and AB 417 back in October. The Assembly Committee on State Affairs and Government Operations took up AB 417 at an informational hearing on Wednesday. The bill would put restrictions on the sale of MPS buildings. Read More Restrictions on Who Can Buy Old MPS Buildings Considered
MacIver News Service – Milwaukee Public Schools seems to be worried a bad deal could get even worse if the public knew the inside details of conversations leading up to the sale of the Malcolm X building, according to the Office of Board Governance. Read More MPS Denies MacIver’s Open Records Request on Malcolm X Sale
It is appalling that MPS would go this far to keep school choice from expanding in Milwaukee. This shady deal shows that the state’s largest school district cannot be a good steward of taxpayer money. The Milwaukee Common Council cannot, in good faith, approve this sale. Let’s hope Mayor Barrett and Common Council President Willie Hines act like grown-ups and tell MPS no. Read More MPS Should be Ashamed of the Malcolm X Boondoggle
MacIver News Service – The sale of vacant school facilities operated by MPS could see changes under a new bill that had a public hearing on Wednesday. Senate Bill 318, introduced by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), would ensure that Milwaukee Public Schools routinely provide a list of the buildings that are currently available for sale and would require those buildings to be offered for sale to only educational organizations for the first 48 months. Read More Sale of MPS Schools Debated by Legislators, Local Stakeholders