2019 → ← 2015
Milwaukee Public Schools Elections
General election date
April 4, 2017
Enrollment (14-15)
77,316 students

Four of the nine seats on the Milwaukee Public Schools Board of School Directors were up for general election on April 4, 2017. In her bid for re-election to District 4, incumbent Annie Woodward defeated challenger Aisha Carr. In District 5, incumbent Larry Miller defeated challenger Kahri Phelps Okoro. District 6 incumbent Tatiana Joseph and District 7 incumbent Claire Zautke did not file to run for re-election, leaving both seats open for newcomers. Tony Baez and Jonatan Zuñiga ran for the District 6 seat, and Joey Balistreri and Paula Phillips ran for the District 7 seat. Baez and Phillips won election to the board.^[1][2]

Carr and Zuñiga were promoted by the group Leaders for a Better Community (LBC), which was started by Sherwin Hughes, a political consultant and radio personality on the Milwaukee station WNOV. In the past, Hughes supported publicly-funded voucher schools. In March 2017, LBC released an online campaign ad featuring the image of Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver, which they were asked to take down by the school board. The board said that Driver had not endorsed anyone in the race. Days after the ad was released, Carr was suspended from her position as a teacher in the district by school administration due to a field trip policy violation. Carr said she believed the suspension was politically motivated, but the school district said suspensions were only issued for "a serious violation of board policy or procedure." Both Carr and Zuñiga said they had nothing to do with the ad that featured Driver, and they both said they were not advocates of school choice or voucher schools.

The struggle between public school advocates and school choice and voucher advocates in Milwaukee was highlighted in other district issues. A private voucher school filed a lawsuit against Milwaukee Public Schools in federal court in March 2017 over transportation costs, and a study released in 2017 by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which agreed to represent the private voucher school suing the district over transportation costs, said that the city of Milwaukee had violated a state law to expedite the sale of empty buildings in Milwaukee Public Schools. A number of voucher schools had contacted the district in the past to buy the surplus buildings. The Milwaukee Department of City Development asserted that the city was following the law and said that the study was misleading.

With two candidates running for each seat on the ballot, the 2017 school board election differed from the district's previous elections. At least half the seats up for election in 2013 and 2015 featured uncontested candidates. Click here for more election trends. The two incumbents who ran for re-election in 2017 represented different governing factions on the board, according to a Ballotpedia study of the board's voting patterns in meeting minutes. From 2015 to 2016, Miller was part of a five-member majority faction, and Woodward was part of a two-member minority faction. Zautke, who did not file to retain her District 7 seat, was also a member of the majority faction, while Joseph, who did not file to run for another term in District 6, was not a member of either faction.

Other issues in the district included a possible $50 million gap for the district's 2017-2018 budget and the designation of the MPS campus as a "save haven of learning and support."

Elections[edit]

Voter and candidate information[edit]

The Milwaukee Board of School Directors consists of nine members elected to four-year terms. Eight members are elected by district, and one member is elected at large. Elections are held on a staggered basis every odd-numbered year. Five seats were up for election in 2015, and four seats were up for election in 2017. The general election was held on April 4, 2017. A primary election could have been held on February 21, 2017, if more than two candidates had filed for a seat.^[3][4]

School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and residents of the school district for a minimum of 28 consecutive days before filing as a candidate. They also could not be disqualified from voting under Wisconsin law.^[4]

To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination papers with the school district clerk by January 3, 2017. If incumbents whose terms were up for re-election did not file to run in the race and did not file written notification that they would not be running, the candidate filing deadline could have been extended until January 6, 2017. The terms of candidates elected in the race started on April 24, 2017.^[4]

Candidates and results[edit]

District 4[edit]

Results[edit]

Milwaukee Public Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Annie Woodward Incumbent	51.87%	1,624
Aisha Carr	47.59%	1,490
Write-in votes	0.54%	17
Total Votes		3,131
Source: Milwaukee City Election Commission, "April 4, 2017 - Spring Election: Final Official Results," accessed May 2, 2017

Candidates[edit]

Annie Woodward		Aisha Carr
	Incumbent Member, 2009-2017 Graduate, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Alverno College, and Concordia University Retired, Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services		Graduate, Marian University and Cardinal Stritch University Teacher, Milwaukee Public Schools

District 5[edit]

Results[edit]

Milwaukee Public Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Larry Miller Incumbent	65.72%	4,794
Kahri Phelps Okoro	33.86%	2,470
Write-in votes	0.42%	31
Total Votes		7,295
Source: Milwaukee City Election Commission, "April 4, 2017 - Spring Election: Final Official Results," accessed May 2, 2017

Candidates[edit]

Larry Miller		Kahri Phelps Okoro
	Incumbent Member, 2009-2017 Graduate, University of Wisconsin and National Louis University Adjunct professor, Marquette University		Graduate, Concordia University Project manager

District 6[edit]

Results[edit]

Milwaukee Public Schools, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Tony Baez	67.52%	1,056
Jonatan Zuñiga	31.91%	499
Write-in votes	0.58%	9
Total Votes		1,564
Source: Milwaukee City Election Commission, "April 4, 2017 - Spring Election: Final Official Results," accessed May 2, 2017

Candidates[edit]

Tony Baez		Jonatan Zuñiga
	Graduate, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Educator and executive director		Graduate, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Community outreach manager, Layton Boulevard West Neighbors

District 7[edit]

Results[edit]

Milwaukee Public Schools, District 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Paula Phillips	61.24%	3,512
Joey Balistreri	38.24%	2,193
Write-in votes	0.52%	30
Total Votes		5,735
Source: Milwaukee City Election Commission, "April 4, 2017 - Spring Election: Final Official Results," accessed May 2, 2017

Candidates[edit]

Joey Balistreri		Paula Phillips
	Graduate, George Mason University Former teacher and instructional coach		Project coordinator, Medical College of Wisconsin

Additional elections on the ballot[edit]

See also: Wisconsin elections, 2017

The Milwaukee Board of School Directors election shared the ballot with elections for the office of Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, one seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, 12 seats on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, and one seat on the City of Milwaukee Municipal Court.^[5][6]

Key deadlines[edit]

The following dates were key deadlines for Wisconsin school board elections in 2017:^[7][8]

Deadline	Event
January 3, 2017	Candidate filing deadline
January 16, 2017	Campaign finance deadline for candidates registered before January 1
February 13, 2017	Campaign finance deadline for districts holding primary elections
March 27, 2017	Campaign finance deadline for general election
April 4, 2017	Election Day
April 24, 2017	Board members take office
July 15, 2017	Post-election campaign finance deadline

Endorsements[edit]

The following is a list of official endorsements made in the Milwaukee Board of School Directors election.

Candidate endorsements
Endorsement	Annie Woodward (District 4)	Aisha Carr (District 4)	Larry Miller (District 5)	Kahri Phelps Okoro (District 5)	Tony Baez (District 6)	Jonatan Zuñiga (District 6)	Joey Balistreri (District 7)	Paula Phillips (District 7)
Organizations
Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA)[9]
Milwaukee Administrators & Supervisors Council[10]
Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO[11][12][13]
Wisconsin AFL-CIO[14]
Wisconsin Working Families Party[15]
AFSCME Wisconsin Council 32[11][12]
AFT Local 212[11][12]
IBEW Local 494[11][12]
SEIU Wisconsin[11][12]
Voces de la Frontera[12]
Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans[16]
Wisconsin Progress[17]
Media outlets
Wisconsin Gazette[18]
Shepherd Express[19]
State officials
State Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-6)[11]
State Sen. Chris Larson (D-7)[11]
State Rep. Jonathan Brostoff (D-19)[11]
State Rep. David Crowley (D-17)[11]
Local officials
Milwaukee County Supervisor Supreme Moore Omokunde[11]
Milwaukee County Supervisor Marcelia Nicholson[11]
Milwaukee Alderman Nik Kovac[11]
Milwaukee Public Schools Board of School Directors President Mark Sain[11]

Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at elections@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance[edit]

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2017

All school board candidates in Wisconsin were required to file a campaign registration statement with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission after qualifying as candidates. This statement declares their candidacy to the county clerk's office and allows them to claim exemption from reporting campaign contributions and expenditures. Candidates were only required to report campaign contributions and expenditures if they did one or both of the following:^[20]

• Accepted contributions, made disbursements, or incurred debt in excess of $2,000 during the calendar year
• Accepted more than $100 from a single source during the calendar year, barring contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns

There were three campaign finance report deadlines in 2017:

• The pre-primary report was due February 13, 2017,
• The pre-election report was due March 27, 2017, and
• The post-election report was due July 15, 2017.^[21]

Candidates who filed before January 1, 2017, also had to file a continuing campaign finance report on January 16, 2017.^[8]

Reports[edit]

Candidates received a total of $106,538.98 and spent a total of $96,604.81 in the election, according to the City of Milwaukee Election Commission.^[22]

Candidate	Existing balance	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
District 4
Annie Woodward	$305.78	$5,749.14	$5,906.68	$148.51
Aisha Carr	$0.00	$9,935.00	$8,326.89	$1,608.11
District 5
Larry Miller	$465.04	$12,743.38	$12,467.95	$740.47
Kahri Phelps Okoro	$0.00	$17,147.09	$15,623.09	$1,524.00
District 6
Tony Baez	$0.00	$18,881.00	$14,062.08	$4,818.92
Jonatan Zuñiga	$0.00	$8,832.40	$8,574.42	$257.98
District 7
Joey Balistreri	$0.00	$14,534.95	$14,534.95	$0.00
Paula Phillips	$0.00	$18,716.02	$17,108.75	$1,607.27

Past elections[edit]

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2015 See also: Milwaukee Public Schools elections (2015) District 1 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Mark Sain Incumbent 98.1% 2,740      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.9% 53 Total Votes 2,793 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "April 7, 2015: Spring Election Summary Report," accessed April 22, 2015 District 2 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Wendell Harris Sr. 62.5% 3,467      Nonpartisan Jeff Spence Incumbent 37% 2,053      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.5% 26 Total Votes 5,546 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "April 7, 2015: Spring Election Summary Report," accessed April 22, 2015 District 3 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Michael Bonds Incumbent 71.8% 2,791      Nonpartisan Stephany Pruitt 27.6% 1,073      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.5% 21 Total Votes 3,885 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "April 7, 2015: Spring Election Summary Report," accessed April 22, 2015 District 8 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 8 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Carol Voss 98.5% 4,491      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.5% 69 Total Votes 4,560 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "April 7, 2015: Spring Election Summary Report," accessed April 22, 2015 At-large Milwaukee Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Terrence Falk Incumbent 97.4% 22,983      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 2.6% 602 Total Votes 23,585 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "April 7, 2015: Spring Election Summary Report," accessed April 22, 2015 2013 District 4 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Annie Woodward Incumbent 97.2% 2,442      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 2.8% 71 Total Votes 2,513 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: April 2, 2013," accessed September 22, 2014 District 5 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Larry Miller Incumbent 97.6% 4,493      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 2.4% 109 Total Votes 4,602 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: April 2, 2013," accessed September 22, 2014 District 6 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Tatiana Joseph 61.5% 1,047      Nonpartisan Angel Sanchez 38.1% 648      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.5% 8 Total Votes 1,703 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: April 2, 2013," accessed September 22, 2014 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 6 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Tatiana Joseph 51.6% 491      Nonpartisan Angel Sanchez 34.8% 331      Nonpartisan Jaime Alvarado 12.7% 121      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.8% 8 Total Votes 951 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: February 19, 2013," accessed September 22, 2014 District 7 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Claire Zautke 60.1% 3,951      Nonpartisan David Voeltner Incumbent 39.1% 2,571      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.8% 51 Total Votes 6,573 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: April 2, 2013," accessed September 22, 2014 2011 District 1 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Mark Sain 49.9% 5,785      Nonpartisan Tim Petersons Incumbent 49% 5,678      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1% 120 Total Votes 11,583 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: April 5, 2011," accessed September 22, 2014 District 2 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Jeff Spence Incumbent 69.4% 9,485      Nonpartisan Gerald S. Glazer 29.7% 4,060      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.9% 125 Total Votes 13,670 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: April 5, 2011," accessed September 22, 2014 District 3 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Michael Bonds Incumbent 98.8% 10,407      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.2% 127 Total Votes 10,534 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: April 5, 2011," accessed September 22, 2014 District 8 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 8 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Meagan Holman 66.5% 9,608      Nonpartisan Candy Jo Lesniewski 32.8% 4,734      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.7% 107 Total Votes 14,449 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: April 5, 2011," accessed September 22, 2014 Milwaukee Public Schools, District 8 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Meagan Holman 49.5% 3,523      Nonpartisan Candy Jo Lesniewski 24.7% 1,759      Nonpartisan Ed Heinzelman 24.4% 1,735 Total Votes 7,115 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: February 15, 2011," accessed September 22, 2014 At-large Milwaukee Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Terrence Falk Incumbent 60% 56,102      Nonpartisan Susan L. Schmidt 39% 36,427      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1% 961 Total Votes 93,490 Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Election Results: April 5, 2011," accessed September 22, 2014

What was at stake?[edit]

2017[edit]

Election trends[edit]

See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief

Every Milwaukee Board of School Directors seat up for election in 2017 had a contested race, unlike the district's past two election cycles. In 2015, three of the five seats on the ballot featured uncontested candidates, and in 2013, two of the four seats on the ballot had uncontested candidates.

The 2017 race was guaranteed to add two newcomers to the board due to open seats. Both incumbents who ran for re-election defeated challengers to retain their seats. In 2013 and 2015, all but one incumbent who faced a challenger was defeated. The other incumbents who won additional terms on the board were unopposed.

School board election trends
Year	Candidates per seat	Unopposed seats	Incumbents running for re-election	Incumbent success rate	Seats won by newcomers
Milwaukee Public Schools
2017	2.00	0.00%	50.00%	100.00%	50.0%
2015	1.4	60.00%	80.00%	75.00%	40.00%
2013	1.75	50.00%	75.00%	66.67%	50.00%
Wisconsin
2015	1.38	38.24%	73.53%	84.00%	35.29%
United States
2015	1.72	35.95%	70.37%	82.66%	40.81%

Issues in the election[edit]

Candidate suspended from district teaching position[edit]

District 4 challenger Aisha Carr was suspended from her position as a teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools in March 2017. Carr said the district officially suspended her due to a field trip policy violation, but she said she believed the decision was also politically motivated. Carr said she was considering legal action as she believed she had done nothing wrong.^[23][24]

The field trip policy violation was related to a student trip to a youth summit held at city hall. "They talked about racial disparities, mass incarceration, organizing," said Carr, who taught a comparative ethnic studies class for students in grades nine through 12 prior to getting suspended.^[24]

The violation occurred when she asked students to meet after school the night before the summit to practice their speeches, according to Carr. "This was not school related, it was practice after school. That's where I was told I went wrong," said Carr.^[24] She said it was a procedural error. "I can't tell you how many times teachers do this," Carr said.^[23]

Denise Callaway, a spokesperson for the school district, said she could not comment on Carr's suspension as it was a confidential personnel matter. "Generally speaking, suspensions without pay are issued only after a serious violation of board policy or procedure has been substantiated," said Callaway.^[23][24]

Carr said she believed that some district officials were unhappy about her campaign for a seat on the school board. Her suspension came after the school board asked the group Leaders for a Better Community, which promoted both Carr and District 6 candidate Jonatan Zuñiga, to take down an online campaign ad that featured the image of Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver. The school board said Driver did not endorse anyone in the election.^[23][24][25]

Leaders for a Better Community was started by Sherwin Hughes, a political consultant and radio personality on WNOV, a Milwaukee station. In the past, Hughes supported publicly-funded voucher schools. Both Carr and Zuñiga said they had nothing to do with the ad that featured Driver. They also said they were not advocates of voucher schools. Both candidates were defeated in the election.^[23][2]

Issues in the district[edit]

Voucher school sues district over transportation costs[edit]

St. Joan Antida High School, an all-girls Catholic voucher school that is part of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, filed a lawsuit in federal court in March 2017 against Milwaukee Public Schools over transportation costs. The lawsuit calls for Milwaukee Public Schools to pay for the cost of transportation for St. Joan Antida students, which it says is required by state law.^[26][27]

State law requires public school districts to pay for transportation costs of students attending private schools within the district's boundaries if certain criteria are met, according to Brian Pahnke, assistant state superintendent for finance and management in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.^[27] The criteria include:

“	If the child lives two or more miles from the private school that he or she attends If the child resides within the private school’s approved attendance area, and If the private school that the child attends is located either within the boundaries of that child’s school district, or not more than 5 miles beyond the boundaries of the district.[28]	”
—Wisconsin Public Radio (March 23, 2017)[27]

State law also says, “There shall be reasonable uniformity, in the transportation furnished to pupils, whether they attend public or private schools.” The Milwaukee school district's transportation policy dictates that busing must be provided to both public and private schools if students live more than two miles from their schools or if they live more than one mile from public transportation. The policy also includes an exception for citywide schools.^[26]

It is that exception that is referenced in St. Joan Antida's lawsuit, which is represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. “If they’re busing citywide high school students who live within a mile of public transportation, then they need to do the same for my girls,” said Paul Gessner, head of St. Joan Antida.^[26]

Gessner said transportation was a hardship for a number of his students' families. “Without transportation it definitely impacts the choice of school that parents can select. The very first thing that we get asked is, ‘Is there a bus?’”^[29]

Co-chair of Schools and Communities United Ingrid Walker-Henry said it was unreasonable for state law to require a public school to bus private school students. She said public money should be used for public schools. “We have this institution in our city that does educate all children and provides its own transportation, yet, we’re going to continue to take from these children to provide for something private,” said Walker-Henry.^[26]

President of School Choice Wisconsin Jim Bender said the lawsuit was not related to a school choice debate. “All families in Milwaukee pay property taxes through home ownership or rent,” said Bender. “State law is clear that all students, regardless of sector, are to be treated equally with transportation services.”^[29]

C.J. Szafir, vice president for policy and deputy council of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said the lawsuit was filed in federal court because St. Joan Antida had a constitutional claim. “We believe the constitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law are being violated by Milwaukee Public Schools where they discriminate against children who attend private and religious schools by denying them transportation,” said Szafir.^[29]

A spokesperson for Milwaukee Public Schools said the district would not comment on pending litigation.^[26]

Study says city violated law to expedite sale of empty school district buildings[edit]

See also: Debate over the fate of empty school buildings

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty released a study in March 2017 that said that the city of Milwaukee had violated a law to expedite the sale of unused Milwaukee Public Schools properties. The study showed 40 Milwaukee Public School properties were vacant or underused and said that five of those 40 buildings were for sale, though there was interest from potential buyers for other buildings.^[30]

"The City of Milwaukee is acting like state law is optional," said C.J. Szafir, vice president for policy and deputy council of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. The law in question was passed as part of the state's 2015-2017 state budget.^[31]

"With a struggling Milwaukee educational system and interest from charter and voucher schools, city officials would rather see them empty than put to good use and filled with kids," said Szafir.^[30]

Officials from Milwaukee Public Schools and the Milwaukee Department of City Development said the study was misleading and pointed to errors such as listing one school district property as being at 55 percent capacity when it was at 99.6 percent capacity.^[30][32]

"We absolutely assert that the City of Milwaukee is following the law as it was written," said Milwaukee Department of City Development Deputy Commissioner Martha Brown.^[30]

Michael Bonds, member of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, said the push to sell the district's buildings was like “asking the Coca-Cola Company to turn over its facilities to Pepsi so Pepsi can expand and compete with the Coca-Cola Company.” His statement alluded to the struggle between public school advocates and school choice advocates in Milwaukee. School choice advocates argue that the school district should sell its unused buildings due to its low graduation rate and failing schools, while public school advocates argue that a number of choice schools perform no better and are not held to the same standards.^[30]

Before the law to expedite the sale of buildings went into effect, Milwaukee Public Schools either refused to sell its buildings to voucher schools or asked for additional payments to combat a state funding flaw. If a building was sold to a voucher school and students left the school district to attend it, the district's per-pupil state funds decreased. Because the district was responsible for paying a portion of per-pupil vouchers, the district had to pay more money to voucher schools, even if it had less money coming in. This funding flaw was corrected in the state's 2013-2015 budget, but its repercussions lasted years afterward. When they refused to sell to voucher schools before the 2015 law went into effect, school district officials said they were trying to avoid placing a larger tax burden on the city's residents.^[33]

The 2017 study from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty also mentioned the city's tax burden. “You have dwindling enrollment at Milwaukee Public Schools that has led to buildings that just sit empty, costing taxpayers money,” Szafir said. “These empty buildings over the course of the last decade have cost Milwaukee taxpayers well over $10.2 million.”^[32]

The 2017 study called on the Wisconsin State Legislature to add penalties if the city does not comply to the law. One suggested penalty was to award attorney's fees “if the aggrieved party prevails,” in a lawsuit related to the law, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Such a penalty could benefit the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty as it represents school choice advocates.^[30]

“I know there are those that want financial repercussions for not cooperating,” said Sen. Alberta Darling (R-8), a co-author of the law. “I don’t know how you do that. It’s really hard to have teeth in the legislation because the ball keeps bouncing in different directions.”^[32]

District faces possible $50 million budget gap[edit]

Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver announced on March 8, 2017, that the district faced a $50 million gap between expenditures and revenue sources in its 2017-2018 budget projections. Driver said the gap was caused in part by a decrease in federal funding and by legacy costs from healthcare benefits for retired employees.^[34]

To offset costs, Driver said the district was pursuing donations from philanthropic sources and evaluating programs in order to fund only those that had proven successful. The district received $36 million from philanthropic sources for the 2016-2017 school year, which was more than double what it received the previous year. Driver said she did not anticipate that layoffs would be needed, but she did say that district staff might need to shift positions.^[34]

In anticipation of the budget gap, schools across the district were asked to cut budgets by six figures, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The district also moved to shut down underperforming high schools with small enrollments and to reconfigure other schools.^[34]

Superintendent announces district will not share student immigration status with federal officials[edit]

See also: Sanctuary policy preemption conflicts between the federal and local governments

Sanctuary policy conflicts

Milwaukee Public Schools was one of 15 districts tracked by Ballotpedia that debated sanctuary policies as of October 16, 2017. Learn more about these debates on Ballopedia's coverage of sanctuary jurisdictions  »

Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver sent a message to district families in February 2017 that promised to protect student information, including immigration status. In the message, Driver called Milwaukee Public Schools a "save haven of learning and support."^[35]

"We do not ask for students' immigration status when they enroll," Driver said in the message. "If we become aware of a student's immigration status, we will not share that information with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services."^[35]

Driver's message was sent out two days after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued guidance memos on the enforcement of immigration laws and executive orders on immigration issued by President Donald Trump (R). The memos called for more Border Patrol agents and prioritized the removal of individuals convicted or charged with a crime and reinforced prosecutorial discretion. Officials from DHS said that these guidance memos would not impact the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protected minors brought to the U.S. without legal permission.^[36][37]

After Driver sent the message, school board members Larry Miller and Tatiana Joseph proposed a resolution to create a district policy that would require staff to not share students' legal status with government agencies. The resolution was passed unanimously on March 30, 2017.^[38][39]

2017-2018 school year to start in August[edit]

See also: School administrators seek flexibility for school start date

Students attending middle schools and high schools in the Milwaukee school district started the 2017-2018 school year on August 14, 2017, rather than on September 5, 2017, when most of the public schools in the state started. The change to an earlier start time was championed by Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver. She said the district needed to maximize learning time for its students.^[40][41][42]

Officials in other school districts in the state expressed their desire to also switch to earlier start times, but due to a state law, they were unable to start before September 1, 2017. The Milwaukee school district had more flexibility in scheduling their school calendars than other districts.^[40]

A bill that would have repealed the September 1 start date law was re-introduced in the Wisconsin State Legislature in February 2017. It did not move out of committee before the 2017-2018 school year started on September 5, 2017.^[43] A similar bill was introduced in past sessions but was never passed.^[44]

School administrators in favor of starting earlier than September said it would give high school students more time in class before they took advanced placement courses in May and that it would help maximize learning for other students as well. Administrators said students were more ready to learn in August than they were in the spring when teachers started seeing declining results.^[40]

Officials with the Wisconsin Hotel & Lodging Association, the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin, and other city and county visitor centers, however, said they relied on student workers to close out the season through Labor Day. In 2015, the month of August brought in $130 million more in tourism revenue than the month of June, according to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.^[40]

District partners with higher education institutions to increase college readiness[edit]

Milwaukee Public Schools partnered with the Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee to create an education initiative called M-Cubed in January 2017. The initiative was created to make sure the three education institutions were teaching subjects in similar ways, according to Milwaukee Area Technical College President Vicki Martin. The initiative also outlined goals to increase college readiness, increase the expectation of continuing to learn after high school, and increase the understanding of the importance of higher education.^[45]

"Students have a hard time with math," said Martin. "With our students, as well, they hold off 'til the last semester because they want to avoid it at all costs. So what we realized is that we could together start working on a curriculum early to make sure that we are all aligned."^[45]

A third of Milwaukee's high school students do not continue to the 10th grade, according to Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver. "Everybody's who's in the college readiness game knows how important 9th grade is," said Driver. "But again, this is not work that we can figure out by ourselves. We have to have partners that are helping us get our students over those different benchmarks, getting them to the finish line."^[45]

Candidate survey[edit]

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About the district[edit]

See also: Milwaukee Public Schools, Wisconsin

The Milwaukee school district is located in Milwaukee, the seat of Milwaukee County, in southeastern Wisconsin. The county was home to 957,735 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.^[46] The district was the largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 77,316 students.^[47]

Demographics[edit]

Higher education achievement[edit]

Milwaukee County outperformed Wisconsin as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.1 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 27.8 percent of state residents.^[46]

Median household income[edit]

From 2011 to 2015, the median household income for Milwaukee County was $43,873. During that same period, the median household income for Wisconsin was $53,357. For the United States, it was $53,889.^[46]

Poverty rate[edit]

The poverty rate in Milwaukee County was 22 percent between 2011 and 2015. During that same period, the poverty rate for the entire state was 12.1 percent, and for the entire country it was 13.5 percent.^[46]

Racial demographics[edit]

Racial Demographics, 2015[46]
Race	Milwaukee County (%)	Wisconsin (%)
White	65.1	87.6
Black or African American	27.1	6.6
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.0	1.1
Asian	4.2	2.8
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.1
Two or more races	2.7	1.8
Hispanic or Latino	14.5	6.6

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Milwaukee Public Schools Wisconsin election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also[edit]

Milwaukee Public Schools	Wisconsin	School Boards
Milwaukee Public Schools elections (2015) List of school districts in Wisconsin	Wisconsin school board elections, 2017 Public education in Wisconsin Local ballot measures, Wisconsin	School board elections, 2017 School board elections, 2016

External links[edit]

• Milwaukee Public Schools
• Milwaukee County Election Commission
• City of Milwaukee Election Commission

Footnotes[edit]

Milwaukee Public Schools elections in 2017
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
Election date:	April 4, 2017
Candidates:	District 4: • Incumbent, Annie Woodward • Aisha Carr District 5: • Incumbent, Larry Miller • Kahri Phelps Okoro District 6: • Tony Baez • Jonatan Zuñiga District 7: • Joey Balistreri • Paula Phillips
Important information:	What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines

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