The Changing Milwaukee Public Schools

Alan Borsuk:

Before your very eyes, ladies and gentleman, see the Incredible Shrinking School System.

Well, maybe it's not incredible. But it is certainly shrinking.

It also continues, bit by bit, to become a district where the faces of the students are those of minority children.

Official attendance figures for this fall, released by Milwaukee Public Schools officials, show that the enrollment in the traditional MPS schools is down for at least the ninth year in a row.

Since 1998, the number of students in elementary, middle and high schools has declined from 96,942 to 81,381, a 16% drop.

Between a year ago and now, the drop was 3,522, or more than 4%.

Even the alternative and "partnership" schools that contract to educate MPS children - generally run by nonprofit organizations - have had declining enrollment over the past nine years.

Notably, one area showing increases is charter schools not staffed by MPS employees but authorized to operate by the Milwaukee School Board. They had 68 children in 1998 and 3,090 this fall.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 16, 2007 8:58 AM
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