“I asked @WisconsinDPI why they didn’t inform the public months ago about MPS’s failure to disclose financial data…..”
“Deputy State Superintendent John Johnson wrote MPS will likely see a “significant” reduction in state general aid payments for the 2024-25 school year due to errors the district reported for 2022-23 shared costs”
Two of the reports were due eight months ago, and the district is in danger of missing out on a $15.7 million special education aid payment next month, as well as a $200 million general aid payment.
Johnson wrote not only were many reports “incredibly late,” but the district had “demonstrated a pattern of submitting incomplete data” and requesting changes without the required documentation to support it.
He added DPI staff had been meeting quarterly with MPS since April 2023, then monthly as of February, weekly starting in mid-March and now daily during May.
Johnson added MPS’s failure to submit the financial data hinders DPI’s ability to complete its statutorily-required July 1 general school aids estimate. That impacts every district in the state.
I asked @WisconsinDPI why they didn’t inform the public months ago about MPS’s failure to disclose financial data when they began meeting in 2023 (months before a referendum asked residents for $252 million for the school district).
MPS can’t get their finances in order and more than 80% of their kids can’t read at grade level. There’s no accountability.
This is why we need to fund students, not systems. If a choice school fails to submit their financial reports, they’re kicked out of the program.
The biggest question voters had when a $252 million MPS referendum passed in April, was “Where is this money going?”
This week we’re learning it’s apparently a question the state is also asking.
Folks, we’ve got even more @MilwaukeeMPS issues. The Dept. of Public Instruction is now threatening to withhold money from the district because it’s fallen more than eight months behind on providing financial data to the state…
Here’s a taste of tonight’s wild MPS board meeting.
Plus, this exchange with board VP Jilly Gokalgandhi…
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers vetoed legislation that would break up the taxpayer funded Milwaukee school district into four smaller districts. Mulligans are worth a look.
