Milwaukee k-12 officials knew about state aid reductions before referendum vote
State education officials said Friday administrators for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) knew the district was facing a reduction in state aid as early as late March.
Those adjustments from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), now estimated to be somewhere between $35 million and $50 million, will make up for overpayments MPS previously received as a result of bad data it provided the state.
Chris Bucher, a DPI spokesperson, told CBS 58 Friday the state first became aware in late March MPS may have submitted incorrect data that led to the state giving more money than it should have.
On April 2, Milwaukee voters narrowly approved a $252 million referendum for the district.
Friday’s release is the first public confirmation at least some officials at the highest levels of MPS knew they were facing a state aid reduction because of past mistakes, but voters were never informed of that before the April vote.
“The subject of an impact to aid first came up during a discussion in late March, although we cannot confirm an exact date,” Bucher said in an email. “Because of problems with MPS data, we have been working since then to drill down and put more clarity on this number.”
