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MPS addresses problem schools
Enrollment decrease, low test scores among concerns
By Marlyn Fink
“We have a strategic plan and will take responsibility for what we can control” – Roseanne St. Aubin, MPS spokeswoman
Another challenging year rolls around for Milwaukee Public Schools, as compromises must be made between the school board and City of Milwaukee officials.
MPS has faced obstacles for quite some time now- from low enrollment, to decreasing test scores, to poor graduation rates. And now Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett sees this as a time for desperate measures to be taken. The problem: the school board has a slightly different solution in mind.
Barrett proposes an independently-financed audit of the district’s current condition. He hopes to gain support from local organizations and foundations and perhaps take a more in-depth approach to examining the problem and devising resolutions to the system.
The school board also favors an audit, but suggests that the money come from an alternative source: the taxpayers. The money required would total around $50,000.
Back in 1999, the MPS Neighborhood Schools Initiative (NSI) was enacted under then-Superintendent Spence Korte. It was designed to improve the schools in several ways, including building and classroom renovations and decreasing the amount of student busing- initially successfully. Since 1999, several of the faculty working specifically with the initiative have retired or moved away from the Milwaukee area.
However, the $102 million initiative that came from taxpayers’ pockets didn’t create the desired results. New classrooms, new schools and new resources were constructed to increase the district’s enrollment. Unfortunately, this did not happen, and now the district faces the echoing sounds of empty classrooms and a declining enrollment rate.
Out of the 207 schools that make up MPS, about two dozen of them are low-achieving, according to MPS spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin.
“We know where they are, and we need to address these problems,” St. Aubin said. St. Aubin believes part of the reason for the enrollment decrease is because people are moving away from urban environments, among many other factors, including the growth of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.
The program allows parents in certain conditions to send their children to private religious and non-religious schools at no charge. But she feels that MPS works hard to offer its students more than just education.
“We are working hard and asking families to help students focus on their homework,” said St. Aubin. “By providing nutritious meals for students and more nurses for children without medical care, we are trying to educate the whole student and address all the needs that our high-poverty city calls for.”
As for the coming year, the school board will have to make many important decisions regarding the financial situation of MPS. But, the school district is confident that they will work to solve the problems.
“We have a strategic plan and will take responsibility for what we can control,” said St. Aubin.
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