The group attempting to recall four Milwaukee Public Schools board members fell thousands of signatures short.

The group turned in petitions that appeared to have unverified names signed by the same person. In some instances, addresses were linked to abandoned homes, according to documents submitted to the Milwaukee Election Commission. 

“The people of Milwaukee have emphatically rejected this dishonest effort to remove good public servants from our democratically elected school board,” said Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association President Ingrid Walker-Henry. 

Members of the MPS School Board Recall Collaborative did not respond to requests for comment. 

At a July 24 press conference, weeks before they turned in the petitions, the recall group announced they had 37,000 of the 60,000 signatures needed to unseat MPS board president Marva Herndon, vice president Jilly Gokalgandhi, board member Erika Siemsen and at-large board member Missy Zombor. 

On Aug. 12, the group submitted a total of 29,787 signatures to the Milwaukee Election Commission. 

Their efforts were launched following several tumultuous weeks for the school district. In May, it was revealed that MPS had failed to file audits with the state Department of Public Instruction, leading to the loss of millions of dollars and the resignation of Superintendent Keith Posley. 

Gov. Tony Evers has since called for operational and instructional audits of MPS. 

MPS School Board Recall Collaborative called for more transparency within MPS and on the school board. 

But it soon became apparent the recall itself was shrouded in secrecy. 

When asked who was funding the efforts and who was paying canvassers, the only response by organizer Tamika Johnson  was “anonymous donors.” 

Walker-Henry said the public faces of the recall effort were a “private voucher school teacher and the founder of a now-shuttered private charter school.” 

“From the beginning when libelous assertions were made about MPS and MTEA, we have been alarmed at the clear anti-public education motivation of these recall efforts,” Walker-Henry said. “The people of Milwaukee should remember that this campaign was fueled by individuals and groups whose sole vision of education in Milwaukee is its complete privatization.” 

MTEA and Zombor filed complaints with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission last month. Zombor received an email July 22 from commission staff counsel David Buerger, saying her complaint would be investigated. 

On Tuesday, Zombor said the Ethics Commission has a yearslong backlog and she’s not confident the recall group will be looked into before the next MPS school board election. 

Gokalgandi’s term expires in April 2025. The other four board members will serve through April 2027. 

“I believe that the city of Milwaukee voters want school board members that believe in public schools,” Zombor said. “I think they want school board members who are going to build the district up and not tear it down. Even parents, regardless of where they send their kids to school, want a school board that has the best interest of public schools in mind.”

MILWAUKEE – A plea deal has been reached for the two then-teens accused in the fatal shooting of a man at JJ Fish and Chicken in Milwaukee in January 2023.

Javontae Jones pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Aug. 14 to a charge of first-degree reckless homicide. By doing so, Jones avoids a trial. Jones is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 2. 

Jones was accused along with his cousin, Jeffrey Coleman in the Jan. 1, 2023 shooting at the restaurant, court filings say. Coleman pleaded guilty on Monday, Aug. 19 to first-degree reckless homicide. He is set to be sentenced on Oct. 31.

Case details

According to a criminal complaint, Milwaukee police responded to the JJ Fish and Chicken restaurant near 33rd and Villard on Jan. 1, 2023, to investigate a homicide. Investigators found the victim on the floor at the restaurant – he was pronounced deceased.

Detectives spotted numerous cartridge casings, bullets and bullet strikes in the restaurant. Outside in the parking lot, they located a deformed bullet and three cartridge casings.

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The criminal complaint indicates exterior surveillance video was recovered from the restaurant. It shows a person get out of a vehicle and walk into the restaurant. Two other persons from a second car did the same. After about a minute, all three persons are seeing running out of the restaurant, getting into cars, and fleeing the scene. One of the persons is seen firing a gun – “based upon an observed muzzle flash,” the complaint says.

Surveillance video from inside the restaurant shows a man enter the restaurant and approach the counter with a gun tucked into his waistband, the complaint says. About a minute later, the victim and another person walked into the restaurant – and seconds after that, two other persons walk into the restaurant. A gun was pulled by the first person who entered the restaurant, and he “fires” at the victim and the person he was with, the complaint says. That person then pulled a gun – and he fired toward the front door. The complaint says two people “then fire numerous gunshots toward each other.”

After this incident, detectives were made aware that multiple juvenile shooting victims were en route to the emergency department at Children’s Wisconsin. Among them was the defendant, Jones, the complaint says.

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Investigators later identified Jones via fingerprints, the complaint says. Two other persons also identified Jones from a photo array.  An officer later identified Coleman from a surveillance image of the shooting.

Chrystul Kizer, a young woman from Milwaukee, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison and five years of extended supervision for the killing of a man named Randall Volar.
Kizer, now 24, admitted to the shooting in 2018 when she was 17 years old. She had accused Volar of trafficking and raping her.

The crime and its aftermath

In June 2018, Kizer went to Volar’s house in Kenosha with a gun, BBC reported.She shot him twice in the head, then set his house on fire and took Volar’s BMW. After the killing, she posted a selfie from Volar’s house on social media with the caption “My Mug Shot.” Prosecutors said that Kizer planned the actions to steal the car, while Kizer’s defence argued that she acted in self-defence due to years of abuse.

Legal and public reaction

Kizer’s case drew significant media attention and sparked debate over how the law treats victims of sex trafficking. She had met Volar when she was 16 and claimed he sexually assaulted her, gave her money and gifts, and trafficked her to other men.
Evidence later revealed that Volar had abused multiple underage girls. Despite this, he was released by police before his death.
In court, Kizer’s lawyers argued that she should be protected under a 2008 Wisconsin law that shields trafficking victims from certain charges if their crimes were directly related to their trafficking. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that this protection could extend to homicide cases, allowing Kizer to present evidence of her abuse.

Outcome and future

Kizer accepted a plea deal this year to avoid a life sentence. She will serve 11 years in prison followed by five years of extended supervision. Her case continues to be a point of discussion regarding the legal treatment of trafficking victims and the extent of legal protections available to them.
Kizer, who has already served over a year and a half, is scheduled for a restitution hearing on November 8.