Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Public Schools plans to add 150 staff to classrooms
Milwaukee Public Schools plans to add about 150 teachers and paraprofessionals to classrooms next school year.
The positions were announced Monday, one month after MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said she planned to cut about 200 non-classroom staff positions.
Cassellius said external audits of the district and meetings last summer with parents both highlighted heavy staffing at central office and less resources going into classrooms.
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“I can see with my own eyes how hard it is with so many students in the classroom,” Cassellius said. “So obviously, with 91 percent of our students not reading on grade level at fourth grade, it is essential that we give our kids a fighting chance where teachers have a reasonable amount of students to teach to read.”
MPS is planning to add 89 licensed classroom teachers, bringing the total number of teaching staff from 3,903 to 3,992, and 63 paraprofessionals to its schools. They will also add five school psychologists.
The plan is estimated to cost $24.6 million and will be included in the 2026-27 draft budget.
“Lowering class size is a very strategic move in order to rebalance the district and be responsible with our finances,” Cassellius said. “But it’s also a very important academic decision for us as we meet the needs and listen to teachers and try to make sure that they have what they need so they can be successful in teaching our children to read.”
The investment in staffing comes as MPS works to close a $46 million deficit identified in the district’s 2024–25 budget by external auditors.
To address the budget deficit and rising costs, MPS is identifying savings wherever possible.
Some of the savings include $30 million from reductions in Central Services and non-classroom positions; $11 million in increased state special education reimbursement funding and $40 million in savings from fewer charter schools. The district also has $47 million in new referendum revenue.
At the same time, MPS anticipates approximately $154 million to $171 million in new expenses, including covering increases in healthcare benefit costs and raises for employees.
Of the 200 positions being eliminated by MPS, 59 are assistant principal positions and 62 “implementer positions,” or educators who have a teaching license but who are not assigned to one classroom.
Cassellius said all of the people who received “excess letters” can reapply for teaching positions.
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MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission will meet on Thursday night, May 7, to discuss a number of items – including the use of Flock cameras, along with a resolution to tweak the Milwaukee Police Department’s current use of force policy.
Flock cameras
What we know:
Concerns over the use of flock cameras to fight crime – that’s one of the big topics set for discussion at tonight’s FPC meeting.
The cameras have faced push back from the community after prosecutors charged an MPD officer for misusing the technology in March.
Prosecutors allege Josue Ayala used Flock cameras to track a romantic partner and that partner’s ex. They say in the span of a month, the officer searched the pair 179 times. In February, prosecutors charged Ayala with attempted misconduct in public office.
A number of Common Council members wrote a letter expressing “serious concern” to the Milwaukee Police Department over the use of Flock cameras.
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In the letter, the Milwaukee aldermen said they had serious concerns about what they call “a lack of adequate guardrails, auditing, supervision and transparency.”
During Thursday’s meeting, the Milwaukee Police Department will be fielding questions from members of the FPC – including what guardrails are actually in place to avoid potential misuse.
“We also understand, especially from a recent situation, that we can do better. We understand that we have to put in more robust checks and balances,” said Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.
Use of Force
What we know:
There are more possible changes coming to how Milwaukee police officers report the use of deadly force.
The modification to the use of force policy is specifically targeted at how and when officers must report the use of deadly force.
Under the current version of MPD’s standard operating procedure, a use of force report must be completed when a department member discharges a firearm. It excludes training situations, or if and when a member points a firearm at a person.
The potential change would include when a member “draws or displays a firearm (including a shotgun or rifle) to effect an arrest or seizure of a person.”
The resolution is sponsored by Alderman Peter Burgelis, who said in a meeting last month this essentially restores a recently deleted requirement previously in place.
Additionally, during Thursday’s meeting, they are also expected to dicuss the ongoing debate over MPD’s chase policy.
The Source: FOX6 News obtained Milwaukee Police Department data and utilized prior coverage.
Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam talks greater involvement, Giannis future
Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam says that he will have a greater involvement with the team and that includes the decision on if to re-sign Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In his first press conference to discuss on-court basketball matters with the Milwaukee Bucks, one in which the organization introduced Taylor Jenkins as its new head coach on May 6, co-owner Jimmy Haslam didn’t waste any time in providing a bit of clarity with the direction of the franchise the Haslam Sports Group bought into in 2023.
Haslam, who said he anticipates being around the Bucks more often going forward, flatly stated the team will decide either trade superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo or continue to build the team around him by the NBA draft, which will be held June 23-24.
It was a stark departure from the last calendar year, when the organization and locker room navigated through a consistent barrage of trade speculation about the two-time Most Valuable Player.
“I just think before the draft is a natural time, right, because if Giannis does play somewhere else we ought to get a lot of assets,” Haslam said. “And that’s [general manager] Jon [Horst’s] job to do. And if he’s here, you build the team differently.”
Haslam then took a beat to add, without a prompt, “I just want to stress though, that our relationship with him – despite what is reported by certain ESPN writers – is very positive.”
Questions about Antetokounmpo’s future with the organization didn’t entirely dominate Jenkins’ reintroduction to Milwaukee, as the former Bucks assistant and Memphis Grizzlies head coach was able to lay out some aspects of his vision for the team, his partnership with Horst and how he seeks to re-establish a winning culture.
But Jenkins did acknowledge the looming decision on which direction the team is going to take with – or without – Antetokounmpo was a key point in the hours long discussions he had with co-owners Haslam and Wes Edens, as well as Horst.
“It’s a big one,” Haslam said of the decision over the future of its franchise cornerstone. “It’s a big one. And you gotta get it right. And Jon knows it and Wes knows it. And we didn’t hold back with Taylor. We just said, listen, he may or may not be with us, so don’t come because of that because you want to be straight up with people.”
Horst added that Antetokounmpo did not meet with Jenkins in the interview process, but the head coach and the star have spoken.
And, Antetokounmpo gave an endorsement on the hire to the Journal Sentinel.
“I think he’s an incredible person,” Antetokounmpo said. “Obviously, he’s an incredible coach. I was able to be with him in 2019 and we made the Eastern Conference finals.
“After that he left, he was one of the first coaches that left the coaching staff and went to Memphis and he had an incredible six years in Memphis. He made them contenders in the West. He had incredible culture in Memphis.
“I had the conversation. I don’t think Milwaukee is just getting just a good coach, I think they’re getting a good person. And that’s where it starts with. Having a good person around that’s gonna be able to set the tone, that set the culture and what Milwaukee Bucks basketball is all about. He’s a really good coach.”
As for the prospect of being coached by Jenkins, Antetokounmpo said, “We’ll see.”
And clearly that is the approach the organization is taking as well.
“Giannis has brought Milwaukee its second championship and the first in 50 years,” Haslam said. “He’s a phenomenal player. He’s a phenomenal person. He’s arguably one of the best basketball players in the world and we will do what’s best for Giannis and what’s best for the organization.
“We don’t know whether Giannis will stay with us or not, but we’ll work through that with Giannis in the coming weeks.”
For his part, Antetokounmpo addressed how he was going to approach his immediate future with the team on April 12.
“Nothing – phone on do not disturb,” he said after the Bucks’ season finale in Philadelphia. “Working hard every single day to improve my game, be in the best physical shape that I can be and just stay away from it – all of it.
“I feel like this season, not just because of the way it went, it was draining for me for sure and how everybody approached my situation and the Bucks situation. But again, if it was draining for me, it was definitely draining for the team and for the organization, but I feel like sometimes people just don’t listen.
“They listen to the sources, and the main source is me. It is what it is. So again, do not disturb phone, go about my day, improve and come back better.”
MILWAUKEE – This week marks Teacher Appreciation Week and, as many teachers are honored throughout the week, one local educator is in the running for one of the nation’s top honors.
America’s Favorite Teacher
What we know:
Tina Gleason, a teacher at Golda Meir School in Milwaukee, is in the running to become “America’s Favorite Teacher” and needs the support of the community to earn the title.
Gleason is going up against thousands of teachers nationwide. But each week, that list narrows down.
This week wraps up the quarterfinals – where Gleason will rely on public vote to move on.
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Gleason has been teaching for 31 years. Almost half those years have been catered to STEM and sustainability education.
“I think it’s just an honor to be recognized,” said Tina Gleason. “I’m just excited to be in the running at all, I had no idea I’d make it to the quarterfinals.”
How to vote
What you can do:
Voting for the quarterfinals ends on May 7 at 9 a.m. A single vote is free – while a larger quantity requires a donation to The Planetary Society.
Help Tina Gleason become America’s Favorite Teacher by casting your vote here.
The Source: The information in this post was provided by America’s Favorite Teacher.
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