• The Milwaukee School Board approved a phased cost-of-living raise for Milwaukee Public Schools staff.
• Staff will receive a 1.5% wage increase in July and another 1.13% increase in January, totaling 2.63%.
• The teachers union had pushed for the full 2.63% raise to be implemented in July.
• The union has filed a complaint, arguing the district has not bargained in good faith.

Milwaukee Public Schools teachers and other staff will receive cost‑of‑living raises next school year under a plan the Milwaukee School Board approved April 28, but not on the timeline the teachers union had pushed.

Following about two and a half hours in closed session, the board voted 7-1 to implement a 1.5% wage increase for staff starting in July and another 1.13% increase in January. Board member Mimi Reza voted against the plan, while Katherine Vannoy recused herself.

The cumulative 2.63% raise matches the rate of inflation and is the maximum amount the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association can bargain for under state law. The union and the district had negotiated the raises for over two months but failed to reach an agreement.

Superintendent Brenda Cassellius has said delaying a portion of the wage increases would save MPS money as it faces a $46 million budget deficit. The inflationary raises for MTEA-represented employees are estimated to cost about $10.6 million.

“Tonight’s Board vote shows we value our employees and their commitment to our students while also building a budget that will help us restore the district’s fiscal standing,” Cassellius said in a statement. “There were no easy decisions here, however we are ultimately bringing employees to a full 2.63% increase by January while maintaining our obligation to present a balanced budget to the Board next month.”

The district previously presented two other options to the union, including plans that would have delayed raises until January for some or all employees. The plan that board members approved gives workers the largest wage increase among the three options, said Robert Sanders, a city attorney who served as bargaining counsel for MPS.

The union’s sole ask, however, was to receive the full 2.63% hike to base wages by July 1. Union members had demanded MPS officials accept the MTEA’s offer in various protests throughout April.

The union presented no other options, Sanders told the board. He said the district then sought mediation, and the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission declared the parties at an impasse. The district put forth the phased raises as its final offer, which the union rejected.

“The district appreciates MTEA’s engagement throughout this process,” Sanders said. “While MTEA did not provide a counter proposal, the views and concerns MTEA shared informed the district’s decision to identify (this) option as its best and final offer.”

School boards may unilaterally implement a final wage offer after a mediator declares an impasse, though the move is risky because it could potentially violate labor law for failure to bargain in good faith, according to information from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

The teachers union already filed a complaint with the state’s employment relations commission on April 24, arguing the district mishandled the negotiations and misrepresented the savings associated with its proposals to the public.

“It is our hope that through this Prohibited Practices complaint to and in mediation with WERC, MPS will be compelled to bargain in good faith with MTEA and to be honest with our community,” MTEA President Ingrid Walker-Henry said in a statement April 27.

Walker-Henry previously said MPS staff have regularly received raises to match cost-of-living inflation over the last seven years, and such increases are necessary to stabilize retention and recruitment. Union leaders have said the MTEA’s preferred proposal would cost about $2.2 million more than the district’s plan.

The latest inflationary raises apply to all employees represented by the union, including teachers, paraprofessionals, school nurses, social workers and interpreters, among others. The district said it also intends to ask the board to extend the increases to employees who are not represented by MTEA, similar to how MPS has handled raises in past years.

Kayla Huynh covers K-12 education, teachers and solutions for the Journal Sentinel. Contact: khuynh@gannett.com. Follow her on X: @_kaylahuynh.

Kayla’s reporting is supported by Herb Kohl Philanthropies and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.