MILWAUKEE — It's been nearly a month since voters approved a $252 million referendum to pull Milwaukee public schools out of a multi-million-dollar budget hole.
Now, residents are getting a look at how the district suggests we put that money to use.
The 985-page 2024-2024 budget proposal breaks down the superintendent's plans for the next school year and with it, the possibility of hundreds of jobs on the chopping block.
The proposal says next school year they will need to cut 288 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, 40 of those being in-school funded positions and 248 non-school funded positions.
Those statistics came as a shock to certain members of the community, like Beverly Hamilton-Williams.
“We passed the referendum and they're still making cuts when they said they were not,” said Hamilton-Williams. “It was pure deception in my opinion.”
She’s a mother and now grandmother of MPS students who runs the education advocacy group Voices of Milwaukee’s Children.
The budget states that MPS faces "Significant staffing challenges that impact the organization's financial outlook and ability to provide services" but maintains one of its 5 priorities for success is developing its staff.
Hamilton-Williams believes many of the proposed cuts will affect students and employees of color.
“Many of those jobs, like kitchen staff and classroom aids, are held by people of color. I'm certain the people that they'll be cutting voted for that referendum and thought they were saving their jobs, and now they are out of a job.”
But none of this is set in stone yet.
There will be community input meetings about the proposed $1.5 billion budget, the first of which is taking place at the board’s next meeting on May 7 at 5:30 p.m.
The Fiscal Year 2025 budget is still in process and will not be finalized until the Milwaukee Board of Directors acts in May.
Until then, Hamilton-Williams encourages the community to look over the document and bring their concerns to the public meetings coming up.
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