MILWAUKEE — Community members part of the MPS School Board Recall Collaborative held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss recall efforts.
"We're not going to quit until the job is done,” recall leader, Dr. Tamika Johnson said.
TMJ4’s Megan Lee has covered Dr. Johnson's recall efforts since early June.
"This recall is happening because apparently our system is not doing what they supposed to do,” Dr. Johnson explained.
The MPS School Board Recall Collaborative has collected over 37,000 signatures so far. They need about 20,000 more to get on the ballot.
Watch: Anonymous donor funding MPS recall group:
"We have about less than 12 days to collect the signatures. So, we have people out working very hard canvassing on behalf of the Milwaukee citizens,” Dr. Johnson explained.
The recall effort is targeting four school board members: Missy Zombor, Erika Siemsen, Vice President Jilly Gokalgandhi, and President Marva Herndon.
"We have residents working very hard to collect these signatures,” Dr. Johnson said.
The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) is raising questions about how the campaign is being funded.
"They're running that campaign in what we would like to consider secrecy,” President of MTEA, Ingrid Walker-Henry said.
Lee asked the recall group if they are paying canvassers. Petitioner Nicole Johnson said, “We do have anonymous donors that are paying canvassers."
Payments like that would need to be documented in campaign finance reports to the city.
According to this campaign report, the recall group has only had donations for food, office supplies, and a website that total $277.84.
MPS Recall City Wide July Cont 2024 Amended by TMJ4 News on Scribd
"It is so concerning that there is a paid operation to recall a publicly democratically elected school board that has not disclosed where the funding is coming from,” Walker-Henry explained.
Recall organizers said canvassers will get paid after the signatures are submitted to the city.
"If we receive funds it will go through the proper channel, I promise you. It will be reported,” Dr. Johnson said.
The recall group said the signatures are due to the city by August 13th. They have a goal to turn the signatures in by August 12th.
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