Milwaukee Public Schools budget discussions made headlines last week when MPS board member Michael Bonds told teachers’ union vice president Amy Mizialko to “go to hell.” The remark spurred instant outrage and put a spotlight on the annual budget process of the state’s largest school district, which is facing exploding deficits.
As an elected official, Bonds’ comment was out of line – but Mizialko’s remarks are the real controversy, and deserve much more attention and critique. As the union leader testified against Bonds’ idea to swap a proposed $2 million in cuts to student transportation for employee raises, she showed her hand.
“The $2 million that it will cost to do that is nothing,” Mizialko declares. “This is a billion dollar budget. But MPS students need $2 billion.”
Now we know the labor leaders’ starting bargaining position. To the union, nothing short of $2 billion in taxpayer funding for MPS will suffice.
Mizialko’s funding fantasy would wring taxpayers dry.
To put the imagined $2 billion for MPS in context, Dallas Independent School District has a budget totaling just over $1.9 billion. Their enrollment approaches 158,000 students, double MPS’ 75,539.
The complete story here > The Real Controversy Surrounding the MPS Budget Debate