Press Release: MPS Parents 4 A Fair Budget Submits 2026-27 Budget Amendment Package to Board
MPS Parents 4 A Fair Budget, a grassroots coalition of families representing school communities across Milwaukee Public Schools, is submitting a comprehensive amendment package in response to the proposed 2026–27 district budget.
Our amendment package is grounded in a simple principle: budget decisions must be educationally sound, operationally realistic, transparent to the public, and rooted in the actual conditions inside schools.
Families understand the district faces serious financial constraints and that difficult decisions may be necessary. We also believe the district must honor its commitments to employees, including providing the full 2.63% COLA on July 1 without delay or deferral.
What we reject is the false choice between fiscal responsibility and functional schools.
The current proposal asks schools to absorb major reductions to leadership and operational capacity while maintaining the same expectations for safety, compliance, programming, and student support. That is not sustainable.
Our amendment package calls for:
Inclusion of families, students, and school communities at the beginning of the budget development process;
Partial restoration of Assistant Principal positions districtwide;
A formal study and monitoring process on the impact of AP reductions;
Greater transparency regarding central office staffing, consultants, contracts, and restructuring;
Clear educational and operational justification for staffing formulas and Standard of Care assumptions;
Public equity reporting regarding how staffing and investments are differentiated across schools;
Protections for high-needs schools and schools with complex operational demands;
A full COLA on July 1for employees;
Public accountability measures tied to implementation and outcomes.
We are especially concerned about the scale and speed of Assistant Principal reductions. APs are not administrative luxuries. They oversee discipline, special education compliance, crisis response, attendance, testing, scheduling, transportation, staff support, and daily school operations. A staffing model driven primarily by enrollment targets or standardized staffing thresholds, while minimizing operational complexity and student need, risks destabilizing schools already carrying the greatest burdens.
We are also concerned about the district’s framing of equity through the current “Standard of Care” restructuring process. Equity is not the same as uniformity. Schools do not operate under identical conditions, and staffing schools more equally does not necessarily produce equitable outcomes.
The proposed restructuring appears designed to move schools toward standardized staffing allocations. In practice, however, this has produced uneven cuts and additions intended to align schools to staffing targets rather than respond to the actual conditions within school communities. Schools with substantially different behavioral, operational, programmatic, and leadership demands are being expected to function with increasingly similar staffing structures.
Families deserve transparency regarding how these decisions are being made.
If schools are receiving staffing increases because they fall below Standard of Care thresholds, the district should explain the assumptions underlying those thresholds. If schools are losing leadership capacity despite significant operational complexity, the district should publicly explain how those schools are expected to absorb those responsibilities safely and effectively.
Our amendment package therefore requests annual public reporting identifying:
which schools receive staffing or resources beyond standard allocations;
which schools are experiencing reduced leadership or support capacity;
how equity considerations are being weighed alongside enrollment and standardization goals;
the rationale for differentiated allocations;
and measurable outcomes associated with targeted investments and restructuring decisions.
We are also calling attention to the district’s acknowledgment that approximately $46 million in contractual expenditures have been identified for reduction. Families are asking a reasonable question: if contractual reductions of that magnitude are available, why are schools being required to absorb cuts that directly reduce operational and student-support capacity?
Throughout this process, families have experienced shifting narratives, inconsistent explanations, changing projections, and conflicting messaging. That instability affects educators, students, and families alike. A district cannot ask communities to trust a process the community cannot clearly follow.
This amendment package is not only about line items. It is about governance, transparency, operational integrity, and accountability to the communities most affected by these decisions.
We know what happens when leadership capacity is stretched too thin and operational burdens overwhelm school staff. Once critical school infrastructure is dismantled, rebuilding it is far more difficult and expensive.
We urge the Board of School Directors to adopt these amendments in an effort to protect school functionality, stabilize student supports, improve transparency, and restore public confidence in the budget process.
Milwaukee students deserve schools that are not merely surviving budget cycles, but functioning safely, effectively, and with educational integrity.
MPS Parents 4 A Fair Budget remains committed to advocating for a budget process that prioritizes students, school communities, and long-term district stability over short-term optics, including staffing allocations that may ultimately prove unfillable.