Press Release: Parents Raise Conflict of Interest Concerns Regarding MPS Superintendent’s Outside Consulting Firm

Milwaukee, WI — Parents and community members are raising serious concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, and her continued leadership of a private consulting business, LeaderProof LLC.

Publicly available information, including her professional profile, indicates that Dr. Cassellius remains actively engaged with LeaderProof, a firm offering executive coaching, strategic planning, and education system transformation services. At the same time, she is overseeing major structural and budget decisions within Milwaukee Public Schools, including significant staff reductions tied to a projected $46 million deficit. 

Concerns About Transparency and Disclosure

At this time, community members have identified no clear public record of formal disclosure to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors detailing the scope, timing, or nature of Dr. Cassellius’s involvement with LeaderProof LLC.

This raises governance concerns, including:

• Whether outside professional affiliations have been fully disclosed as required by district policy and public-sector ethics standards

• Whether adequate safeguards exist to prevent real or perceived conflicts of interest

• Whether decision-making processes are fully insulated from outside professional relationships

Transparency in these matters is essential to maintaining public trust in district leadership during a period of significant budgetary and staffing changes.

Ongoing and Past Consulting Work Raises Governance Questions

Even if Dr. Cassellius is no longer actively engaged in consulting work through LeaderProof LLC, her (prior) leadership and ownership of a consulting firm operating in the same field as her current responsibilities continues to raise legitimate concerns among community members.

The concern is not limited to current activity. Rather, it includes the possibility that:

• Prior consulting frameworks, relationships, or professional incentives may continue to inform decision-making

• Past work in education consulting may create perceived or indirect alignment with external leadership models or priorities

• The distinction between past professional roles and current public responsibilities has not been clearly addressed in public governance documents

In public-sector leadership, both actual and perceived conflicts of interest are relevant to maintaining confidence in decision-making processes.

Budget Decisions Heighten Need for Clarity

Milwaukee Public Schools is currently undergoing significant budget-driven restructuring, including the elimination of more than 200 positions, with significant cuts to student-facing roles and school-based staffing.

These decisions have raised concerns among families about the loss of:

• assistant principals

• paraprofessionals

• instructional specialists

• children’s health aides

• other school-based support roles

In this context, community members are seeking clarity on whether any external professional frameworks, past consulting work, or ongoing affiliations may influence district priorities during critical budget decisions.

Community Call for Full Transparency

Parents and community members are calling for:

1. Full public disclosure of any current or prior consulting roles or business interests held by district leadership

2. Clear documentation of whether LeaderProof LLC has been disclosed to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors

3. An independent review of potential conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts

4. Strong safeguards ensuring that all district decisions are made solely in the best interest of students and schools

Commitment to Public Trust

Milwaukee families deserve full confidence that leadership decisions affecting classrooms, staffing, and school stability are made independently, transparently, and without competing professional considerations—whether current or residual from prior roles.

Even the appearance of unresolved or undisclosed conflicts of interest can undermine public trust, particularly during periods of significant structural change in schools.