While schools are told to tighten belts and standardize staffing, the district maintains some of the highest-paid central office administrators in the country. Cabinet-level staff sit comfortably far from classrooms. Which is fine – until “tightening resources” only seems to apply in one direction.

The rationale to the board was that this was the ‘least disruptive option’ with the ‘least impact on the classroom’ which is patently untrue.  The rationale to those cut, without regard, referenced seniority for administration (while simultaneously disregarding the seniority of my years of service) which was a choice, not a requirement.

The central office jobs that are being cut are not addressing administrative bloat (which I think would be a fair problem to target), but rather highly specialized positions that travel to classrooms around the district and, to the surprise of many, assistant principal roles.

Kooyenga is no stranger to supporting Zionism. In 2017, he and Leah Vukmir worked to pass legislation to prevent Wisconsin from supporting boycott, divest, and sanction (BDS) policies, making it illegal for an institution like UWM to divest from Israeli economic interests (that thing all those rad people occupied the campus for.).

We were warned. There were many Brower skeptics on the left who warned that he was only interested in self-promotion. He had seized control of the Milwaukee’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter, causing many members (including the abolition working group, cooperation Milwaukee, and even the electoral working group) to leave the organization over a couple months.

The modus operandi for those in power who have brought us to this point have blamed each other, and while that blame is not misplaced, it is not a substitute for accountability for the failings by any individual party. The mayor, the common council, MHD and the new leadership of MPS need to come together to address this issue collectively. 

Mayor Johnson is making a cynical calculus that is unfortunately typical with liberals: that tacking to the right’s benefits outweigh the political costs. He’s doing what the Milwaukee Police Association and Republican legislators want, maybe gaining him a bit of credibility with Wisconsin’s power structure –but losing only a few principled, abolitionist voters/elected officials/organizations/etc in the process.

Today, shared revenue is essentially wealthy Republican lawmakers waging a culture war, demonizing a city, and stealing its resources to redistribute amongst their own constituents and ensure they are re-elected. Shared revenue is not a just redistribution of resources.