By Angela Harris
Angela Harris, chair, Black Educators Caucus
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Breaking news at the end of May and beginning of June focused on Milwaukee Public Schools’ failure to submit “statutorily required paperwork to the Department of Instruction (DPI).
Together, we learned that the district was eight months behind on paperwork that could affect the funding allocation of not just our district, Milwaukee Public Schools, but other districts across the state of Wisconsin.
Like most of the community, I was shocked, confused, and immediately angered by this news.
This news, after all, came on the heels of the community narrowly voting for a $252 million dollar referendum and as the board and district administration worked to pass the 24-25 school year budget.
Within days of the news, we had statements from Gov. Tony Evers, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, County Executive David Crowley, and State Superintendent Jill Underly on the DPI letter and the district’s financial errors. Education organizations and activists, who have been working to reform MPS for decades, also.
Noticeably quiet though, was the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, or MTEA, the union in our district that represents teachers, educational assistants, substitute teachers, account/bookkeepers, school safety, building service helpers, and kitchen staff within Milwaukee Public Schools.
On the public Facebook page of the MTEA, the intro states, “we are the guardians of public education.”
Guardian by definition means, “a protector, defender, or keeper.” If they are the protectors, defenders, or keepers of public education in Milwaukee, then why has there been not one mention of the DPI letter or the potential financial implications for our district on that same public page?
The first communication made about the DPI letter from the MTEA was to members in a private group on May 30, who communicated that the MTEA was aware of the DPI letter and they were “deeply concerned.”
This statement did not echo the calls for transparency and accountability that were coming from state, local electeds and the community. MTEA, the self-proclaimed “guardians of public education,” still has not made a public statement on the DPI letter or recent revelations.
Let me be clear, I am a member of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association and have been since I began working for MPS. I believe in the power of my union. This is not an anti-union opinion; this is a call for the largest teachers’ union in the state to do better. Better for us all!
Will the MTEA live up to the claim that members are the “guardians of public education?”
Many in the community might argue we don’t need guardians of public education as much as we need collaborators to improve the quality of public education in Milwaukee Public Schools.
On the MTEA web page in the About section, they assert their role “As advocates for educators, we are advocates for all children.”
At one point this may have been the case, but as a current rank and file member I would argue this latest silence has shown the MTEA has lost their way.
Financial audits of the previous budget will likely reveal overpayments from the state that will result in another financial hit to a district that can’t afford to lose a dollar and MTEA, the advocates for educators, and children, sits silent.
At the special board meeting on June 13, we finally heard from MTEA’s leadership and select rank and file and President Ingrid Walker-Henry publicly. It wasn’t about the DPI letter or the recent special education funding being withheld by the DPI.
It was simply to demand the board and district administration pass the 24-25 school year budget. The budget for the 24-25 school year cuts hundreds of teaching positions, as well as cuts to critical programming like trauma support, Black and Latino Male Achievement, restorative practices and school support teachers.
This programming provides the extra support and resources some of our most vulnerable students desperately need.
MTEA’s united position was in direct opposition to the community who was asking that the 24-25 school year budget be held to create a contingency plan for the possible $35-$50 million dollar repayment to the DPI, as stated by latest reports.
The board could have held the budget until June 30 as required, to reallocate funding to those positions and departments that serve our highest needs students.
Instead, President Ingrid Walker-Henry’s testimony demanded, “The Board needs to pass the budget to stop the uncertainty that families and workers have right now.”
Her statement completely disregards the fact that the district’s failure to maintain and submit financial records is why families and workers are and will continue to be uncertain.
The MTEA led the charge to get the community to ”Vote Yes for MPS” and pass the referendum.
In a statement on the narrow passage of the $252 million referendum, President Ingrid Walker-Henry exclaimed, “Milwaukee sent a message today: we will do what it takes so that the children of our city have access to public schools with equitable opportunities.”
Doesn’t that also include demanding transparency and accountability from the board and district administration as we continue to navigate this financial crisis? Why is the MTEA so silent on this matter? How does this benefit the educators they advocate for and in turn the children who benefit from this advocacy?
Very much like the current financial fiasco that MPS finds itself in, I have so many questions about the silence of my union during a time when so much is on the line.
As a community, we must continue to question leaders who just say they are advocates for our children and pay attention to those who actually work to be advocates for our children.
Once an injustice occurs, if you do not use your voice to speak against it, your silence makes you complicit. Silence is complicity and our city’s children depend on us to use our voice.
Angela Harris is an abolitionist educator with 20+ years of experience working in early childhood and early elementary settings. She has spent the last seven years as an early elementary educator at an African American Immersion School in Milwaukee, WI. In 2023, she was named the Tenia Jenkins Activist of the Year for her education activism, as as being named a Herb Kohl Teacher Fellowship Finalist for her superior ability to inspire a love of learning in her students, for her ability to motivate others and for her leadership and service within and outside of the classroom.