At first glance, a school district proposing a smaller budget may seem refreshing.
Milwaukee Public Schools is hoping to shrink its budget by $26.6 million to address a funding deficit that's nearly twice that size, that MPS will carry over from this year.
The proposed budget for next year is $1.59 billion, down from $1.62 billion this year.
The deficit is forcing tough decisions, according to MPS Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius.
“I will be bringing cuts, deep, deep cuts into the district, both contracting and also central office and across the board. There’s just no way at it," she said at the first budget hearing in January.
What's in the 2026 MPS budget proposal for schools?
The plan includes eliminating 260 jobs that the district describes as non-classroom positions. That includes more than 50 employees from the district’s central office and 53 assistant principals.
In the same document, the district says it wants to add 150 teaching positions and 140 paraprofessionals. Paraprofessionals provide vital assistance in the classroom, and often work with students who have special needs.
While existing teachers and their union generally support more help in the classroom, many people have raised serious concerns about how MPS is going to fulfill its promises as its human resources department faces challenges.
“If HR has been identified as a weak link in several audits, and has been self-reporting a five-to-six-week process from application to hire, what is the likelihood that HR will have the capacity to complete the hiring process for hundreds of candidates in the shorter period of time?” asked MPS parent Amanda Seppanen.
“The solutions we have been offered have been oversimplified," she added.
Milwaukee Public Schools expects to lose 300 students in 2026-27 school year
Also at issue is the reality that MPS expects its enrollment to drop by more than 300 students in its traditional public schools next year.
If district projections expand to include non-instrumentality charter schools and partnership schools, the loss of students will number more than 5,000.
Either way, that means less money from the state.
This spring, school administrators publicly begged the Legislature to route some of its $2.5 billion budget surplus to school funding and to a higher reimbursement rate for special education.
After the deal fell apart, MPS joined other school district leaders to urge public officials to go back to the table and reach a new deal that would be funded by the state’s surplus.
Here in Milwaukee, MPS teacher Angela Harris said that she feels MPS is taking the long view in its budget planning.
“I appreciate that the (administration appears to be approaching this with the long-term health of the district. Whether we want to admit it or not, school districts across the state are facing layoffs and staffing shortages," she said. "Milwaukee Public Schools is not insulated from those realities.”
MPS teachers push for full cost of living raises as household costs soar
The district's long term picture isn’t exactly rosy.
If MPS doesn’t make huge changes, its projections show the district could face a cumulative deficit of $420 million over the next five years.
MPS attributes that number to what education experts call the “perfect storm” of rising everyday costs, falling enrollment and limits on how much state funding the district can get.
The proposed budget is also facing major criticism from teachers after the school board approved delaying around half the annual cost of living raises for employees. Here’s how the superintendent explains it:
“We’re investing in our employees with a budget that includes steps and lanes and a 2.63% cost of living increase by January 2027, with half of that, well about 1.5% coming out in July, and another 1.13% coming in January.”
Combined, those raises reach the maximum amount allowed by state law. The total 2.63% increase matches the rate of inflation. Union members want the full raise to go into effect in July as members face skyrocketing household costs.
Milwaukee’s Board of School Directors will vote on the budget Thursday, May 28. The meeting begins at 5:30pm.
Do you have a question about education or how schools work in our area? Submit it here to WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal.
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