OPINION: Public education ‘gatekeepers’ remain silent

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The latest news in late May and early June focused on Milwaukee Public Schools’ failure to submit “documents required by law to the Department of Instruction (DPI).”

Together, we learned that the district was eight months behind on paperwork, which could affect the allocation of funds not only to our district, Milwaukee Public Schools, but also to other districts across the state of Wisconsin.

Like most of the community, I was shocked, confused, and immediately angry by this news.

The news, after all, came just after the community narrowly voted for a $252 million referendum and as the district’s board and administration worked to pass the 24-25 school year budget.

Within days of the news, we received statements from Governor Tony Evers, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, County Executive David Crowley, and State Superintendent Jill Underly about the DPI letter and the district’s financial missteps. Education organizations and advocates who have worked to reform MPS for decades have also voiced their concerns.

However, the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, or MTEA, our district’s union that represents Milwaukee Public Schools teachers, instructional assistants, substitute teachers, accountants, school security, health care aides and kitchen staff, has remained conspicuously silent.

On the MTEA’s public Facebook page, the introduction states: “We are the guardians of public education.”

By definition, the term “guardian” means “protector, defender, or guardian.” If they are the protectors, defenders, or guardians of public education in Milwaukee, then why has there not been a single mention of the DPI letter or the potential financial implications for our district on this same public page?

The first communication made about the DPI letter by the MTEA was to members of a private group on May 30, who indicated that the MTEA was aware of the DPI letter and that they were “deeply concerned.”

This statement does not echo calls for transparency and accountability coming from the state, local elected officials and the community. The MTEA, which calls itself the “guardian of public education,” has yet to make a public statement on the DPI letter or the recent revelations.

Let me be clear: I have been a member of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association since I started working for MPS. I believe in the power of my union. This is not an anti-union opinion; it is a call to the largest teachers union in the state to do better. Better for all of us!

Will the MTEA live up to its claim that its members are the “guardians of public education”?

Many in the community might argue that we don’t need gatekeepers of public education as much as we need collaborators to improve the quality of public education in Milwaukee Public Schools.

On the MTEA webpage, in the About section, they state their role: “As advocates for educators, we are advocates for all children.”

At one point that may have been the case, but as a current rank-and-file member, I would say that this latest silence has shown that the MTEA has lost its way.

Financial audits of the previous budget will likely reveal state overpayments that will result in another financial hit for a district that cannot afford to lose a dollar and the MTEA, the advocates for educators and children, remains silent.

At the June 13 special board meeting, we finally got to hear publicly from MTEA leadership, rank-and-file members, and President Ingrid Walker-Henry. It wasn’t about the DPI letter or the DPI’s recent blocking of special education funding.

It was simply a matter of demanding that the district board and administration adopt the budget for the 24-25 school year. The budget for the 24-25 school year eliminates hundreds of teaching positions, as well as cuts to critical programs like trauma support, Black and Latino male success, restorative practices, and academic support teachers.

This program provides the additional support and resources that some of our most vulnerable students desperately need.

MTEA’s united position was in direct opposition to the community’s call for the 24-25 school year budget to be held back to create a contingency plan for the eventual repayment of $35 million to $50 million to DPI, as reported in recent reports.

The board could have held the budget until June 30, as required, to reallocate funding to positions and departments that meet the greatest needs of our students.

Instead, President Ingrid Walker-Henry’s testimony demanded that “the board adopt the budget to end the uncertainty families and workers currently find themselves in.”

His statement completely ignores the fact that the district’s failure to maintain and submit financial records is the reason families and workers are and will continue to be in limbo.

The MTEA led the charge to urge the community to “vote yes for MPS” and pass the referendum.

In a statement on the narrow passage of the $252 million referendum, Speaker Ingrid Walker-Henry said, “Milwaukee sent a message today: We will do what it takes to ensure that our city’s children have access to public schools with equitable opportunities.”

Doesn’t this also mean demanding transparency and accountability from the board and district administration as we continue to navigate this financial crisis? Why is MTEA so silent on this issue? How does this benefit the educators they advocate for and, therefore, the children who benefit from this advocacy?

Much like the current financial fiasco that MPS finds itself in, I have many questions about the silence of my union at a time when so much is at stake.

As a community, we must continue to challenge leaders who simply say they are defending our children and pay attention to those who are actually working to defend our children.

Once an injustice is committed, if you do not use your voice to denounce it, your silence makes you complicit. Silence is complicity and the children of our city are counting on us to use our voices.

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Angela Harris is an abolitionist educator with over 20 years of experience in early childhood and elementary education. She spent the last seven years as an elementary educator at an African American immersion school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 2023, she was named the Tenia Jenkins Activist of the Year for her activism in education, as well as a finalist for the Herb Kohl Teacher Fellowship for her superior ability to inspire a love of learning in her students, her ability to motivate others, and her leadership and service inside and outside the classroom.