The Milwaukee Public Schools district is badly mismanaged, has already received enormous sums of money from both a prior referendum and federal coffers, has fostered an unsafe environment in many of its schools, has demonstrated little ability to teach children how to read and write and, perhaps most importantly, does not appear to consider itself accountable to taxpayers or legislators.

For all those reasons — and because the property tax hike the district seeks would harm business growth and drive away residents — the Badger Institute today is launching an extensive social media and email campaign urging Milwaukeeans to vote “no” on the April 2 referendum.

The number of school buildings controlled by Milwaukee Public Schools that are most dramatically underutilized totals 21, a look at the district’s complete filing with the state confirms.

Among the buildings with enrollments that use less than half their capacity is the Washington High School of Information Technology, the massive facility on Milwaukee’s prominent Sherman Boulevard. According to the district’s own figures, the building last year could accommodate 1,294 students but was being used to educate only 511.

The 39% utilization comes after similarly low utilization rates for the building — 44% and 36% respectively — in MPS’ pre-pandemic filings in 2016 and 2019.

Wisconsin voters will decide on primary day, Aug. 9, whether the state Constitution should be amended to give back to the Legislature a say over the allocation of all major federal funding coming to the state.

The state Senate added a ballot question in two parts when it passed Assembly Joint Resolution 6 on the last day of its session Tuesday. All 22 votes in favor of the amendment question were Republican and all 10 opposing it were Democrats.

The vote completed a process that began more than two years ago when Republican legislators began questioning how and why Gov. Tony Evers was spending more than $5 billion allotted to the state in federal COVID-19 “emergency” funding.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee recently announced that its Waukesha campus will close after the spring 2025 semester as it deals with declining enrollment. 

Using data from the UW System’s accountability dashboard, we analyzed UWM’s enrollment and staffing levels relative to those of 20 years ago.

The Badger Institute, formerly known as the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI), has long been at the forefront of the fight for school choice, right to work, welfare reform, tax restructuring, limited government, civil society and so much more. If you appreciate the Institute’s legacy and want to support free markets, opportunity and prosperity, please consider donating today. Your support will help the Institute continue to advocate for conservative principles now and in generations to come.

The Institute never has, and never will, accept government funding. We gratefully welcome your online donation or email Angela Smith, Executive Vice President.

The Badger Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization funded solely by the generosity of foundations, companies and individuals.

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