The Surprising Number of Milwaukee Public Schools "Administration" Staff Who Make More Than $100,000 a Year

Dan Cody:

As the debate continues over the anticipated funding cuts coming to the Milwaukee Public School system, a lot of the blame for funding shortfalls has been placed squarely on the shoulders of public school teachers.

To be sure the compensation packages for teachers - especially those who've worked in the district for a long time - do play a part in the discussion. But for the focus and blame to be solely on how much teachers in MPS make is unfair and unproductive. I've made a fair amount of noise over the past several years about an issue no one else seems to want to discuss when it comes to cuts within MPS: administrative staff in central office.

I live a half block north of MPS central office and it's always surprised me how many people actually work there. When my wife Jenny started working within MPS I learned a lot more about the infrastructure that runs MPS and I've come to see it for what a bureaucratic nightmare it is.

It's been frustrating for me to see the "boots on the ground" teachers and others who work in the classrooms across Milwaukee to be vilified while central office staff always seem to escape the budget cuts. While we've been happy to cut 1000's of teachers over the past few years, the staff within central office has remained largely untouched. They're not part of the "evil teachers union" after all.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at May 13, 2011 2:22 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas