MPS committee hears art education report as community urges restoration of cut visual-arts positions

Milwaukee Public Schools administrators presented a semiannual art education report to the Board Committee on Instruction that outlined staffing levels, instructional strategies such as sketchnoting, and community partnerships — and drew public pleas to restore recently cut visual-arts coaching positions.

The report matters because the district said two of four visual art teacher-leader positions were eliminated under the superintendent’s reorganization plan, a change parents and arts partners say threatens teacher retention, partnerships and student access to arts learning cultivated under the 2020 referendum funding.

Paulette Chambers, chief of staff, introduced the item and said the Fine Arts Office would answer questions about staffing and programming. Deborah Bowling, the district’s fine arts manager, said the arts office currently supports teachers with two visual-art teacher leaders and two arts-integration teacher leaders and that teachers earning licensure while on the job require substantially more support.

Bowling provided staffing figures: during the 2024–25 school year the district had 148 art positions filled with arts educators and used two board-approved vendors, Arts at Large and T Bay, to fill an additional 14 vacancies. For 2025–26 she said there were 152 filled art positions and vacancies at nine schools, with two full-time vacancies identified at Thurston Woods and Green Tree. Bowling said those two full-time openings each drew a sizable applicant pool but that no candidates were put forward by school hiring teams for hire: "I wish I knew the answer. I will tell you that during the hiring process during cycle A and cycle B, full time positions, those applicants go directly to the school administrators, and a school based interview team makes the interviews and makes the selection for candidates." (Dr. Deborah Bowling, Fine Arts Manager)

Community speakers and arts staff asked the committee to reverse the cuts. Gina Jorgensen, a frequent arts advocate, told the committee: "When you are cutting our positions, you're cutting off life support for these new educators. I ask you to restore all 4 visual arts positions so we can retain new current art educators." Steve VandeZand, a community speaker, asked the committee to bring the matter back to the full board: "I humbly request that you bring this matter back to the full board and ask to reinstate the 2 visual art teacher leader positions that have been cut and restore the 4 excess staff who currently occupy these positions so we can keep retaining our teachers." (Steve VandeZand)

Members asked for specifics about vacancies and hiring. Bowling said the two full-time vacancies at Thurston Woods and Green Tree each had about 17 applicants but no hires were reported because school-based interview teams did not submit candidates; she said part-time 0.2–0.5 positions are often easier to fill and are sometimes covered by retired teachers or UWM teacher-candidates. Chambers added that school leaders have autonomy over selection and that there can be "a plethora of reasons" a candidate is not advanced by an interview team. (Paulette Chambers, chief of staff)

On programming and student impact, Bowling highlighted the arts-integration work and a district focus on sketchnoting as a cross-curricular strategy. She described sketchnoting as "rich visual notes created from a mix of handwriting, drawings, hand lettering, shapes, visual elements like arrows, boxes, and lines," and said the technique had been used in classrooms across subjects and was especially helpful for EL learners and students with special education needs. Bowling said teacher leaders coached in 66 schools and that the arts-integration leaders provided sustained support in 31 schools during 2024–25.

Chambers confirmed that the two teacher-leader positions were cut as part of the superintendent's reorganization to place more licensed teachers in classrooms and that changing that decision would require further administrative discussion: "The positions that have been cut are part of the superintendent's reorg plan and getting more teachers back into the classrooms." (Paulette Chambers, chief of staff)

Bowling said the arts office will continue hiring work through the summer and, if positions remain open, the district will use contracted vendors to provide arts experiences. She said many candidates with required qualifications have since been hired elsewhere but that central office will continue outreach to candidates through the summer.

The discussion closed with committee members and speakers celebrating district arts opportunities — from youth internships and district art shows to community partnerships — and repeating requests that the board consider reinstating the cut teacher-leader positions so coaching and community partnerships can continue.

Next steps identified in the meeting: administrators will keep interviewing candidates through the summer, use vendors where necessary to cover instruction, and take community requests about reinstating positions back to the superintendent for further consideration.