Committee hears charter school performance report; renews Escuela Verde and Milwaukee Math & Science Academy charters

The Milwaukee Common Council Steering & Rules Committee received the Charter School Review Committee’s 2024–25 performance report on Feb. 16, then approved five-year contract renewals for Escuela Verde and Milwaukee Math & Science Academy.

Dr. Azia Baylor, the city’s charter monitor with Evident Change, presented statewide assessment comparisons and growth metrics, saying the city’s charter schools “outperformed those comparable schools” on Forward Exam and that growth measures showed between 61% and 87% of students met growth targets across English language arts and math at the city’s charter schools. Baylor also said charter graduates from two schools collectively earned nearly $5,000,000 in scholarships and noted that the committee’s scorecard expects schools to score 60 or higher to remain in good standing.

The report and school leaders’ testimony framed the district comparisons by ZIP code. When Alderman Stanford asked whether the report compared schools on demographic factors such as special education and English learner percentages, Dr. Baylor said the selection by ZIP code was intended to approximate similar demographics but that the report did not disaggregate those specific categories in the slides presented.

School leaders answering questions described enrollment and program details: Downtown Montessori reported roughly 273 students; Milwaukee Math & Science Academy said 12–15% of students are English language learners and 15–20% receive special education services; Escuela Verde staff described a smaller school of roughly 120–125 students. Leaders said schools use varied transportation approaches and some provide citywide transportation.

Committee members pressed schools on governance and labor questions. Alderman Brower argued that the city should prioritize Milwaukee Public Schools and asked how charter boards are selected; school leaders described a range of governance practices (parent seats, community appointments, bylaws and nomination processes). On union questions, Escuela Verde leaders said they had previously sought MTEA participation and instead adapted local salary practices; a school representative said, “I would not be opposed if there was some other union that would be more beneficial.” Milwaukee Math & Science Academy’s administration described teacher retention and said the school would “be neutral” in an NLRB election process while also noting that such processes are initiated by teachers.

After testimony and discussion, Alderman Samariba moved to renew Escuela Verde’s charter for a five-year term; the motion carried by unanimous consent on the record. Alderman Jackson moved to renew Milwaukee Math & Science Academy’s contract for five years; that motion also carried by unanimous consent. Committee members asked staff to collect additional governance and student-outcomes data for a follow-up communication file.

The committee’s actions: renewals were approved without recorded roll-call tallies in the open transcript; committee members requested additional reporting on board selection practices, teacher certification counts, and postsecondary tracking.